April Heroes & Sheroes
This month, we commemorate the birthday of our beloved ancestor, Booker Taliaferro Washington, a brilliant educator, author, and orator. Born into slavery on April 5, 1856, he was educated at Wayland Seminary & Hampton Normal & Agricultural Institute (now known as Hampton University). Washington is most noted for the ‘Self-Improvement’ philosophy as well as building one of the greatest Black institutions in the world, Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. In 1881, Tuskegee Institute (now known as Tuskegee University) became famous as a model of Vocational Education. At the age of 59, Washington died on November 14, 1915, in his home at Tuskegee Institute.
We commemorate the birthday of our ancestor and role model, Dr. Maya Angelou. She was a well-renowned author, poet, historian, actress, educator, Civil Rights activist, screenplay writer, producer, and director. She died on May 8, 2014, at the age of 87. At the time of her death, Dr. Angelou was a Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
We commemorate the birthday of our present day shero, Cathy Hughes. She was born on April 22, 1947, in Omaha, Nebraska. She is a Media Mogul, Radio & TV personality, and Business Executive. The first African American woman to head a publicly traded company. Her Washington, DC-based radio station, Radio One has 53 radio stations in 16 urban markets. In January 2004, Radio One launched TV One, a national cable and satellite television network for African American adults.