# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Salma Hayek, in full Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez, married name Salma Hayek Pinault, (born September 2, 1966, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico), Mexican American actress, director, and producer who, at the end of the 20th century, broke barriers as one of the first Latina actresses to establish a successful film career in the United States.

Why is Salma Hayek significant?

What was Salma Hayek's early life like?

What is Salma Hayek best known for?

Hayek grew up in Mexico but attended Catholic school in New Orleans before enrolling at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. In the capital she was noticed by television producers who cast her in the Mexican daytime television drama Teresa (1989). In 1991 Hayek moved to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. After taking a small part in Mi vida loca (1993; My Crazy Life), she was noticed by director Robert Rodriguez, who cast her in (1995), alongside Antonio Banderas. Exposure in the action film catapulted the young actress into stardom. Her next major role was in another Rodriguez film, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), a gory vampire movie that also starred George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino. In 1997 she appeared opposite Matthew Perry in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In and two years later portrayed an exotic dancer and muse in the religious satire (1999).

In 2002 Hayek both produced and starred in , a biopic about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including a best actress nod for Hayek. She also earned critical praise for her directorial debut, the television movie The Maldonado Miracle (2003). The inspirational drama, set in a struggling small town that becomes the site of an alleged miracle, earned Hayek an Emmy Award for outstanding direction. Hayek later became executive producer of the hit television series (2006-10), a comedy set at a fashion magazine. She also had recurring roles on that show, in 2006-07, and on the sitcom 30 Rock, in 2009. Meanwhile, she continued to act in such films as Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), with Banderas and Johnny Depp; After the Sunset (2004); Ask the Dust (2006), based on the novel by John Fante; and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009).

In 2009 Hayek married French business executive François-Henri Pinault (son of François Pinault). After costarring with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in the comedy (2010), Hayek portrayed a ruthless drug kingpin in Oliver Stone's (2012) and the love interest for an aspiring mixed martial artist in the comedy Here Comes the Boom (2012). Hayek then controversially played a woman who must use violence to extract herself from sexual enslavement in the sanguinary action film Everly (2014). In Il racconto dei racconti (2015; Tale of Tales), an adaptation of a book of fairy tales by 17th-century author Giambattista Basile, she depicted a queen who impregnates herself by way of a magical ritual that requires her to eat the heart of a sea monster. She later appeared in a series of comedies that included How to Be a Latin Lover (2017), Beatriz at Dinner (2017), Drunk Parents (2018), and The Hummingbird Project (2018). Her credits from 2020 included the comedy Like a Boss, in which she portrayed a ruthless cosmetics titan, and The Roads Not Taken, about a man (played by Javier Bardem) imagining alternate lives.

Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

Hayek lent her voice to the animated films Puss in Boots (2011), which featured Banderas in the title role, and The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012). In 2011 she partnered with convenience store CVS to launch a beauty line called Nuance Salma Hayek; it was discontinued in 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

Antonio Banderas, Spanish-born film actor and director whose good looks, sensuality, and emotional range made him a leading international star. Banderas, the son of a police officer and a teacher, was a soccer protégé...

Acting, the performing art in which movement, gesture, and intonation are used to realize a fictional character for the stage, for motion pictures, or for television. Acting is generally agreed to be a matter less of mimicry, exhibitionism, or imitation than of the ability to react to imaginary...

born

September 2, 1966 (age 54)
Coatzacoalcos, Mexico

notable works

awards and honors

related facts and data

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Salma Hayek | Biography, Movies, TV Shows, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Salma Hayek, Mexican American actress, director, and producer who broke barriers as one of the first Latina actresses to establish a successful career in Hollywood. Notable movies included Desperado (1995), Frida (2002), and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). Learn more about Hayek's life and career.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When Salma Hayek arrived in Los Angeles from Mexico at age 25, she could barely read a street sign. She spoke almost no English. And having struggled with dyslexia her whole life, she knew that learning a new language would be a challenge.

But Hayek isn't one to back down from challenges. The acclaimed actress, producer, and director rose above her learning differences and the language barrier. Like many other famous people with learning and thinking differences, she looked beyond her weaknesses and pursued her passion.

Today, Hayek is a megastar, famous for her talents in film and TV. She's also a passionate champion for the many causes she supports. That includes global health care, domestic violence prevention and environmental issues. And Hayek has worked to create more opportunities for Latinas in Hollywood.

Over the years she's brought a lot of attention to these issues. But she's also been very vocal about her own challenges (and triumphs) with dyslexia. For Hayek, having dyslexia is part of her identity.

A Fun Childhood-and Hidden Struggles With Reading

Born and raised in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, Hayek was a fun and mischievous kid. She had a pair of pet monkeys. She loved gymnastics and watching Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory -her favorite movie growing up.

Hayek begged her parents to let her attend boarding school in the U.S, which she did for a short time. She still recalls playing pranks on her classmates there.

After returning to Mexico, Hayek starred in a local theater production of Aladdin. It was then that she discovered her talent for acting. Her reading issues were no match for her love for the stage.

Hayek had always struggled with reading, but she was a good student. It wasn't until she was a teenager that she was diagnosed with dyslexia. And even then, many people didn't know she faced challenges.

"I'm really a fast learner. I always was, which is maybe why in high school they didn't realize I had dyslexia. I skipped years without studying too much," she has said.

After high school, Hayek studied political science at the National University of Mexico. But again she was called to the limelight. By age 22, she had become one of the country's biggest soap opera stars.

Hayek wanted to be more than just a recognized actress. She has said, "At one point I said, 'I don't want to do this-it's not my dream' ... I'm going to start a company. I am going to create projects for me. I'm going to create projects for other Latin women.'"

Soon after, she left for Hollywood to pursue her dream.

A Difficult Start in Hollywood

It had been years since Hayek did her stint at boarding school, but she was confident that she could pick up English again quickly. But between the language barrier and her dyslexia, she "soon realized it wasn't going to be hard to learn-it was going to be nearly impossible."

How were those first auditions in a new country? "Everybody thought I was so out of my league," she has said. "The people in Hollywood were the first ones to try and discourage me. 'Go back,' they said. 'You have no future here.'"

But she refused to give up, and after doing a few movies, Hayek landed her breakout role in 2002. She starred in and produced Frida, based on the life of artist Frida Kahlo. Her performance landed her an Oscar nomination.

Later, Hayek brought the TV hit Ugly Betty to life, which paved the way for many Latino actors to be recognized in prime time.

Her dreams were coming true. "I have an accent, am dyslexic, short, and chubby," she told reporters. "You name it, I have it, but I am here. I must be the luckiest girl in the world to be working."

Overcoming Challenges and Owning Her Dyslexia

Having reading issues doesn't bother Hayek anymore. "Some people read really fast, but you'll ask them questions about the script and they'll forget. I take a long time to read a script, but I read it only once," she has said.

More than that, Hayek is grateful for the journey her career has taken her on: "I'm very lucky I didn't have it easy, because I've learned so much from having to figure out everything on my own and create things for myself."

Any opinions or views of individuals featured on Understood.org are the sole responsibility of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views, values, opinions, or beliefs of, and are not endorsed by, Understood.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Salma Hayek arrived in Los Angeles from Mexico at age 25, she could barely read a street sign. She spoke almost no English. And having struggled with dyslexia her whole life, she knew that learning a new language would be a challenge. But Hayek isn't one to back down from challenges.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Salma Hayek Pinault ( , Spanish: [ˈsalma ˈxaʝek]; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela Teresa (1989-1991) as well as the romantic drama El Callejón de los Milagros (1995), for which she received an Ariel Award nomination. She soon established herself in Hollywood with appearances in films such as Desperado (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Wild Wild West (1999), and Dogma (1999).

Hayek's portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biographical film Frida (2002), which she also produced, made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and additionally earned her Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations. In subsequent years, Hayek focused more on producing while starring in the action-centered pictures Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), After the Sunset (2004) and Bandidas (2006). She achieved further commercial success with the comedies Grown Ups (2010), Grown Ups 2 (2013) and The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017); lent her voice for the animated Puss in Boots (2011), The Pirates! (2012) and Sausage Party (2016); and received critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas Tale of Tales (2015), Beatriz at Dinner (2017) and House of Gucci (2021). She played Ajak in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals (2021), which emerged as her highest-grossing live action film.

Hayek's directing, producing and acting work on television has earned her four Emmy Awards nominations. She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special for The Maldonado Miracle (2004) and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and the other for Outstanding Comedy Series, for her work on the ABC television comedy-drama (2006-10). She also produced and played Minerva Mirabal in the Showtime film In the Time of the Butterflies (2001) and guest-starred on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock (2009-2013). As a public figure, Hayek has been cited as one of Hollywood's most powerful and influential Latina actresses as well as one of the world's most beautiful women by various media outlets. She is married to business magnate François-Henri Pinault, with whom she has a daughter.

Salma Hayek Jiménez was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. Her father, Sami Hayek Domínguez, is of Lebanese descent. His ancestors hail from the city of Baabdat, Lebanon, a city Salma and her father visited in 2015 to promote her movie Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. He owns an industrial-equipment firm and is an oil company executive in Mexico; he once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos. Her mother, Diana Jiménez Medina, is an opera singer and talent scout; she is of Spanish descent. While visiting Madrid in an interview in 2015 with Un Nuevo Día, Hayek described herself as fifty-percent Lebanese and fifty-percent Spanish saying that her grandmother/maternal great-grandparents were from Spain. Her younger brother, Sami, is a furniture designer.

Hayek was raised in a wealthy, devout Catholic family, and at age 12 opted to study at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. In school, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She attended university at the Universidad Iberoamericana studying international relations. In a 2011 interview with V magazine, Hayek mentioned that she was once an illegal immigrant in the United States, although it was not for a long period of time.

Early roles in Mexico (1988-1994)

Hayek's first screen appearance was in the television series in Un Nuevo Amanecer (1988), which earned her the TVyNovelas Award for Best Debut Actress. Televisa subsequently selected Hayek, who was 23 at the time, to play the title role in Teresa (1989-1991), a successful Mexican telenovela that made her a star in Mexico. The series ran for two years and 125 episodes, and earned her the 1990 TVyNovelas Award for Best Female Revelation.

Determined to pursue a film career in Hollywood, Hayek moved to Los Angeles in 1991 following the conclusion of Teresa. With limited fluency in English and dyslexia, she soon enrolled in English lessons and studied acting under Stella Adler. Hayek initially struggled with the lack of acting job offers after moving to the United States, recalling that "there was no industry or parts for Latin women", and was once even told that her accent would "make moviegoers think of housekeepers". During this period, she secured guest-spots in television series such as Dream On (1992) and The Sinbad Show (1993) as well as supporting roles in the drama Mi Vida Loca (1993), and the made-for- Showtime thriller Roadracers (1994), her first collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez.

