Kenneth Davis

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

TO

TILTON FOSSETT

The man who makes everything that leads to happiness

depends upon himself, and not upon other men,

has adopted the very best plan for living happily.

This is the man of moderation, the man

of manly character and of wisdom.

~Plato~

     Birthday greetings to you Esquire Fossett. You've weathered the

most recent Texas storm and now you've begun a new journey. May

your day be blessed with a family gathering, to embrace the gratitude

that comes with love, life and survival. My your communications with

friends today be encouraging and heartfelt.

     Today is the first day of the rest of your life, so may you have a

Jonathan Fritzén type of day. I wish you a "Fritzenized" kind of

celebration...May you embrace the start of  "A New Beginning"....stay

safe my friend....

Kenneth Davis

What 100 Years of Women's Suffrage

Means for Women of Color

Kenneth Davis

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

TO

LINDA BROWN, RICKY GARRETT

&

JAMES STONE

Friendship is something whose depth fits human aspirations

and fulfills human possibilities. It has heft to it,

as a gold-piece does and a gambling chip does not.

~Eugene Kennedy~

     The birthday trilogy for March 2nd is represented by a supreme group of

Deity, Divinity and Discerning individuals. However, such  descriptive words

are of my own sentiments and therefore allow the admission of your separate 

frame of reference. I believe that Linda, James and Ricky would commend

your  presumption also. Bundled together, each them enhances the power

and strength of dynamite; manageably explosive, inspiringly sensative and

more effective than black powder. Just my right mixture of chemistry to have

as a friend. 

     Best known as a star of the American reality-television show The Real

Housewives of Beverly Hills, Yolanda Hadid quoted the following: "Nobody

likes to be judged, including me, but I am the first to say that I am far from

perfect. The core of people don't change... what you see is what you get. There

are many different shapes of friendships to be had. Fake friends believe in

rumors. Real friends believe in you. I have learned that friendship isn't about

who you've known the longest, it's about who came and never left your side.

Some people come into our life as a blessing, while others come into our life

as a lesson, so love them for who they are instead of judging them for who

they are not".  I must agree with Yolanda, "Love them for who they are,

instead of judging them for who they are not". This trilogy of March 2nd Baby 

Boomers", have been a collective of  different friendship shapes, blessings and

lessons learned, along my scattered path of life. Thank you!

     As each of you celebrate today, may you and your family members be

collectively anointed with the blessings of grace and favor befitting a supreme

group of Deity, Divinity and Discerning individuals. I wish you a Julian

Vaughn type of day...a day of joyous explosions, organized by "Black

Dynamite"....May you have a Supreme day of celebration....stay safe my

friends..... 

James Stone

Kenneth Davis

BESSIE COLEMAN (1892-1926)
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, on January 26, 1892 as

the tenth of thirteen children to parents George and Susan Coleman. The

family settled in Waxahachie, Texas, and worked as sharecroppers. Her

mother encouraged Bessie’s schooling when she showed an aptitude for math.

At the age of 18 Coleman enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and

Normal University (now called Langston University) in Langston, Oklahoma.

Kenneth Davis

SHAWNA ROCHELLE (NG A QUI) KIMBRELL (1976---)

     Lieutenant Colonel Shawna RochelleKimbrell is the first African American

female fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Kimbrell was born in

Lafayette, Indiana on April 20, 1976.  In her youth, the family moved to

Parker, Colorado, and Kimbrell attended school there. She decided she wanted

to become a fighter pilot in the fourth grade and had her first flight lesson at

the age of fourteen. She joined the Civil Air Patrol, and worked at air shows,

while earning her private pilot’s license.

     Kimbrell received her commission after she graduated from the U.S. Air

Force Academy in Colorado in 1998, with a Bachelor of Science degree in

General Engineering. She later received a Master’s in Business Administration

from Touro University in Nevada in August 2005. Kimbrell attended

undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin Air Force Base (AFB) in Del Rio,

Texas and earned her pilot wings in August 1999. By November, Kimbrell

completed Introduction to Fighter Fundamental training at Randolph AFB,

Texas. She graduated from F-16 training at Luke AFB, Arizona in August

2000, and became the first African American female Fighter Pilot in the USAF.

Kenneth Davis

     Dianne Durham, the first Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national

championship, died February 4, 2021 in Chicago following a short illness, her

husband said. She was 52. Durham was a pioneer in American gymnastics. Her

victory in the all-around at the 1983 national championships as a teenager was

the first by a Black woman in the organization’s history.

     “Dianne was a pioneer for Black gymnasts as well ... She paved the way for

others.” That group includes Olympic champions Simone Biles and Gabby

Douglas as well as Dominique Dawes, a gold medalist on the storied 1996 U.S.

