Remembering Christa McAuliffe

Christa McAuliffe became the most famous teacher in the U.S. as she prepared to reach for the stars aboard the space shuttle Challenger. A social studies teacher at New Hampshire's Concord High School, she was selected as the first participant in the NASA Teacher in Space Project. She planned to conduct experiments aboard the space shuttle and teach two lessons from space. But tragedy struck, and Challenger disintegrated just 73 seconds after launch. Across the country, schoolchildren were eagerly watching the launch on school televisions, and they were devastated by the loss – but they also were inspired by her story. In the years since, she has been honored for her bravery with dozens of schools named for her, as well as an asteroid and a crater on the moon. We remember McAuliffe's life today as well as the lives of other notable people who died this day in history.

Let's also remember Zora Neale  Hurston, another notable person who died on January 28th. Read about her in the lead story in our Black History series beginning February 1, 2015.

Working Her Way Back: Paula Deen's Redemption

The last I heard on celebrity "chef" Paula Deen was the termination of various television and endorsement deals in the wake of her inappropriate comments which some considered racist. The race and gender based discrimination lawsuit got lots of media coverage and Paula lots big bucks in the wake of all the negative publicity. When I thought about Paula Deen after the fallout, I felt bad for her and wondered how things could go so terribly wrong in such a short time.

Harvard Honors Du Bois Medal Winners

Sometimes honors are bestowed amid lots of fanfare and publicity, i.e. the Oscars, the Emmy and the Tony Awards. Everybody know about the winners and the nominees. But, many worthwhile honors are bestowed on worthy recipients with little to no bluster and media coverage. Harvard's Du Bois Medals are worthwhile, but not widely covered. The awards have been given since 2000 and many have never even heard of them nor of its winners. This year's awards mark the launch of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

This year, Harvard's Du Bois Medal were awarded to six luminaries Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Director Steven Spielberg, and Georgia Civil Rights Activist and U. S. Rep. John Lewis. The Medal is awarded to those whose work contributed to African and African American culture. It is the highest honor in African and African American Studies.Other honorees were Sr. Presidential Adviser Valerie Jarrett, playwright (Lincoln) Tony Kushner, and NBA Commissioner David Stern. Congressman Lewis and Valerie Jarrett could not attend the ceremony, staying in Washington to address the government shutdown.

Justice Sotomayor, the first Latina Justice, was honored for inspiring children by telling stories of her upbringing, while Spielberg was honored, not only for his film making, but also for establishing a foundation to record oral histories of survivors of the holocaust and other genocides.

In 1890 Harvard awarded W. E. B. Du Bois, the first Ph. D. granted to an African American. Today, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute of African and African American Research.

More "Star Wars"-The Force Welcomes Lucas-Hobson Baby

The Huffington Post announced exclusively that on Friday, August 9, "Star Wars" filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson, welcomed a daughter into the world.

Everest Hobson Lucas is the first biological child for both parents, but she's far from an only child. The newborn, who was delivered via surrogate, is a little sister to Lucas' adopted children, Amanda, 32; Katie, 25; and Jett, 20.

Lucas and Hobson were married on June 22 at Skywalker Ranch, in Marin County, California. Journalist Bill Moyers officiated the ceremony, and director Steven Spielberg toasted the groom.

In addition to serving as president of Ariel Investments, Hobson, 44, is chairman of Dreamworks Animation and a financial contributor with CBS.

 Lucas, 69, sold his production company, Lucasfilm Ltd., to the Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion in October 2012. "Star Trek" director J.J. Abrams has since signed on to direct the first in a series of planned "Star Wars" sequels, set to begin filming early next year.

Five Shocking Retirement Facts

Retirement is an opportunity to enjoy the things that make you happy. You need a solid strategy to help ensure you'll have enough income to live comfortably after you stop working. There are several retirement savings and planning strategies for you to consider.

Despite the Dow hitting all-time highs, millions of Americans still have a dismal outlook when it comes to their own ability to retire.

That Fabulous 1%: Richest Women in the U. S.

 

Each year Forbes Magazine releases its lists of the world's richest men and women. In the case of the women, much remained the same as the 2011 list including the fact that most of the women are not self-made, but instead inherited their money. Many of the richest women in the world are American.

Here's a list of the five richest women in the U.S.