..... The film was the subject of critical acclaim, reportedly won more awards than any other movie in the history of Mexican cinema, and earned Hayek a nomination for the Ariel Award for Best Actress.

Hollywood breakthrough (1995-2001)

Robert Rodriguez and his co-producer and then-wife, Elizabeth Avellan, cast Hayek in the starring role of the self-confident and feisty Carolina, opposite Antonio Banderas, in Desperado (1995), widely considered her breakout film. ..... She once remarked: "It took eight hours [to film] instead of an hour". Budgeted at $7 million, Desperado was a commercial success, grossing $25.4 million in the United States. ..... In 1996, she also appeared in the drama Follow Me Home and the cop comedy Fled.

Hayek starred as a photographer and the on-and-off girlfriend of a New York City architect, opposite Matthew Perry, in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In (1997). Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of a possible 4 and described it as "a sweet, entertaining retread of an ancient formula", elevated by good performances (particularly Hayek) and an insightful "level of observation and human comedy". Fool's Rush In was a moderate commercial success and earned Hayek an ALMA Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film. In another romantic comedy, Breaking Up (also 1997), she and Russell Crowe portrayed a couple whose relationship leads to an out-of-the-blue marriage. Ken Eisner of magazine wrote: "Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek make attractive leads, but they have neither the marquee power nor the requisite chemistry to keep Breaking Up from getting left at the altar of general distribution." Indeed, the film was distributed for selected markets in the United States only.

In 1998, Hayek played an aspiring singer in the 1970s NYC's night scene in Mark Christopher's drama 54, a doughnut shop waitress in Dan Ireland's dramedy The Velocity of Gary and a nurse in Rodriguez's supernatural horror film The Faculty. In 1999, Hayek was unorthodoxly cast as Serendipity, "the [Muse] who throughout history inspired all the geniuses of art and music, like Mozart and Michelangelo, and never got any of the credit", with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, in Kevin Smith's religious satire Dogma, and portrayed the alleged daughter of a kidnapped scientist, alongside Will Smith, in the Western Wild Wild West. Dogma was well received by critics and audiences, while Wild Wild West proved a commercial failure despite being one of most expensive films ever made when adjusting for inflation at the time of its release.

Hayek founded her production company, Ventanarosa, in 1999 through which she produces film and television projects. Her first feature as a producer was El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba (1999), Mexico's official selection for submission for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. ..... She produced and starred in the television film In the Time of the Butterflies (2001), based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name which covers the lives of the Mirabal sisters. Hayek played one of the sisters, Minerva, and Edward James Olmos played the Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, whom the sisters opposed.

Worldwide recognition (2002-2009)

In Julie Taymor's biographical film Frida (2002), Hayek served as a producer and starred as surrealist painter Frida Kahlo. She became interested in the role several years prior to commencing production for the film, having "been fascinated by Kahlo's work from the time she was 13 or 14", although not immediately a fan: "At that age I did not like her work [...] I found it ugly and grotesque. But something intrigued me, and the more I learned, the more I started to appreciate her work. There was a lot of passion and depth. Some people see only pain, but I also see irony and humor. I think what draws me to her is what [husband] Diego saw in her. She was a fighter. Many things could have diminished her spirit, like the accident or Diego's infidelities. But she wasn't crushed by anything". She was so determined to play the role that she sought out Dolores Olmedo Patino, longtime-lover of Diego Rivera, and, after his death, administrator to the rights of Frida and Rivera's art, which Rivera had "willed [...] to the Mexican people", bequeathing the trust to Olmedo. Hayek personally secured access to Kahlo's paintings from Kahlo and began to assemble a supporting cast, approaching Alfred Molina for the role of Rivera in 1998. Upon its release, Frida was a critical darling and an arthouse success. In his review for the film, David Denby of The New Yorker concluded: "Smart, willful, and perverse, this Frida is nobody's servant, and the tiny Hayek plays her with head held high". Her portrayal of Kahlo made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and earned her Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations for Best Actress.

In 2003, Hayek produced and directed The Maldonado Miracle, a Showtime film based on the book of the same name, for which she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special, reunited with Robert Rodriguez for Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and made an appearance in the documentary V-Day: Until the Violence Stops. Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which made $98.2 million worldwide, was the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy and featured Hayek reprising her role from Desperado.

In Brett Ratner's action comedy After the Sunset (2004), Hayek starred as the girlfriend of a master thief, with Pierce Brosnan. A box office flop, the film received largely negative reviews from critics. James Berardinelli found the film to be "a mess, but [it's] a fun, breezy mess", criticizing the overall heist and weak characterization but gave praise to the quick pacing chemistry between Brosnan and Hayek. In 2005, she served as a member of the 58th Cannes Film Festival jury, co-hosted the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Julianne Moore in Oslo, Norway, and directed a music video for Prince, titled "Te Amo Corazon" ("I love you, sweetheart") that featured Mía Maestro.

Hayek appeared alongside her good friend Penelope Cruz in the 2006 Western comedy Bandidas, portraying two women who become a bank robbing duo in an effort to combat a ruthless enforcer terrorizing their town. Randy Cordova of the Arizona Republic said the film "sports" Hayek and her co-star Penelope Cruz as the "lusty dream team" and that they were the "marketing fantasy" for the film. Bandidas was followed by Ask the Dust, a period romance set in Los Angeles based on a John Fante novel and co-starring Colin Farrell. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian found "something a little forced in both lead performances", and with a limited theatrical release, the film was not a financial success. Her last film of 2006 was Lonely Hearts, a neo-noir crime drama chronicling the notorious "lonely hearts killers" of the 1940s, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, in which Hayek played Beck, with Jared Leto taking on the role of Fernandez. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but the cast garnered praise. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stated: "When Hayek and Leto are onscreen, you do not look away."

Hayek served as an executive producer for the American television series (2006-2010), after adapting the story for American television with Ben Silverman, who acquired the rights and scripts from the Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea in 2001. Originally intended as a half-hour sitcom for NBC in 2004, the project would later be picked up by ABC for the 2006-2007 season with Silvio Horta also producing. She guest-starred on the series as Sofia Reyes, a magazine editor. Ugly Betty was a success with critics and audiences, won a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series in 2007, and earned Hayek nominations for both Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. After finalizing negotiations with MGM to become the CEO of her own Latin-themed film production company, Ventanarosa, in 2007, Hayek signed a two-year deal with ABC for Ventanarosa to develop projects for the network.

In 2007, Hayek made a cameo appearance, as a nurse singing a cover of The Beatles song "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", in Julie Taymor's jukebox musical romantic drama Across the Universe. The role of Madame Truska, a woman who can grow an indestructible beard, in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009), was Hayek's first acting project following the birth of her daughter. She characterized the film, which was an adaptation of the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan, as "a little bit of hard work. But it's not like I have to be emotionally devastated for months". The film was a critical and commercial failure. Screen Rant felt that Hayek is "fun as the bearded lady Madame Truska but [...] is unable to single-handedly elevate the material".

Continued commercial success (2010-2017)

In 2010, Hayek played a fashion designer and the wife of a Hollywood talent agent ( Adam Sandler) in the comedy Grown Ups which, despite a negative critical reception, made $271.4 million globally. She is the voice of Kitty Softpaws, a street-savvy Tuxedo cat, alongside Antonio Banderas in Puss in Boots (2011). A spin-off of the Shrek franchise, Puss in Boots received positive reviews from critics, grossed $554.9 million at the box office, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. In 2011, she also obtained Hispanic roles in two international productions -a dancer in the French drama Americano and the wife of a former advertising executive in the Spanish As Luck Would Have It - which earned her nominations for the San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best Actress and the Goya Award for Best Actress, respectively.

In 2012, Hayek directed Jada Pinkett Smith in the music video "Nada Se Compara", lent her voice for Peter Lord's animated film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, and played a cartel leader in Oliver Stone's action film Savages and a school nurse in Frank Coraci's comedy Here Comes the Boom. She reprised her role in Grown Ups 2 (2013) which, like the first film, was a commercial success despite a negative critical response.

Hayek served as a producer and provided her voice for the character of Kamila, a widowed mother, in The Prophet (2014), adapted from the 1923 book by Kahlil Gibran. Describing the film as a "love letter to my heritage", Hayek said it helped her explore her relationship with her late grandfather, who was a fan of the book, and remarked: "Between all the connections of our ancestors and the memories of the ones that are no longer with us, I hope they are proud of this film because I did it also for them". ..... Everly and Some Kind of Beautiful were both distributed for online markets and poorly received; while critics noted that the former "benefits from Joe Lynch's stylish direction and Salma Hayek's starring work, but it's too thinly written and sleazily violent to fully recommend", Rotten Tomatoes gave the latter a 6% rating based on 34 reviews.

In Tale of Tales (2015), a European fantasy film directed and written by Matteo Garrone, Hayek appeared as the 17th-century Queen of Longtrellis. A screen adaptation based on collections of tales by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile, the film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, Hayek voiced the role of Teresa del Taco in Sausage Party, an adult animated film she described as "the naughtiest thing I've ever done. I never thought I'd ever say some of those things out loud. But, I had a lot of fun [...] It's a different kind of crazy". The highest grossing R-rated animated film of all time, Sausage Party grossed $140.4 million worldwide.

Hayek took on the role of a holistic medicine practitioner who attends a wealthy client's dinner party in Miguel Arteta's drama Beatriz at Dinner (2017), which Owen Gleiberman of called a "small-scale but elegantly deft squirmfest that features a luminous performance" by the actress. That role earned Hayek an Independent Spirit Film Award nomination for Best Female Lead. ..... Her last film outing of 2017 was Patrick Hughes's action comedy The Hitman's Bodyguard, in which she starred as the wife of a convicted hitman, opposite Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. The film made an impressive $176.6 million globally.

Recent roles (2018-present)

..... In 2020, Hayek appeared as a cosmetics mogul in Miguel Arteta's comedy Like a Boss, with Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish, and the alternative wife of a man in Sally Potter's drama The Roads Not Taken, with Javier Bardem and Elle Fanning.

The drama Bliss (2021), which starred Hayek as a homeless woman befriending a recently divorced man ( Owen Wilson), was released on Amazon Prime Video. She next reunited with director Patrick Hughes and actors Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, the sequel for the 2017 film The Hitman's Bodyguard, which was released on June 16, 2021, to mediocre reviews. John Defore of The Hollywood Reporter, however, praised Hayek's "foul-mouthed" portrayal, writing: "The one smart thing the film does is promote Salma Hayek, as the eponymous spouse of Samuel L. Jackson's hitman, from the small but scene-stealing role she played in the first film. [...] At least we can appreciate Hayek's enthusiasm for the over-the-top role". Unlike the first film, Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard had lackluster box office returns.