Olympic team. Durham claimed not to have thought about the importance of

her victory. “People said, you’re the first Black — I’m using Black because

African American wasn’t a term in my era — national champion. Do you know

that didn’t go through my head one time?” Durham told ESPN.com last year.

“Not one time. Do you know how many people had to tell me that? I could not

understand why that was such a humongous deal.”

Kenneth Davis

Simone Biles & Dianne Durham

     When it comes to Olympic champion Simone Biles, just know there's always

more history to be made. At the U.S. Gymnastics National Championships, the

21-year-old became the first woman to win five U.S. Gymnastics all-around

titles. Biles also swept all four of the event titles, making her the first woman to

do so since Olympic legend Dominique Dawes in 1994. "Being the first one to

win all of the titles since Dominique Dawes is inspiring,”Biles said. “It's kind of

cool to follow that path." The win also makes Biles the oldest women's all-

around champion since 1971. 

     Since first making history as the first Black woman to win a world all-

around title in 2013, Biles has earned 16 gold medals across every discipline

and become the most decorated U.S. gymnast of all time. She now has her

sights set on the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where we're sure she'll make

even more history. Congratulations, Simone! Keep soaring! 

Kenneth Davis

     "I didn't want to put the company in danger, but I also never wanted to

deny who I was," Wilkinson explained. "If someone questioned me directly, I

couldn’t say, ‘No, I’m not Black.’ Some of the other dancers suggested that I

say I was Spanish. But that’s like telling the world there’s something wrong

with what you are."

Raven Wilkinson Black Ballerina Braved Segregated South

     In August 1955 at the age of 20, Raven Wilkinson became the first African

American woman to receive a contract to dance full time with a major ballet

company, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo of New York City. She was

promoted to soloist during her second season with the troupe, and remained

with the company for six years.

Kenneth Davis

   Raven Wilkinson & Misty Copeland

In 2015, Misty Copeland made history — becoming the first African American

prima ballerina of a major international company, American Ballet Theater

(ABT). Since then, she continues to inspire and amaze. Aside from her work

onstage, she is incredibly generous in sharing her love of ballet — especially

with the next generation of African American ballerinas — through mentorship

and involvement in Project Plié, which encourages diversity in ballet.

Copeland has most certainly blazed a ballet trail for a new generation of Black

ballerinas, including 11-year-old Charlotte Nebres, who recently made history

as the first Black lead in the Nutcracker. Nebres said she was inspired by

seeing trailblazer Misty Copeland perform. 

Kenneth Davis

     This was a five-foot woman, but she was tough as nails. Not only were they

collecting intelligence, but they raided the Confederacy. They swarmed from

the rivers and raided and torched homes and warehouses that were

Confederate supply depots.

     Many people know Harriet Tubman as the fearless leader, liberator, and

conductor of the Underground Railroad. After the start of the Civil War,

Tubman was sent by Governor Andrew of Massachusetts to South Carolina to

work as a nurse for wounded Black Union soldiers. She was eventually

recruited by Union Major General David Hunter as a spy and scout. She would

slip in and out behind Confederate lines, gathering intelligence from enslaved

people about the Confederate Army's workings.

     On June 1, 1863, Tubman led Union troops from the Sea Islands up

Combahee River to raid Confederate outposts, rice plantations, destroy

bridges, and cut off supply lines. Tubman led the expedition while Union

gunboats gingerly navigated the waters, avoiding torpedoes with Tubman's

information. The raid allowed hundreds of enslaved Black people to flee the

rice plantations, with nearly 100 Black men joining the Union and destroying

Confederate control along the river and millions of dollars of Confederate

property. Tubman made history as the "first woman to successfully plan and

lead a military expedition during the Civil War." She worked with Col. James

Montgomery, and he was a believer in guerrilla warfare. It was a mix of

espionage, scouting, and reconnaissance.

WEST POINT NAMES BLACK WOMAN AS FIRST CAPTAIN

     Cadet Simone Askew made history in August 2017 when she became the

first African-American woman to lead the Long Grey Line. Askew was selected

First Captain of the U.S. Military Academy’s Corps of Cadets for the 2017-2018

academic year, and assumed the post on Aug. 13, 2017. First Captain is the

highest position in the cadet chain of command at the storied West Point.

     "It's a great step for not only women, but African American women, because

it shows that no matter what your sex, or your race, you can really do

anything," her sister, Nina Askew, told NBC Washington. "There's nothing that

can hold you back."