 

Christy Walton-age 57 ($29.9 billion)

Christy Walton is the sixth richest person in the U. S. and the tenth richest person in the world. She is the widow of John Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. After John Walton died in a plane crash in 2006, Christy inherited his fortune including enough stock to make more than $220 million in dividends in just six months. With the recent price appreciation of Wal-Mart's stock, the Walton family's wealth has continued to grow.

 Alice Walton- age 63 ($27.1 billion)

Alice Walton is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and heiress to a portion of the Walton fortune. She recently opened an art museum with art being displayed from the Walton estate. Although she is actively involved in numerous charitable organizations, her reputation has been clouded by a series of DUI arrests.

 

 Jacqueline Mars-age 73  ($20.1 billion)

Jacqueline Mars made her money from M&Ms, Snickers, Dog Food and many of the other products we use every day. The Mars Company currently has revenue of $30 billion annually and is the world's largest confectionary company. Jacqueline Mars is the third generation of the Mars family after her grandfather, Frank Mars, founded the company in 1911.

 

 

Anne Cox Chambers-age 93 ($12.5 billion)

Anne Cox is the daughter of James Cox, the founder of Cox Enterprises. James Cox worked as a school teacher until buying a local newspaper in 1898 which sparked a media business that includes 17 newspapers, 15 TV stations and 86 radio stations.
 

 

 

Abigail Johnson-51 yrs. old ($12 billion)

Abigail Johnson's father, Edward Crosby "Ned" Johnson, controls Fidelity Investments which is the largest mutual fund company in the United States. Already one of the top executives at the firm, she was recently appointed President of the company which confirms the rumored succession plan. Abigail Johnson began working at Fidelity in 1988 as an analyst and she holds a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard University.

 

The richest women in the United States all have interesting backgrounds. Some are part of a long line of wealthy business owners and have had wealth passed on to them from generation to generation. Others inherited the money from their late husbands. Many of these women have chosen to do noble things with their money, like give to charity. Some of these women have seen their fortunes dwindle because of the decrease in value of their companies, or fighting with relatives over inheritances.

Source: Forbes; Investopedia; Wikipedia

Passing the U. K. Bar at 18: Gabrielle Turnquest

Florida has been in the news quite a bit lately and none of the reports were positive. Restrictive voting decisions, the Trayvon Martin murder trial, and failure to expand health care for citizens through Obamacare make the state seem unresponsive to those in need of assistance. But if you look over the pond to the United Kingdom, one Florida woman has made history.

Gabrielle Turnquest, from Windermere, FL, has become the youngest person to qualify as a barrister in the U. K. Demonstrating her superior academic prowess, she was called to the Bar of England and Wales after passing her exams with flying colors at just age 18. What makes this achievement extraordinary is that the average lawyer undertakes the rigorous Bar Professional Training Course when they are 27, according to University of Law records.  Gabrielle took the course , along with her older sister Kandi, who passed the exams at the age of 22.

"It is even more significant that she's (Gabrielle) is a person of color", says  Dr. Peter Herbert O.B.E., chair of Society of Black Lawyers, the oldest organization of minority lawyers in the U. K.  About 14 percent of African-Caribbeans and Asians qualifying as barristers. It is traditionally been one of the most segregated professions in the country. The Society of Black Lawyers was set up some 40 years ago because of "de facto apartheid in the legal system where the majority of minorities couldn't get a pupillage, the final stage of training to be a practicing barrister. If Gabrielle wants to pursue a career as a barrister in the U. K., she will still have to carry out a pupillage at chambers for at least a year and then be granted a tenancy.

Gabrielle's parents hail from the Bahamas which enabled her to take the British exam. She eventually hopes to work in the Bahamas as a fashion law specialist. She plans to qualify as a lawyer in the U. S. In the U. K. there are two types of lawyers: barristers who stand before a judge and represent clients in courts, and solicitors who put cases together working out of a law firm.

Courtenay Griffiths QC, a prominent, Jamaican-born, London-based British barrister was called to the Bar in 1980. He tells us that despite increases in women and minorities being called to the Bar, they tend to be concentrated in publicly funded work. Privately funded portfolios, Griffiths says, tend to be skewed toward "Public school educated or Oxbridge graduates" and "black faces there are still very much scarce."

"The nearer you get to the power and money the fewer of us (minorities) you'll see. So commercial law, for instance, is particularly restricted," said Dr. Peter Herbert.

Best of luck to Gabrielle and her sister Kandi in their chosen endeavors.