Hayek portrayed Ajak, the wise and spiritual leader of the titular group, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe picture Eternals, directed by Chloé Zhao, who "personally selected" her for the role. Initially surprised by Marvel's interest on her casting, Hayek described her involvement in the film as "empowering" and recalled getting "emotional" upon seeing her character's superhero costume, stating: "It was because it means so much to so many people that, to think that for a Mexican girl -a Mexican woman in her 50s- was able to be a superhero. I felt a lot of pride to have my superhero outfit on. It meant something". The film, released in the United States on November 5, 2021, generated a divergent critical response and made $401 million worldwide, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of 2021. She has since signed a deal to star in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. Her last film of 2021 was Ridley Scott's biographical crime drama House of Gucci, in which she played the friend and confidante of Patrizia Reggiani, Giuseppina "Pina" Auriemma, alongside Lady Gaga as Reggiani, Adam Driver, and her Lonely Hearts co-star Jared Leto.

In June 2022, Hayek was cast in Angelina Jolie's upcoming film, Without Blood, based on the bestselling Italian novel by Alessandro Baricco. Currently shooting in Rome and southern Italy, Hayek will star in the film alongside Demián Bichi.

Other ventures

Hayek's charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants. On July 19, 2005, Hayek testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary supporting reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. In February 2006, she donated $25,000 to a Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, shelter for battered women and another $50,000 to Monterrey based anti-domestic violence groups. She is a board member of V-Day, the charity founded by playwright Eve Ensler. While Hayek previously stated that she is not a feminist, she later revised her stance, stating: "I am a feminist because a lot of amazing women have made me who I am today. [...] But - it should not be just because I am a woman".

Hayek also advocates breastfeeding. During a 2009 UNICEF fact-finding trip to Sierra Leone, for instance, she breastfed a hungry week-old baby whose mother could not produce milk. She said she did it to reduce the stigma associated with breastfeeding and to encourage infant nutrition. In 2010, Hayek's humanitarian work earned her a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Awards. In 2013, Hayek launched with Beyoncé and Frida Giannini a Gucci campaign, "Chime for Change", that aims to spread female empowerment. For International Women's Day 2014 Hayek was one of the artist signatories of Amnesty International's letter, to then British Prime Minister David Cameron, campaigning for women's rights in Afghanistan. Following her visit to Lebanon in 2015, Hayek criticized the discrimination against women there.

On December 13, 2017, Hayek published an op-ed in The New York Times stating that she had been harassed and abused by film producer Harvey Weinstein during the production of Frida.

In 2019, the Pinault family pledged US$113 million to support the reconstruction efforts of the burned Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. In 2020, Hayek raised awareness through her Instagram for the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen.

Endorsements

Hayek was a spokeswoman for Revlon in 1998 and has been a spokeswoman for Avon cosmetics since February 2004. She modeled for Chopard in 2001, was featured in a series of Spanish language commercials for Lincoln cars in 2002, and in Campari ads, photographed by Mario Testino, in 2006. On April 3, 2009, she helped introduce La Doña, a watch by Cartier inspired by fellow Mexican actress María Félix.

Hayek has worked with the Procter & Gamble Company and UNICEF to promote the funding (through disposable diaper sales) of vaccines against maternal and neonatal tetanus. She is a global spokesperson for the Pampers/UNICEF partnership to help raise awareness of the program. The partnership involves Procter & Gamble donating the cost of one tetanus vaccination (approximately 24 cents) for every pack of Pampers sold.

In 2008, Hayek co-founded Juice Generation's juice delivery program Cooler Cleanse. After writing the foreword to Juice Generation founder Eric Helms' 2014 book The Juice Generation: 100 Recipes for Fresh Juices and Superfood Smoothies, she and Helms launched the beauty subscription delivery service Blend It Yourself in 2017, based on Hayek's personal beauty elixirs, which supplies subscribers with the prepared organic frozen smoothie and acai bowl ingredients.

In 2011, Hayek launched her own line of cosmetics, skincare, and haircare products called Nuance by Salma Hayek, to be sold at CVS stores in North America.

Public image

..... Various media publications have cited her as one of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses. ..... The Armani dress Hayek wore to the 1997 Academy Awards was voted by E! Entertainment as one of the five most memorable in Oscar history.

From April 7 to June 18, 2006, the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center in San Antonio, Texas hosted an exhibition called "Solamente Salma" (Spanish for "Only Salma"), consisting of 16 portrait paintings by muralist George Yepes and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez of Hayek as the Aztec goddess Itzpapalotl. In July 2007, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Hayek 4th in their Latino Power 50, a list of the most powerful Latin members of Hollywood. In 2008, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award, in recognition of her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television, and Entertainment Weekly ranked her 17th in their list of the 25 Smartest People in TV.

Throughout her career, Hayek has graced the covers of numerous international magazines, including North America's , , Premiere, Glamour and ; Britain's Maxim, Marie Claire and Total Film; and France's Entrevue and Madame Figaro. She was one of fifteen women selected to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue, by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Personal life

Hayek is a naturalized United States citizen. She has studied at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment and practices yoga. .....

On March 9, 2007, Hayek confirmed her engagement to French billionaire and Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault as well as her pregnancy. She gave birth to their daughter on September 21, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. They were married on Valentine's Day 2009 in Paris. On April 25, 2009, they renewed their vows in Venice, Italy.

Filmography and accolades

Main page: List of roles and awards of Salma Hayek

Hayek's films that have earned the most at the box office, as of 2021, include:

Hayek's performance as Frida Kahlo in Frida (2002) garnered her nominations for Best Actress at the 75th Academy Awards, the 61st Golden Globe Awards, the 53rd British Academy Television Awards and the 9th Screen Actors Guild Awards. She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special for The Maldonado Miracle (2004) and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and the other for Outstanding Comedy Series as an executive producer, for her work on (2006-10). In 2011, Hayek was appointed Knight (Chevalier) of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit, and in 2021, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Salma Hayek Pinault ( , Spanish: [ˈsalma ˈxaʝek]; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela Teresa (1989-1991) as well as the romantic drama El Callejón de los Milagros (1995), for which she received an Ariel Award nomination.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954, in the Bronx, a part of New York. Her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico during World War II. Sonia was diagnosed with type I diabetes when she was eight years old. A year later her father died. Her mother had to work long days as a nurse to support Sonia and her brother.

Despite these difficulties, Sonia did well in school. A television series about a lawyer sparked her early interest in the law. After high school, she attended Princeton and Yale universities. She earned her law degree from Yale in 1979.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sonia Sotomayor is an American lawyer and judge who became a justice on the United States Supreme Court. She was appointed to the court by President Barack Obama in 2009....

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, Spanish: [ˈsonja sotomaˈʝoɾ]; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since August 8, 2009. She is the third woman, first woman of color, the first Hispanic, and first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court.

Sotomayor was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Puerto Rican-born parents. Her father died when she was nine, and she was subsequently raised by her mother. Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1979, where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. She worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for four and a half years before entering private practice in 1984. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board.

Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush in 1991; confirmation followed in 1992. In 1997, she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Her nomination was slowed by the Republican majority in the United States Senate, but she was eventually confirmed in 1998. On the Second Circuit, Sotomayor heard appeals in more than 3,000 cases and wrote about 380 opinions. Sotomayor has taught at the New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School.

In May 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice David Souter. Her nomination was confirmed by the Senate in August 2009 by a vote of 68-31. While on the Court, Sotomayor has supported the informal liberal bloc of justices when they divide along the commonly perceived ideological lines. During her Supreme Court tenure, Sotomayor has been identified with concern for the rights of defendants and criminal justice reform, and is known for her impassioned dissents on issues of race, gender and ethnic identity, including Schuette v. BAMN, Utah v. Strieff, and Trump v. Hawaii.

Sotomayor was born in the New York City borough of The Bronx. Her father was Juan Sotomayor (c. 1921-1964), from the area of Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and her mother was Celina Báez (1927-2021), an orphan from Santa Rosa in Lajas, a rural area on Puerto Rico's southwest coast.

The two left Puerto Rico separately, met, and married during World War II after Celina served in the Women's Army Corps. Juan Sotomayor had a third-grade education, did not speak English, and worked as a tool and die worker; Celina Baez worked as a telephone operator and then a practical nurse. Sonia's younger brother, Juan Sotomayor (born c. 1957), later became a physician and university professor in the Syracuse, New York, area.

Sotomayor was raised a Catholic and grew up in Puerto Rican communities in the South Bronx and East Bronx; she self-identifies as a "Nuyorican". The family lived in a South Bronx tenement before moving in 1957 to the well-maintained, racially and ethnically mixed, working-class Bronxdale Houses housing project in Soundview (which has over time been thought as part of both the East Bronx and South Bronx). In 2010, the Bronxdale Houses were renamed in her honor. Her relative proximity to Yankee Stadium led to her becoming a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees. The extended family got together frequently and regularly visited Puerto Rico during summers.

Sonia's mother was emotionally distant from her; she felt closest to her grandmother, who she later said gave her a source of "protection and purpose". Sonia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age seven, and began taking daily insulin injections. Her father died of heart problems at age 42, when she was nine years old. After this, she became fluent in English. Sotomayor has said that she was first inspired by the strong-willed Nancy Drew book character, and then after her diabetes diagnosis led doctors to suggest a different career from detective, she was inspired to go into a legal career and become a judge by watching the Perry Mason television series. She reflected in 1998: "I was going to college and I was going to become an attorney, and I knew that when I was ten. Ten. That's no jest."

Celina Sotomayor put great stress on the value of education; she bought the Encyclopædia Britannica for her children, something unusual in the housing projects. Despite the distance between the two, which became greater after her father's death and which was not fully reconciled until decades later, Sotomayor has credited her mother with being her "life inspiration". For grammar school, Sotomayor attended Blessed Sacrament School in Soundview, where she was valedictorian and had a near-perfect attendance record. Although underage, Sotomayor worked at a local retail store and a hospital. Sotomayor passed the entrance tests for and then attended Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx. At Cardinal Spellman, Sotomayor was on the forensics team and was elected to the student government. She graduated as valedictorian in 1972. Meanwhile, the Bronxdale Houses had fallen victim to increasing crime. In 1970, the family found refuge by moving to Co-op City in the Northeast Bronx.

College and law school

Sotomayor attended Princeton University. She has said she was admitted in part due to her achievements in high school and in part because affirmative action made up for her standardized test scores, which she described as "not comparable to her colleagues at Princeton and Yale." She would later say that there are cultural biases built into such testing and praise affirmative action for fulfilling "its purpose: to create the conditions whereby students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be brought to the starting line of a race many were unaware was even being run."