Kenneth Davis

Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber

Will Be The First Black Woman

To 

Lead US Naval Academy's Brigade

     Navy Lt. j.g. Maddie Swegle has just became the U.S. Navy’s first Black

female tactical jet pilot, a historic accomplishment that she hopes will inspire

other young women to “follow their dreams.” 

     After a career of historic firsts in the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Marcelite Harris

was laid to rest with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.

Kenneth Davis

MELISSA HARVILLE-LEBRON IS THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN

TO OWN A NASCAR TEAM

     Melissa Harville-Lebron is the first African American woman to solely own

a Camping World Truck Series and a developmental racing team in NASCAR's

Whelen All-American Series, Division I. The multicultural racing team is the

first ever to consist of two brothers from two different ethnicities and minority

classes, hailing from the North East and under the age of 25. The team consist

of 6 drivers of various professional licensed levels. 

     Ms. Harville - Lebron is the founder and CEO of W.M. Stone Enterprises,

Inc., a multifarious entertainment conglomeration that is the home to Coutrá

Music Group, a boutique music label. CMG’s eclectic roster at one time

included a female racecar driver with a phenomenal voice. This would be

Melissa's initial exposure to NASCAR and also what would capture her

attention and direct her awareness to the lack of diversity in the motorsport.

At that moment, the conscious decision was made to pursue and fill that

multicultural gap. E2 Northeast Motorsports was developed to be the 1st

multicultural team in NASCAR. 

Kenneth Davis

     Brehanna Daniels has made history as the first Black woman in NASCAR's

pit crew as a tire changer. A basketball point guard, Daniels pursued the

opportunity, eventually being invited to join NASCAR’s pit crew member

program after graduating in 2016. Her mere presence marked a shift for the

historically white male sport. Out of almost 3,000 NASCAR drivers who have

made it to the Cup level, only 16 have been women. It wasn’t even until 2013

that NASCAR got its first woman as a pit crew member. In 2017, Daniels made

history as the first Black woman to work the pit crew for a NASCAR race, and

in 2019 she became the first Black woman to work the pit crew for the Daytona

500 race. 

     “God couldn’t have picked anybody else better to do the job. It takes a

strong person to be able to make that change...knowing the history of NASCAR

and the faces people are used to seeing on the track. “At first, I think a lot of

people were like, ‘She’s not doing it for real; she’s just here for show.’ But

obviously, I got sent to the track to do my job, and I can do it well; otherwise, I

wouldn’t have gotten here,” Daniels said.

Kenneth Davis

     IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge.  A challenged world is an alert

world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day,

every day. We can choose to challenge and call out gender bias, discrimination and

stereotyping.

Kenneth Davis

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern,

World Trade Organization leader Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,

poet Amanda Gorman

Kenneth Davis

“The New York Stock Exchange is a city within a city, with its own rules and

by-laws,” she said. “The boys pull together and protect themselves.

No one has gone down to the floor to change things.”

~Gail Pankey-Albert~

     On December 28, 1967, Siebert became the first woman to buy a seat and

become a member of the New York Stock Exchange. For ten years, she was the

only woman out of 1,365 men on the stock exchange. Muriel "Mickie"

Siebert was a fearless Wall Street broker that was known as The First Woman

of Finance and the first woman to become the superintendent of banking for

New York State. In 1969, Siebert started Muriel Siebert & Company. Although

she did not have a college degree, Siebert successfully became one of Wall

Street’s most popular names.

Muriel "Mickie" Siebert 

     When Gail Pankey-Albert began her career on the floor of the New York

Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1971; there were only four or five women around.

She shattered the glass ceiling that many women ran into on their way to the

top, becoming one of very few female African Americans to hold a coveted seat

on the floor of the NYSE. She began working as a carrier, traveling among

traders “gathering computer punch cards” that were fed into the NYSE’s ticker

system before being promoted to squad manager. 

     She was right in the middle of the action, moving correspondence, stock

quotes, and transactions between various members and their respective clerks.

“The pre-digital NYSE floor was the size of a football field and could be

populated with 3,500 people at any given time,” she said. She would work for

several Wall Street firms over the next decade as a computer operator, an

institutional clerk, and later, as an elected floor official. A decade later in 1981,

she would become the first minority female seat holder representing York

Securities. “The pre-digital NYSE floor was the size of a football field and could

be populated with 3,500 people at any given time,” she said. She would work

for several Wall Street firms over the next decade as a computer operator, an

institutional clerk, and later, as an elected floor official. A decade later in 1981,

she would become the first minority female seat holder representing York

Securities.