Sotomayor described her time at Princeton as life-changing. Initially, she felt like "a visitor landing in an alien country" coming from the Bronx and Puerto Rico. Princeton had few women students and fewer Latinos (about 20). She was too intimidated to ask questions during her freshman year; her writing and vocabulary skills were weak, and she lacked knowledge in the classics. She put in long hours in the library and over summers, worked with a professor outside of class, and gained skills, knowledge, and confidence. She became a moderate student activist and co-chair of the Acción Puertorriqueña organization, which served as a social and political hub and sought more opportunities for Puerto Rican students. She worked in the admissions office, traveling to high schools and lobbying on behalf of her best prospects.

As a student activist, Sotomayor focused on faculty hiring and curriculum, since Princeton did not have a single full-time Latino professor nor any class on Latin American studies. A meeting with university president William G. Bowen in her sophomore year saw no results, leading to Sotomayor's saying in a New York Times story at the time that "Princeton is following a policy of benign neutrality and is not making substantive efforts to change." Acción Puertorriqueña filed a formal letter of complaint in April 1974 with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, saying the school discriminated in its hiring and admission practices. Sotomayor wrote opinion pieces for the Daily Princetonian with the same theme. The university began to hire Latino faculty, and Sotomayor established an ongoing dialogue with Bowen. Sotomayor also successfully persuaded historian Peter Winn to create a seminar on Puerto Rican history and politics. Sotomayor joined the governance board of Princeton's Third World Center and served on the university's student-faculty Discipline Committee, which issued rulings on student infractions. She also ran an after-school program for local children and volunteered as an interpreter for Latino patients at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital.

Academically, Sotomayor stumbled her first year at Princeton, but later received almost all A's in her final two years of college. Sotomayor wrote her senior thesis on Luis Muñoz Marín, the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, and on the territory's struggles for economic and political self-determination. The 178-page work, "La Historia Ciclica de Puerto Rico: The Impact of the Life of Luis Muñoz Marin on the Political and Economic History of Puerto Rico, 1930-1975", won honorable mention for the Latin American Studies Thesis Prize. As a senior, Sotomayor won the Pyne Prize, the top award for undergraduates, which reflected both strong grades and extracurricular activities. In 1976, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude with an A.B. in history. She was influenced by critical race theory, which would be reflected in her later speeches and writings.

On August 14, 1976, just after graduating from Princeton, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan, whom she had dated since high school, in a small chapel at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. She used the married name Sonia Sotomayor de Noonan. He became a biologist and a patent lawyer.

Sotomayor entered Yale Law School in the fall of 1976. While she believes she again benefited from affirmative action to compensate for relatively low standardized test scores, a former dean of admissions at Yale has said that given her record at Princeton, it probably had little effect. At Yale she fit in well although she found there were again few Latino students. She was known as a hard worker but she was not considered among the star students in her class. Yale General Counsel and professor José A. Cabranes acted as an early mentor to her to successfully transition and work within "the system". She became an editor of the Yale Law Journal and was also managing editor of the student-run Yale Studies in World Public Order publication (later known as the Yale Journal of International Law). Sotomayor published a law review note on the effect of possible Puerto Rican statehood on the island's mineral and ocean rights. She was a semi-finalist in the Barristers Union mock trial competition. She served as the co-chair of a group for Latin, Asian, and Native American students, and continued to advocate for the hiring of more Hispanic faculty.

Following her second year, she gained a job as a summer associate with the prominent New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. By her own later evaluation, her performance there was lacking. She did not receive an offer for a full-time position, an experience that she later described as a "kick in the teeth" and one that would bother her for years. In her third year, she filed a formal complaint against the established Washington, D.C., law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge for suggesting during a recruiting dinner that she was at Yale only via affirmative action. Sotomayor refused to be interviewed by the firm further and filed her complaint with a faculty-student tribunal, which ruled in her favor. Her action triggered a campus-wide debate, and news of the firm's subsequent December 1978 apology made The Washington Post.

In 1979, Sotomayor was awarded a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. She was admitted to the New York Bar the following year.

Early legal career

On the recommendation of Cabranes, Sotomayor was hired out of law school as an assistant district attorney under New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau starting in 1979. In the courtroom, she was effective at cross examination and at simplifying a case in ways to which a jury could relate. In general, she showed a passion for bringing law and order to the streets of New York. She worked 15-hour days and gained a reputation for being driven and for her preparedness and fairness. One of her job evaluations labelled her a "potential superstar". Morgenthau later described her as "smart, hard-working, [and having] a lot of common sense," and as a "fearless and effective prosecutor." She stayed a typical length of time in the post and had a common reaction to the job: "After a while, you forget there are decent, law-abiding people in life."

Sotomayor and Noonan divorced amicably in 1983; they did not have children. She has said that the pressures of her working life were a contributing factor, but not the major factor, in the breakup. From 1983 to 1986, Sotomayor had an informal solo practice, dubbed Sotomayor & Associates, located in her Brooklyn apartment. She performed legal consulting work, often for friends or family members.

In 1984, she entered private practice, joining the commercial litigation practice group of Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate. One of 30 attorneys in the law firm, she specialized in intellectual property litigation, international law, and arbitration. She later said, "I wanted to complete myself as an attorney." Although she had no civil litigation experience, the firm recruited her heavily, and she learned quickly on the job. She was eager to try cases and argue in court, rather than be part of a larger law firm. Her clients were mostly international corporations doing business in the United States; much of her time was spent tracking down and suing counterfeiters of Fendi goods. In some cases, Sotomayor went on-site with the police to Harlem or Chinatown to have illegitimate merchandise seized, in the latter instance pursuing a fleeing culprit while riding on a motorcycle. The successful rounding up of thousands of counterfeit accessories in 1986 was celebrated by "Fendi Crush", a destruction-by-garbage-truck event at Tavern on the Green. At other times, she dealt with dry legal issues such as grain export contract disputes. In a 1986 appearance on Good Morning America that profiled women ten years after college graduation, she said that the bulk of law work was drudgery, and that while she was content with her life, she had expected greater things of herself coming out of college. In 1988 she became a partner at the firm; she was paid well but not extravagantly. She left in 1992 when she became a judge.

In addition to her law firm work, Sotomayor found visible public service roles. She was not connected to the party bosses that typically picked people for such jobs in New York, and indeed she was registered as an independent. Instead, District Attorney Morgenthau, an influential figure, served as her patron. In 1987, Governor of New York Mario Cuomo appointed Sotomayor to the board of the State of New York Mortgage Agency, which she served on until 1992. As part of one of the largest urban rebuilding efforts in American history, the agency helped low-income people get home mortgages and to provide insurance coverage for housing and hospices for sufferers of AIDS. Despite being the youngest member of a board composed of strong personalities, she involved herself in the details of the operation and was effective. She was vocal in supporting the right to affordable housing, directing more funds to lower-income home owners, and in her skepticism about the effects of gentrification, although in the end she voted in favor of most of the projects.

Sotomayor was appointed by Mayor Ed Koch in 1988 as one of the founding members of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, where she served for four years. There she took a vigorous role in the board's implementation of a voluntary scheme wherein local candidates received public matching funds in exchange for limits on contributions and spending and agreeing to greater financial disclosure. Sotomayor showed no patience with candidates who failed to follow regulations and was more of a stickler for making campaigns follow those regulations than some of the other board members. She joined in rulings that fined, audited, or reprimanded the mayoral campaigns of Koch, David Dinkins, and Rudy Giuliani.

Based upon another recommendation from Cabranes, Sotomayor was a member of the board of directors of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1980 to 1992. There she was a top policy maker who worked actively with the organization's lawyers on issues such as New York City hiring practices, police brutality, the death penalty, and voting rights. The group achieved its most visible triumph when it successfully blocked a city primary election on the grounds that New York City Council boundaries diminished the power of minority voters.

During 1985 and 1986, Sotomayor served on the board of the Maternity Center Association, a Manhattan-based non-profit group which focused on improving the quality of maternity care.

Federal district judge

Sotomayor had wanted to become a judge since she was in elementary school, and in 1991 she was recommended for a spot by Democratic New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Moynihan had an unusual bipartisan arrangement with his fellow New York senator, Republican Al D'Amato, whereby he would get to choose roughly one out of every four New York district court seats even though a Republican was in the White House. Moynihan also wanted to fulfill a public promise he had made to get a Hispanic judge appointed for New York. When Moynihan's staff recommended her to him, they said "Have we got a judge for you!" Moynihan identified with her socio-economic and academic background and became convinced she would become the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. D'Amato became an enthusiastic backer of Sotomayor, who was seen as politically centrist at the time. Of the impending drop in salary from private practice, Sotomayor said: "I've never wanted to get adjusted to my income because I knew I wanted to go back to public service. And in comparison to what my mother earns and how I was raised, it's not modest at all."

Sotomayor was thus nominated on November 27, 1991, by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by John M. Walker Jr. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, led by a friendly Democratic majority, went smoothly for her in June 1992, with her pro bono activities winning praise from Senator Ted Kennedy and her getting unanimous approval from the committee. Then a Republican senator blocked her nomination and that of three others for a while in retaliation for an unrelated block Democrats had put on another nominee. D'Amato objected strongly; some weeks later, the block was dropped, and Sotomayor was confirmed by unanimous consent of the full United States Senate on August 11, 1992, and received her commission the next day.

Sotomayor became the youngest judge in the Southern District and the first Hispanic federal judge in New York State. She became the first Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in a U.S. federal court. She was one of seven women among the district's 58 judges. She moved from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, back to the Bronx in order to live within her district.

Court of Appeals judge

On June 25, 1997, Sotomayor was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which was vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney.

Over her ten years on the Second Circuit, Sotomayor heard appeals in more than 3,000 cases and wrote about 380 opinions when she was in the majority. The Supreme Court reviewed five of those, reversing three and affirming two-not high numbers for an appellate judge of that many years and a typical percentage of reversals.

In 2005, Senate Democrats suggested Sotomayor, among others, to President George W. Bush as an acceptable nominee to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Supreme Court justice

Main page: Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination

Following Barack Obama's 2008 presidential election victory, speculation arose that Sotomayor could be a leading candidate for a Supreme Court seat. On May 26, 2009, Obama nominated her. She became only the second jurist to be nominated to three different judicial positions by three different presidents.

On July 28, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 in favor of Sotomayor's nomination, sending it to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. Every Democrat voted in her favor, as did one Republican, Lindsey Graham. On August 6, 2009, Sotomayor was confirmed by the full Senate by a vote of 68-31. All Democrats present, along with the Senate's two Independents plus nine Republicans, voted for her.

President Obama commissioned Sotomayor on the day of her confirmation, and her swearing-in ceremony took place on August 8, 2009, at the Supreme Court Building. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court, and is one of six women who have served on the Court, along with Sandra Day O'Connor (from 1981 to 2006), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (from 1993 to 2020), Elena Kagan (since 2010), Amy Coney Barrett (since 2020), and Ketanji Brown Jackson (since 2022). Sotomayor's appointment gave the Court a record six Roman Catholic justices serving at the same time.

On January 20 and 21, 2013, Sotomayor administered the oath to Vice President Joe Biden for the inauguration of his second term. Sotomayor became the first Hispanic and fourth woman to administer the oath to a president or vice president. On January 20, 2021, Sotomayor administered the oath of office to Kamala Harris for her inauguration as vice president, the first woman to ever hold the office.

By the end of her fifth year on the Court, Sotomayor had become especially visible in oral arguments and in passionate dissents from various majority rulings, especially those involving issues of race, gender and ethnic identity.

During her tenure on the Court, Sotomayor has also become recognizable as being among the Court's strongest voices in supporting the rights of the accused. She has been identified by Laurence Tribe as the foremost voice on the Court calling for reforming criminal justice adjudication-in particular as it relates misconduct by police and prosecutors, abuses in prisons, concerns about how the death penalty is used, and the potential for loss of privacy-and Tribe has compared her will to reform in general to that of past Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Other activities

Sotomayor was an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law from 1998 to 2007. There she taught trial and appellate advocacy as well as a federal appellate court seminar. Beginning in 1999, she was also a lecturer in law at Columbia Law School in a paying, adjunct faculty position. While there she created and co-taught a class called the Federal Appellate Externship each semester from 2000 until her departure; it combined classroom, moot court, and Second Circuit chambers work. She became a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton University in 2006, concluding her term in 2011. In 2008, Sotomayor became a member of the Belizean Grove, an invitation-only women's group modeled after the men's Bohemian Grove. On June 19, 2009, Sotomayor resigned from the Belizean Grove after Republican politicians voiced concerns over the group's membership policy.

Sotomayor has maintained a public presence, mostly through making speeches, since joining the federal judiciary and throughout her time on the Supreme Court. She gave over 180 speeches between 1993 and 2009, about half of which either focused on issues of ethnicity or gender or were delivered to minority or women's groups. While on the Supreme Court she has been invited to give commencement addresses at a number of universities including New York University (2012), Yale University (2013), and the University of Puerto Rico (2014). Her speeches have tended to give a more defined picture of her worldview than her rulings on the bench. The themes of her speeches have often focused on ethnic identity and experience, the need for diversity, and America's struggle with the implications of its diverse makeup. She has also presented her career achievements as an example of the success of affirmative action policies in university admissions, saying "I am the perfect affirmative action baby" in regard to her belief that her admission test scores were not comparable to those of her classmates. During 2012 while already on the Supreme Court, Sotomayor made two appearances as herself on the children's television program Sesame Street, explaining what a vocational career is in general and then demonstrating how a judge hears a case.

In July 2010, Sotomayor signed a contract with Alfred A. Knopf to publish a memoir about the early part of her life. She received an advance of nearly $1.2 million for the work, which was published in January 2013 and titled My Beloved World ( Mi mundo adorado in the simultaneously published Spanish edition). It focuses on her life up to 1992, with recollections of growing up in housing projects in New York and descriptions of the challenges she faced. It received good reviews, with Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times describing it as "a compelling and powerfully written memoir about identity and coming of age. ... It's an eloquent and affecting testament to the triumph of brains and hard work over circumstance, of a childhood dream realized through extraordinary will and dedication." She staged a book tour to promote the work, and it debuted atop the New York Times Best Seller List.

In January 2021, Sonia Sotomayor swore in Kamala Harris as the Vice President of the United States. It was considered historic as Sotomayor is the first Woman of Color to serve on the Supreme Court and Harris is the first Woman, African-American, and Asian American Vice President.

Awards and honors

Sotomayor has received honorary law degrees from Lehman College (1999), Princeton University (2001), Brooklyn Law School (2001), Pace University School of Law (2003), Hofstra University (2006), Northeastern University School of Law (2007), Howard University (2010), St. Lawrence University (2010), Paris Nanterre University (2010), New York University (2012), Yale University (2013), and the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras (2014).

She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2002. She was given the Outstanding Latino Professional Award in 2006 by the Latino/a Law Students Association. In 2008, Esquire magazine included Sotomayor on its list of "The 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century". In 2013, Sotomayor won the Woodrow Wilson Award at her alma mater Princeton University.

In June 2010, the Bronxdale Houses development, where Sotomayor grew up, was renamed after her. The Justice Sonia Sotomayor Houses and Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community Center comprise 28 buildings with some 3,500 residents. While many New York housing developments are named after well-known people, this was only the second to be named after a former resident. In 2011, the Sonia M. Sotomayor Learning Academies, a public high school complex in Los Angeles, was named after her.

In 2013, a painting featuring her, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Elena Kagan was unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

In May 2015 she received the Katharine Hepburn medal from Bryn Mawr College.

In 2019, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

In Spanish: Sonia Sotomayor para niños

Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates

Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States

History of women in Puerto Rico

List of Puerto Ricans

List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 3)

List of Roman Catholic United States Supreme Court justices

List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office

Nuyorican

Puerto Ricans in the United States

Images for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the biography of Sonia Sotomayor including her early life, career as a lawyer, education, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and fun facts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman astronaut. She was also a scientist and an inventor. She helped create several systems that use lasers to gather and process information from images.

Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10, 1958, in Los Angeles, California. She grew up in La Mesa, a town near San Diego, and graduated from San Diego State University in 1980. She studied physics in college, but she was also interested in music and played the flute. She continued both her music and her science studies after college. Ochoa earned a master's degree and a doctorate from Stanford University in electrical engineering. She also played with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra.

In graduate school Ochoa concentrated on optics. Optics is the study of how light behaves. She continued that work at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. She helped create optical systems for recognizing objects. Later she worked at the Ames Research Center designing computer systems. Ames is associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). All of her skills helped her gain admission to NASA's astronaut program in 1990.

Ochoa became an astronaut in 1991. She flew on her first mission, on the space shuttle Discovery, two years later. By 2002 she had flown on four shuttle flights. On the shuttle she oversaw experiments and operated a robotic arm to move other astronauts and equipment around.

After her career as an astronaut Ochoa continued to work for science agencies. She served as director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for several years. Later she was the chair of the National Science Board. She often spoke to groups of students of all ages about her experiences as an astronaut.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman astronaut. She was also a scientist and an inventor. She helped create several systems that use lasers to gather and process...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography and life of scientist and astronaut Ellen Ochoa. The Hispanic woman to travel to outer space.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and 15 at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch, the longest recorded of any female head of state in history, and the second-longest verified reign of any sovereign in history.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

Significant events include Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. She faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family, particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. She was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Throughout her lifetime, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high, as did her personal popularity. Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, on 8 September 2022, and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and of 14 other sovereign countries from 6 February 1952 until her death. Her reign of 70 years and seven months was the longest of any British monarch.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in April 2021. They had four children together: Charles, King of the United Kingdom; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

Significant events include Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Elizabeth was the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state, and the second-longest verifiable reigning sovereign monarch in world history. She faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family, particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high, as did her personal popularity. Elizabeth died on 8 September 2022.

Elizabeth was born at 02:40 ( GMT) on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. Her father, the Duke of York (later King George VI), was the second son of the King. Her mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, at whose London home (17 Bruton Street, Mayfair) she was delivered by Caesarean section. She was baptised by the Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother. Called "Lilibet" by her close family, based on what she called herself at first, she was cherished by her grandfather, George V, whom she affectionately called "Grandpa England", and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.

Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".

Heir presumptive

Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her own age. Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.

In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and the United States. As in 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain, since her father thought her too young to undertake public tours. She "looked tearful" as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.

Second World War

In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Lord Hailsham suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the . This was rejected by their mother, who declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave." The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they lived for most of the next five years. At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments. In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well."

In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed colonel the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, parliament changed the law so she could act as one of five Counsellors of State in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944. In February 1945, she was appointed as an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number of 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander (female equivalent of captain at the time) five months later.

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the streets of London. Elizabeth later said in a rare interview, "We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."

During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war. Welsh politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the King rejected it because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent. In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

Princess Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong." The speech was written by Dermot Morrah, a journalist for .

Main page: Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten

The engagement was not without controversy; Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin." Later biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about the union initially, and teased Philip as "The Hun". In later life, however, the Queen Mother told biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".

Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family. Shortly before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style His Royal Highness. Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world. Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown (which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war. In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII.

Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near Windsor Castle, until July 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in the British Crown Colony of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten. Their two children remained in Britain.

Accession and coronation

Main page: Coronation of Elizabeth II

George VI's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she toured Canada and visited President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C., in October 1951, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration in case of the King's death while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of George VI and Elizabeth's consequent accession to the throne with immediate effect. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name; thus she was called Elizabeth II, which offended many Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland. She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace.

With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed probable that the royal house would bear the Duke of Edinburgh's name, in line with the custom of a wife taking her husband's surname on marriage. Lord Mountbatten advocated the name House of Mountbatten. Philip suggested House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title. The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth's grandmother, Queen Mary, favoured the retention of the House of Windsor, so Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that Windsor would continue to be the name of the royal house. The Duke complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.

Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcé‚ 16 years Margaret's senior and with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought-she hoped-given time, the affair would peter out." Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not permit remarriage after divorce. If Margaret had contracted a civil marriage, she would have been expected to renounce her right of succession. Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend.

Despite the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested before she died. The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, with the exception of the anointing and communion, was televised for the first time. On Elizabeth's instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries.

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth

In 1956, the British and French prime ministers, Sir Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet, discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union. In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal. Lord Mountbatten said the Queen was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.

The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led, in 1957, to the first major personal criticism of the Queen. In a magazine, which he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch". Altrincham was denounced by public figures and slapped by a member of the public appalled by his comments. Six years later, in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home as prime minister, advice she followed. The Queen again came under criticism for appointing the prime minister on the advice of a small number of ministers or a single minister. In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader, thus relieving her of involvement.

Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew, on 19 February 1960, which was the first birth to a reigning British monarch since 1857. Her fourth child, Prince Edward, was born on 10 March 1964.

In addition to performing traditional ceremonies, the Queen had also instituted new practices. Her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970.

Acceleration of decolonisation

The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. More than 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, in opposition to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence while expressing "loyalty and devotion" to Elizabeth, declaring her "Queen of Rhodesia". Although the Queen formally dismissed him, and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a decade. As Britain's ties to its former empire weakened, the British government sought entry to the European Community, a goal it achieved in 1973.

The Queen toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first British monarch to visit a communist country. She was received at the airport by President Josip Broz Tito, and a crowd of thousands greeted her in Belgrade.

A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals. As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to the Queen to reverse Kerr's decision. She declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the Governor-General. The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.

Silver Jubilee

In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with her associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations re-affirmed the Queen's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, the Queen endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena, though privately she thought they had "blood on their hands". The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her relative and in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said the Queen found Trudeau "rather disappointing". Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind the Queen's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office. In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found the Queen "better informed ... than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats". She was particularly interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.