Gail Pankey-Albert 

Kenneth Davis

 Suzanne Shank 

Suzanne Shank  & Muriel "Mickie" Siebert

     Suzanne Shank is a $2-trillion businesswoman whom few Detroiters have

heard of. Shank, cofounder and CEO of Siebert Branford Shank, is one of the

most successful African-American women on Wall Street. Under her watch

and from her offices in the Buhl Building in Detroit, her firm has grown by

arranging billions upon billions in financing for airports, roads, schools and

other municipal and corporate projects across the nation. Siebert-Brandford-

Shank was started in 1996 by Shank, Muriel Siebert — the first woman to own

a seat on the New York Stock Exchange — and Napoleon Brandford. Shank

was tapped to serve as president and CEO of the merged company.

  Lauren Simmons 

     At 22 years old, Lauren Simmons shattered the glass ceiling by being the

youngest and only full-time female equity trader on Wall Street for Rosenblatt

Securities. Affectionately dubbed as the “Lone Woman On Wall Street”,

Simmons was also the second African-American woman in history to sport the

prestigious badge.

Kenneth Davis

Michelle Obama, Meghan Markle, Vice President Kamala Harris

and Stacey Abrams have been wrongly deemed

‘angry black women’ for being powerful

black women. 

Kenneth Davis

THESE LADIES ARE HARDLY ANGRY BLACK WOMEN !

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/angry-black-woman-stereotype-a-myth-used-to-hurt-powerful-women-experts-explain/vi-BB1eleoz?ocid=msedgntp

(PLEASE COPY AND PASTE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

Kenneth Davis

     The remote Indonesian island of Sumatra produces some of the most unique coffees

in the world. With intense flavors and full body, Sumatran coffees are found in some of

our most treasured blends. We wouldn’t be able to bring you incredible coffee from

Sumatra without the incredible women who make it all possible. They handle the

majority of the planting, growing, harvesting and transportation of coffee. Without the

[women], the coffee would not be produced probably, and the economic well-being of all

the people that sell coffee to Starbucks would not be nearly as beneficial to everybody.

      Since 1999, there have been only 18 Black chief executives of Fortune 500 companies

according to Fortune Magazine. Two have been women: Ursula Burns, who led Xerox

from 2009 to 2016, and Mary Winston, who led Bed Bath & Beyond as interim chief in

2019. 

     In 2009, Burns became CEO of Xerox, the first among black women to be a

CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to succeed another as

head of a Fortune 500 company. Burns served as CEO of Xerox from 2009 to

2016 and Xerox chairwoman from 2010 to 2017. In 2014, Forbes rated her the

22nd most powerful woman in the world. Among other civic positions, she was

a leader of the STEM program of the White House from 2009 to 2016, and

head of the President's Export Council from 2015 until 2016.

Kenneth Davis

 Rosalind Brewer is brewing up some Black girl magic and excellence at Starbucks! 

 Mellody Hobson is an American businesswoman who is President and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, and the chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation. 

 Estella Mayhue-Greer, who has led the Mid South Food Bank as President and CEO since 2011, will retire from the organization effective December 31, 2019. Mayhue-Greer joined Mid-South Food Bank in 1996 as agency relations director.

Kenneth Davis

BECAUSE OF THEM, WE CAN

     Mabel Fairbanks was an American figure skater and coach. As an African American

and Native American woman she paved the way for other minorities to compete in the

sport of figure skating such as Naomi Lang. She was inducted into the US Figure Skating

Hall of Fame, as the first person of African American and Native American descent and

also the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Tai Babilonia & Mabel Fairbanks 

     Tai Babilonia is one of the most successful skaters in figure skating history. Tai 

partnered with Atoy Wilson to bring the story of black skating pioneer Mabel Fairbanks

to the masses. Mabel Fairbanks is the first and only African-American skating coach to

be inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She coached and fought for

skaters of color to have the same opportunities as their white counterparts. In addition

to Tai and Wilson, her past protégés included Richard Ewell and Michelle McCladdie.

Mabel was also a mentor to Scott Hamilton, Debi Thomas, Rudy Galindo, and Kristi

Yamaguchi.

Kenneth Davis

     Naomi Lang is an American former competitive ice dancer. With skating partner

Peter Tchernyshev, she is a two-time Four Continents champion, a five-time U.S.

national champion, and competed at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Lang is the first

Native American female athlete to participate in the Winter Olympics. She is an enrolled

member of the Karuk Tribe of California.

     Debra Janine Thomas is an African American former figure skater and physician. She

is the 1986 World champion, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S.

national champion. Her rivalry with East Germany's Katarina Witt at the 1988 Calgary

Olympics was known as the Battle of the Carmens. 

Robbin Houston (Houston)