Press scrutiny and Thatcher premiership

During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at the Queen from close range as she rode down The Mall, London, on her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three. The Queen's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised. That October the Queen was the subject of another attack while on a visit to Dunedin, New Zealand. Christopher John Lewis, who was 17 years old, fired a shot with a .22 rifle from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the parade, but missed. Lewis was arrested, but never charged with attempted murder or treason, and sentenced to three years in jail for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. Two years into his sentence, he attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital with the intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with Diana and their son Prince William.

Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, not all of which were entirely true. As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of , told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true-so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards." Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that the Queen was worried that Margaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation. Thatcher reputedly said the Queen would vote for the Social Democratic Party-Thatcher's political opponents. Thatcher's biographer, John Campbell, claimed "the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making". Reports of acrimony between them were exaggerated, and the Queen gave two honours in her personal gift-membership in the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter-to Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by John Major. Brian Mulroney, Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid.

In 1986, the Queen paid a six-day state visit to China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country. The tour included the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Warriors. At a state banquet, the Queen joked about the first British emissary to China being lost at sea with Queen Elizabeth I's letter to the Wanli Emperor, and remarked, "fortunately postal services have improved since 1602". The Queen's visit also signified the acceptance of both countries that sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.

By the end of the 1980s, the Queen had become the target of satire. The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout in 1987 was ridiculed. In Canada, Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive constitutional amendments, prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed changes, including Pierre Trudeau. The same year, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup. As monarch of Fiji, Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic.

Turbulent 1990s and annus horribilis

In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, the Queen became the first British monarch to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress in May 1991.

On 24 November 1992, in a speech to mark the Ruby Jubilee of her accession to the throne, Elizabeth called 1992 her annus horribilis (a Latin phrase, meaning "horrible year"). Republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of the Queen's private wealth-contradicted by the Palace-and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family. In March, her second son, Prince Andrew, separated from his wife, Sarah, and Mauritius removed Elizabeth as head of state; her daughter, Princess Anne, divorced Captain Mark Phillips in April; angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at the Queen during a state visit to Germany in October; and a large fire broke out at Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, in November. The monarchy came under increased criticism and public scrutiny. In an unusually personal speech, the Queen said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, Prime Minister John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including the Queen paying income tax from 1993 onwards, and a reduction in the civil list. In December, Prince Charles and his wife, Diana, formally separated. At the end of the year, the Queen sued newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before it was broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees and donated £200,000 to charity. The Queen's solicitors had taken action against The Sun five years earlier for breach of copyright, after it published a photograph of her daughter-in-law the Duchess of York and her granddaughter Princess Beatrice. The case was solved with an out-of-court settlement that ordered the newspaper to pay $180,000.

In January 1994, the Queen broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist as the horse she was riding at Sandringham House tripped and fell. In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil. During the four-day visit, which is considered to be one of the most important foreign trips of the Queen's reign, she and Philip attended events in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In October 1995, the Queen was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien. The Queen, who believed that she was speaking to Chrétien, said she supported Canadian unity, and would try to influence Quebec's referendum on proposals to break away from Canada.

In the year that followed, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued. In consultation with her husband and John Major, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, and her private secretary, Robert Fellowes, Elizabeth wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, suggesting that a divorce would be advisable.

In October 1997, Elizabeth and Philip made a state visit to India, which included a controversial visit to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to pay her respects. Protesters chanted "Killer Queen, go back", and there were demands for her to apologise for the action of British troops 78 years earlier. At the memorial in the park, she and the Duke paid their respects by laying a wreath and stood for a 30‑second moment of silence. As a result, much of the fury among the public softened and the protests were called off.

In November of that year, the Queen and her husband held a reception at Banqueting House to mark their golden wedding anniversary. Elizabeth made a speech and praised Philip for his role as a consort, referring to him as "my strength and stay".

Golden Jubilee

On the eve of the new millennium, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing under Tower Bridge, the Queen lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool of London using a laser torch. Shortly before midnight, she officially opened the Dome. During the singing of Auld Lang Syne, the Queen held hands with the Duke and British prime minister Tony Blair.

In 2003, the Queen sued Daily Mirror for breach of confidence and obtained an injunction which prevented the outlet from publishing information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at Buckingham Palace. The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal costs. Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 the Queen had keyhole surgery on both knees. In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer.

In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, The Daily Telegraph reported that the Queen was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair. She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007. On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, the Queen attended the first Maundy service held outside England and Wales.

Diamond Jubilee and longevity

The Queen, who opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, also opened the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries. For the London Olympics, she played herself in a short film as part of the opening ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. On 4 April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA for her patronage of the film industry and was called "the most memorable Bond girl yet" at the award ceremony.

On 3 March 2013, Elizabeth stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis. A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth. Because of her age and the need for her to limit travelling, in 2013 she chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time in 40 years. She was represented at the summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles. On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth heads of government announced that she will be succeeded by Charles as Head of the Commonwealth, which she stated was her "sincere wish". She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018. In March 2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of a car crash involving her husband two months earlier.

The Queen surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch on 21 December 2007, and the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe on 21 November 2017. On 6 February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee, and on 20 November, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary. Philip had retired from his official duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, the Queen moved to Windsor Castle and sequestered there as a precaution. Public engagements were cancelled and Windsor Castle followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed "HMS Bubble". On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24 million viewers in the UK, she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again." On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of VE Day, in a TV broadcast at 9p.m.-the exact time at which her father George VI had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945-she asked people to "never give up, never despair". In October, she visited the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Wiltshire, her first public engagement since the start of the pandemic. On 4 November, she appeared masked for the first time in public, during a private pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, to mark the centenary of his burial. In 2021, she received her first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April respectively.

Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021, after 73 years of marriage, making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower since Queen Victoria. She was reportedly at her husband's bedside when he died, and remarked in private that his death had "left a huge void". Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the time, the Queen sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world. In her Christmas broadcast that year, she paid a personal tribute to her "beloved Philip", saying, "That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him".

Platinum Jubilee

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee began on 6 February 2022, marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on her father's death. On the eve of the date, she held a reception at Sandringham House for pensioners, local Women's Institute members and charity volunteers. In her Accession Day message, Elizabeth renewed her commitment to a lifetime of public service, which she had originally made in 1947.

Later that month, the Queen had "mild cold-like symptoms" and tested positive for COVID-19, along with some staff and family members. She cancelled two virtual audiences on 22 February, but held a phone conversation with Prime Minister Boris Johnson the following day amid a crisis on the Russo-Ukrainian border, following which she made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. On 28 February, she was reported to have recovered and spent time with her family at Frogmore. On 7 March, the Queen met Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle, in her first in-person engagement since her COVID diagnosis. She later remarked that COVID infection "leave[s] one very tired and exhausted ... It's not a nice result."

The Queen was present at the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was unable to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service that month or the Royal Maundy Service in April. She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years. (She did not attend in 1959 and 1963 as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, respectively.) In her absence, Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge as Counsellors of State. On 17 May, the Queen officially opened the Elizabeth line in central London.

During the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen was largely confined to balcony appearances, and missed the National Service of Thanksgiving. For the Jubilee concert, she took part in a sketch with Paddington Bear, that opened the event outside Buckingham Palace. On 13 June 2022, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in history among those whose exact dates of reign are known, with 70 years, 127 days reigned-surpassing King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. On 6 September 2022, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the first time she did not receive a new prime minister at Buckingham Palace during her reign.

The Queen did not intend to abdicate, though she took on fewer public engagements as she grew older and Prince Charles took on more of her duties.

On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that Elizabeth was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle after doctors expressed concern. The statement read: "Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral." Elizabeth's four children, along with her daughters-in-law Camilla and Sophie and grandsons William and Harry, travelled to Balmoral. Her death was confirmed that evening at 18:30 BST, setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn.

Her funeral was at Westminster Abbey at 11am BST on 19 September 2022 and she was interred at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, part of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, later that day.

Public perception and character

Beliefs, activities and interests

Elizabeth rarely gave interviews and little was known of her personal feelings. She did not explicitly express her own political opinions in a public forum, and it is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When journalist Paul Routledge asked the Queen for her opinions on the miners' strike of 1984-85, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Widely criticised in the media for asking the question, Routledge said he was not initially due to be present for the royal visit and was unaware of the protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the Queen was pleased with the outcome. She had arguably issued a public coded statement about the referendum by telling one woman outside Balmoral Kirk that she hoped people would think "very carefully" about the outcome. It emerged later that Cameron had specifically requested that she register her concern.

Elizabeth had a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and took her Coronation Oath seriously. Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, she worshipped with that church and also the national Church of Scotland. She demonstrated support for inter-faith relations and met with leaders of other churches and religions, including five popes: Pius XII, John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. A personal note about her faith often featured in her annual Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth. In 2000, she said:

To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.

Elizabeth was patron of more than 600 organisations and charities. The Charities Aid Foundation estimated that Elizabeth helped raise over £1.4 billion for her patronages during her reign. Her main leisure interests included equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Her lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 with Dookie, the first corgi owned by her family. Scenes of a relaxed, informal home life were occasionally witnessed; she and her family, from time to time, prepared a meal together and washed the dishes afterwards.

Media depiction and public opinion

In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the Second World War, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age". Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of the monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion. She dressed with an eye toward what is appropriate, rather than what is in vogue. In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd. Her wardrobe was handled by a team that includes five dressers, a dressmaker, and a milliner.

At the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic, but, in the 1980s, public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny. Her popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public. Although support for republicanism in Britain seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republican ideology was still a minority viewpoint and the Queen herself had high approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of the Queen's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of the former Princess of Wales, Diana, although Elizabeth's personal popularity-as well as general support for the monarchy-rebounded after her live television broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death.

In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state. Many republicans credited Elizabeth's personal popularity with the survival of the monarchy in Australia. In 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard noted that there was a "deep affection" for the Queen in Australia and another referendum on the monarchy should wait until after her reign. Gillard's successor, Malcolm Turnbull, who led the republican campaign in 1999, similarly believed that Australians would not vote to become a republic in her lifetime. "She's been an extraordinary head of state", Turnbull said in 2021, "and I think frankly, in Australia, there are more Elizabethans than there are monarchists". Similarly, referendums in both Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 saw voters reject proposals to become republics.

Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for the monarchy, and in 2012, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 percent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from the monarchy and subsequent move to the United States. Whilst not as universal as it once was, various polling suggested the popularity of the monarchy remained high in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, with the Queen's personal popularity remaining particularly strong. As of 2021 she remained the third most admired woman in the world according to the annual Gallup poll, her 52 appearances on the list meaning she had been in the top ten more than any other woman in the poll's history.

Elizabeth was portrayed in a variety of media by many notable artists, including painters Pietro Annigoni, Peter Blake, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, Terence Cuneo, Lucian Freud, Rolf Harris, Damien Hirst, Juliet Pannett and Tai-Shan Schierenberg. Notable photographers of Elizabeth included Cecil Beaton, Yousuf Karsh, Anwar Hussein, Annie Leibovitz, Lord Lichfield, Terry O'Neill, John Swannell and Dorothy Wilding. The first official portrait photograph of Elizabeth was taken by Marcus Adams in 1926.

Elizabeth's personal wealth was the subject of speculation for many years. In 1971, Jock Colville, her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth at £2 million (equivalent to about £20 million in 2021 ). In 1993, Buckingham Palace called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated". In 2002, she inherited an estate worth an estimated £70 million from her mother. The Sunday Times Rich List 2020 estimated her personal wealth at £350 million, making her the 372nd richest person in the UK. She was number one on the list when it began in the Sunday Times Rich List 1989, with a reported wealth of £5.2 billion, which included state assets that were not hers personally, (approximately £9.32 billion in today's value).

The Royal Collection, which includes thousands of historic works of art and the Crown Jewels, is not owned personally but was described as being held in trust by the Queen for her successors and the nation, as were her official residences, such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £472 million in 2015. The Paradise Papers, leaked in 2017, show that the Duchy of Lancaster held investments in the British tax havens of the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. Sandringham House in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire were personally owned by the Queen. The Crown Estate - with holdings of £14.3 billion in 2019 - is held in trust and could not be sold or owned by her in a personal capacity.

Titles, styles, honours, and arms

Titles and styles

21 April 1926 - 11 December 1936: Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York

11 December 1936 - 20 November 1947: Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth

20 November 1947 - 6 February 1952: Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh

6 February 1952 - 8 September 2022: Her Majesty The Queen

Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, was sovereign of many orders in her own countries, and received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms, she had a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories in Saint Lucia, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories in Australia, etc. In the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, which are Crown Dependencies rather than separate realms, she was known as Duke of Normandy and Lord of Mann, respectively. Additional styles include Defender of the Faith and Duke of Lancaster.

When conversing with the Queen, the correct etiquette was to address her initially as Your Majesty and thereafter as Ma'am (pronounced), with a short 'a' as in jam.

Ancestors of Elizabeth II

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and 15 at the time of her death.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(born 1977). Colombian musician Shakira was one of the most successful Latin American recording artists beginning in the early 2000s. She achieved success in both Spanish- and English-speaking markets.

Shakira was born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll on February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, to a Lebanese father and a Colombian mother. She started belly dancing when she was young and by age 10 had begun writing songs and taking part in talent competitions. In 1990 Shakira was signed to a record deal. Her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), were not very successful. After taking a break from recording to act in the Latin soap opera El oasis, Shakira resumed her music career with Pies descalzos (1995). The album produced several hit songs, including "Estoy aquí," "Pienso en ti," and "Un poco de amor."

After releasing the album ¿Dónde están los ladrones? in 1998, Shakira focused on establishing herself in the American market. In 2001 her album MTV Unplugged (2000) won the Grammy Award for best Latin pop album, and she released her first English-language album, Laundry Service, that same year. Although her English-language songwriting skills were questioned by some (Shakira wrote all her own lyrics), Laundry Service sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.

Shakira continued her crossover success in 2005 with the release of the Spanish-language Fijación oral, vol. 1 in June and the English-language Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 in November. Both albums debuted in the top five in the United States, and her single "Hips Don't Lie" (featuring Wyclef Jean) topped charts around the world in 2006. At that year's Latin Grammy Awards, she captured song-of-the-year and record-of-the-year awards for the single "La tortura," and Fijación oral, vol. 1 was named album of the year as well as best female pop vocal album. A live recording, Oral Fixation Tour, followed in 2007. Also that year Shakira performed in Hamburg, Germany, as part of Live Earth, a worldwide concert series organized to bring attention to climate change and environmental sustainability.

For her next English-language album, She Wolf (2009), Shakira adopted an electro-pop sound. The following year her song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," a collaboration with a South African band, was chosen as the official anthem of the 2010 World Cup. The track later appeared on her album Sale el sol (2010), which earned a Latin Grammy for best female pop vocal album. In 2013 Shakira became a coach on the American televised singing competition The Voice.

Shakira devoted considerable time and energy to social causes. In 2003 she became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, traveling internationally to raise awareness of the struggles of children in less-developed countries. She also created the Pies Descalzos Foundation, which focused on helping children displaced by violence in Colombia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(born 1977). Colombian musician Shakira was one of the most successful Latin American recording artists beginning in the early 2000s. She achieved success in both Spanish- and English-speaking markets. Shakira was born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll on February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, to a Lebanese father and a Colombian mother.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( born 2 February 1977), known mononymously as Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. She has been referred to as the "Queen of Latin Music". With a catalog of 145 songs, Shakira has sold over 95 million records, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of William Mebarak Chadid and Nidia Ripoll Torrado. She has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage.

Shakira spent much of her youth in Barranquilla, a city located on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Shakira wrote her first poem, titled "La rosa de cristal" ('The Crystal Rose'), when she was only four years old. As she was growing up, she was fascinated watching her father writing stories on a typewriter, and asked for one as a Christmas gift. She got that typewriter at age seven, and has continued writing poetry since then. These poems eventually evolved into songs.

When Shakira was four, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first heard the doumbek, a traditional drum used in Middle-Eastern music and which typically accompanied belly dancing. She started dancing on the table, and the experience made her realize that she wanted to be a performer.

She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and even the nuns) at her Catholic school, but in second grade, she was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat".

Between ages ten and thirteen, Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. It was at this approximate time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá, Ariza convinced Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition for Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Undaunted and still convinced that Shakira had talent, Vargas set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.

Career outline

Shakira made her recording debut with Sony Music Colombia at the age of 13. Following the commercial failure of her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), she rose to prominence in Hispanic countries with her next albums, Pies Descalzos (1995) and Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998).

She entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service (2001), which sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Buoyed by the international success of her singles "Whenever, Wherever" and "Underneath Your Clothes", the album propelled her reputation as a leading crossover artist. Broadcast Music, Inc., described Shakira as a "pioneer" who extended the global reach of Latino singers.

Her success was further solidified with the Spanish albums Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (2005), Sale el Sol (2010), and El Dorado (2017), all of which topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and were certified diamond (Latin) by the Recording Industry Association of America. Meanwhile, her English albums Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005), (2009) and Shakira (2014) were all certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum in various countries worldwide.

Some of her songs have charted at number one in multiple countries, including "Whenever, Wherever", "La Tortura", "Hips Don't Lie", "Beautiful Liar", "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", "Loca", "Rabiosa", "Can't Remember to Forget You", "Chantaje", "Me Gusta", "Te Felicito", "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", "TQG", and "Copa Vacía".

She served as a coach on two seasons of the American singing competition television series The Voice (2013-2014).

On 11 January 2023, Shakira released the single "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", a collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizarrap. The single reached record-breaking success on Spotify and YouTube.

She is credited with opening the doors of the international market for other Latin artists. She has received numerous awards, including three Grammy Awards, twelve Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2023 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), seven Billboard Music Awards, thirty-nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, twenty-one Guinness World Records, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was named the Top Female Latin Artist of the Decade by Billboard twice (2000s and 2010s).

Personal life

Shakira began a relationship with Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rúa in 2000. In a 2009 interview, Shakira stated their relationship already worked as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that".

After 10 years together, Shakira and de la Rúa separated in August 2010 in what she described as "a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship".

Shakira entered a relationship with the Spanish football player Gerard Piqué in 2011. Piqué, who is exactly ten years her junior, and Shakira met in spring 2010 after he appeared in the music video for Shakira's song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Shakira gave birth to the couple's first son, Milan, on 22 January 2013 in Barcelona, where the family took residence. Shakira gave birth to their second son, Sasha, on 29 January 2015. listed Shakira and Piqué in their list of "World's Most Powerful Couples". In June 2022, the couple confirmed in a joint statement that they were separating after being together for 11 years.

Philantropy

To instill gratitude in Shakira for her upbringing, her father took her to a local park to see orphans who lived there. The images stayed with her, and she said to herself: "One day I'm going to help these kids when I become a famous artist."

In 1997, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation (Barefoot Foundation), a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. It was funded by Shakira and other international groups and individuals. The name of the foundation was taken from Shakira's third studio album, Pies Descalzos, which she released in 1995. The foundation's main focus is on aid through education, and the organization has five schools across Colombia that provide education and meals for 4,000 children. On 27 April 2014 Shakira was honored with the Hero Award at the Radio Disney Music Awards for her Fundación Pies Descalzos work.

In 2005, Shakira became a founding member of Latin America in Solidarity Action, a coalition of artists and business leaders seeking to promote integrated early childhood public policies. In 2008, she served as the Honorary Chair of the Global Campaign for Education Global Action Week. Later, in 2010, she collaborated with the World Bank and the Barefoot Foundation to establish an initiative that distributes educational and developmental programs for children across Latin America.

Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one of their global representatives.

Other ventures

Shakira has ventured into many other businesses and industries. She acted in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis in 1994, playing the character of Luisa Maria.

Shakira began her own beauty line, "S by Shakira", with parent company Puig, in 2010.

In December 2021, it was announced that Shakira would be an executive producer for Dancing with Myself, an NBC dance competition series.

Interesting facts about Shakira

Shakira is of Spanish and Lebanese descent.

She was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools.

At school, she was often sent out of the class because of her hyperactivity.

As a child, Shakira was influenced by rock music, listening heavily to rock bands like Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Nirvana, the Police and U2, while her other influences included Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Marc Anthony, Meredith Brooks, and the Cure.

She cited Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" as the song that first sparked her passion for pop music.

She often performs barefoot, a form of dance she learned as a young teen to overcome her shyness.

Shakira is a contralto and is known for her "unique and mesmerizing" singing voice which includes her "trademark" yodeling.

Billboard reported that as of 2023, she is the best-selling female Latin artist of all time.

In 2014, Shakira became the first musical act to perform three times at the FIFA World Cup.

In 2020, Shakira completed of an ancient philosophy course through the University of Pennsylvania, describing it as an impractical hobby of hers.

She is the recipient of three Grammy Awards and twelve Latin Grammy Awards-the most for a female artist.

Shakira has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making her one of world's best-selling music artists.

She is now worth $300 million.

Shakira quotes

"You can't achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice."

"The worst mistake of a woman is to go to the kitchen, because then she never gets out of there."

"I know what it's like to feel that fear and the need of affirmation and appreciation. To build confidence in yourself is the toughest thing."

"I am a person who has many dreams. But as soon as I accomplish one, I move on to the next."

In 2006, a six-tonne (6.6-short-ton), 5-metre-tall (16 ft) statue of Shakira was installed in her hometown Barranquilla in a park near Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez.

In July 2018 Shakira visited Tannourine in Lebanon which is the village of her paternal grandmother. During her visit, she visited the Cedars Reserve in Tannourine where a square in the forest was named after her. The square holds the name "Shakira Isabelle Mebarak".

Achievements

Shakira has received numerous awards and recognition for her work.

In 2008, Shakira was named as the Honorary Chair of the Global Campaign for Education Global Action Week.

In 2011, Shakira was honored at the Latin Grammys as Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, and by the Harvard Foundation as Cultural Rhythms Artist of the Year.

In 2011, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6270 Hollywood Blvd.

Forbes ranked Shakira on their list of "Top 100 World's Most Powerful Women" at number 40 in 2012, at 52 in 2013, and at 58 in 2014.

In 2015 Time recognized Shakira as one of the most influential people on social media.

Discography

Main pages: Shakira discography and List of songs recorded by Shakira

Pies Descalzos International Tour (1996-1997)

Tour Anfibio (2000)

Tour of the Mongoose (2002-2003)

Oral Fixation Tour (2006-2007)

The Sun Comes Out World Tour (2010-2011)

El Dorado World Tour (2018)

Filmography

Main page: Shakira videography

Television

In Spanish: Shakira para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, from 1953 to 2022. Join us on a trip back through to discover our favourite facts about her reign...

15 facts about the Queen

1. Queen Elizabeth II was born at 2.40am on 21 April 1926.

Her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother).

2. She was crowned Queen on 2 June 1953.

The ceremony was watched by a TV audience of 20 million people. Her reign ended on 8 September 2022, when she passed away peacefully at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, and her son, King Charles III, was crowned.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Queen Elizabeth II primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

3. She was the longest reigning monarch ever in Britain.

Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne for 70 years, beating even Queen Victoria (her great-great-grandma!).

4. As Queen, she was served by 15 UK Prime Ministers.

These included Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and more recently, Boris Johnson.

5. Her favourite dogs were corgis.

She even invented a new breed of dog when her corgi mated with a dachshund belonging to her sister, Princess Margaret. It was called the "dorgi".

6. She was the only person in the UK allowed to drive without a licence.

And she kept driving even in her later years!

7. Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays.

Her actual birthday was 21 April, but her 'official' birthday was held on a Saturday in June - when the weather was better!

8. Her birthplace is now a fancy Cantonese restaurant.

It's called Hakkasan, at 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair - we hope she liked a takeaway!

9. Queen Elizabeth II first sent an email in 1976...

... and published her first Instagram post in 2019!

10. She had many hobbies.

These included horse riding, pigeon racing and football - she was an Arsenal supporter!

11. Queen Elizabeth became a homeowner at just six years old.

Her first property was a house in the grounds of Windsor's Royal Lodge, gifted to her by the people of Wales. It was named Y Bwthyn Bach, which means "little cottage".

12. In her lifetime, Queen Elizabeth II sent around 50,000 Christmas cards.

What a lot of post!

13. She owned an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair of sloths.

These creatures were all gift from other countries. They now live in London Zoo.

14. Princess Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast in October 1940, during the Second World War.

15. Even the monarch went undercover sometimes...

On a low-key trip to Scotland, she met some American tourists while walking. When the tourists asked if she lived locally, she mentioned that she had a house nearby, and when asked if she'd ever met the Queen she simply pointed at her security guard and said, "No, but he has!"

Check out our cool comic about Queen Elizabeth II

... and print it out, here!

If you enjoyed this article, make sure you check out some of our other awesome history pages, too! Go back in time to discover Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria, then jump to present day to learn about King Charles III ...

What do you think of our facts about Queen Elizabeth II? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Facts about Queen Elizabeth II: Check out these fun facts, from her love of animals to when she typed her very first email - cool!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At the age of just 25, Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She came to the throne after the death of her father, King...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Shakira might be a musical superstar, but her two sons, Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7, take the spotlight at home.

The singer shares Milan and Sasha with her ex-partner, Gerard Piqué, who announced his retirement from professional soccer in November 2022. Shakira has said parenting is the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

"It's one of the most difficult things I've done in my life," she told PEOPLE in 2015. "I've been on the most challenging stages performing in front of really demanding audiences and I've been meeting with world leaders who sometimes make you a little bit apprehensive, but nothing has made me so self-conscious as being a mom. ... Every day I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I just want to improve in the job, the hardest job on earth."

Though she and Piqué split in June 2022, the "Hips Don't Lie" singer said she is doing what she can to "conceal" the situation from her kids. She told ELLE, "I try to do it and to protect them, because that's my number one mission in life."

Shakira has also been vocal about giving her sons as normal of a life as possible - and that includes not playing her own music at home.

"I can't deny they can't escape the reality that I'm a public person, as well as their dad," the star told ET Canada in 2021. "But we try to provide as much normalcy as we can, and live really as very simple people."

In November 2022, Shakira and Piqué reached a custody agreement regarding their two sons, which an insider says is "best for their kids."

"For eight years they have been living in Barcelona, but she and the kids are moving to Miami, where all her maternal family live," the source added.

Here's everything to know about Shakira and Gerard Piqué's sons, Milan and Sasha.

Milan Piqué Mebarak, 9

Shakira and Piqué welcomed their first son, Milan, on Jan. 22, 2013.

"We are happy to announce the birth of Milan Piqué Mebarak, son of Shakira Mebarak and Gerard Piqué, born Jan. 22nd at 9:36 p.m. in Barcelona, Spain," the couple announced on Shakira's website. "The name Milan (pronounced MEE-lahn), means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious; and in Sanskrit, unification. Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth."

In early 2013, baby Milan visited his mom on the set of . An audience member told PEOPLE that host Carson Daly and Shakira's fellow coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton said hello to the 2-month-old. The onlooker added that Shakira "was nothing short of a proud and doting mom," handing the tot off to go backstage only when his cries became audible to the crowd.

In December 2021, Shakira revealed that Milan enjoys surfing and is a talented pianist. The singer shared a video of Milan playing piano alongside another boy playing the violin. "This virtual concert is Milan's small homage to our dear Bela, who left teaching us both parents and children the love, respect and devotion for one's work, and how to make our kids feel that what they do is the most important thing in our world," she wrote. Milan has also spent time in the studio with his megastar mom.

Another of Milan's talents? Dancing! In August 2021, Milan joined his mom and brother Sasha in dancing to J Balvin's hit "In Da Getto" in an Instagram video.

Sasha Piqué Mebarak, 7

Shakira and Piqué's second son, Sasha Piqué Mebarak, was born on Jan. 29, 2015. Like his big brother, Sasha was born in Barcelona. Following his birth, the second-time parents explained Sasha's name in a message on Shakira's website: "The name Sasha is of Greek and Russian descent and means 'defender of mankind' and 'warrior,' " they wrote. Shakira also shared a photo of Sasha's feet from the hospital, writing, "I have Daddy's feet, it looks like I've been playing football my whole life."

In June 2021, Shakira posted an Instagram photo celebrating Sasha taking his first surfing lesson. He wore a wetsuit in the snapshot and posed with his surfing instructors. The following summer, Shakira shared more pictures of her sons enjoying the water at Wavegarden surf park in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Sasha has shown some athletic prowess beyond surfing, too. In 2017, Shakira shared a video of then-2-year-old Sasha playing tennis, shooting hoops and walking down a slide with the caption, "My little athlete!" A year later, the singer posted another video of Sasha practicing tennis with his soccer star dad. Following in his father's footsteps, Sasha started kicking soccer balls at just 6 months old.

He has also taken up karate. In February 2022, Shakira shared a video of him winning first place in a martial arts tournament. "Next time if they don't want me to yell so much they'll have to take me with a muzzle!" she joked. Months earlier, she shared a video of Sasha at another tournament, captioning the clip, "I'm the deranged woman screaming in the back."

In February 2023, Shakira shared that Sasha created the artwork for her single "Monotonia" on his iPad.

"I didn't like what the designers at Sony had created, and I asked Sasha what he thought about it," the songstress said in an interview. "He said, 'No mami, Iet me do it,' and he started making it on his iPad. He sent it to me and I sent it to people at Sony. I think kids have a special sensibility and I listen to them."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shakira might be a musical superstar, but her two sons, Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7, take the spotlight at home. The singer shares Milan and Sasha with her ex-partner, Gerard Piqué, who announced his retirement from professional soccer in November 2022. Shakira has said parenting is the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend an all white elementary school in the South.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ruby Bridges was a child who played an important part in the civil rights movement. She was one of several African American children chosen to attend formerly all-white…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In 1960, Ruby Bridges (September 8, 1954-present) walked through the doors of William Frantz Elementary School, in New Orleans, Louisiana. By doing so, she became the first African-American student to attend an all-white elementary school in the Southern United States.

On November 14, 1960, Ruby Bridges became a symbol of the U.S. civil rights movement. She was just 6 years old. Her simple act of going to an all-white school marked the beginning of integration for U.S. public schools.

Bridges was born in Tylertown, Mississippi, on September 8, 1954. A few months before her birth, the Supreme Court-the nation's highest court -had issued a ruling on five combined cases that would impact not only Bridges's life, but also change the course of American history.

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the prosecution wanted to end the idea of "separate but equal schools." In many places in the U.S., black students and white students could not attend the same school. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in U.S. public schools was against the constitution. In his opinion, Chief Justice Earl Warren stated that "in the field of public education the of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are unequal . . ."

Although it was illegal to have segregated schools, some states-especially in the South-did not follow the ruling. The Supreme Court was aware of the resistance and took action. A year after the ruling, the court declared that the desegregation of public schools should advance with "all deliberate speed." Five years later, little Ruby would become the first student to a Southern elementary school.

A Promising Student

When Bridges was 4, the family moved from Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. Her parents hoped a new city would offer better job opportunities. Her father, Abon, found a job working as a gas station attendant and her mother, Lucille, worked nights to help support their growing family.

Bridges attended kindergarten in a segregated school in New Orleans. But in 1960, a federal court ordered that Louisiana all of its public schools. Bridges was a good student. She was chosen to be part of a small group of black students who would take an exam given by the school district. The exam determined which students would attend the all-white schools. Bridges was one of six black children who passed the exam. She enrolled in William Frantz Elementary School. It was just blocks from her home.

At first, Bridges's father refused to enroll his daughter in the all-white school. He feared some would seek revenge on the family. However, her mother convinced him that it was the right decision. She believed their daughter would get a better education at an all-white school. Bridges's parents were unable to read or write. On November 14, federal marshals escorted Bridges and her mother to her new school.

School of One

In a 1997 interview with PBS NewsHour, Bridges recalled preparing to leave for her new school. She remembered looking out the window of a car driven by a U.S. marshal. "Driving up, I could see the crowd," she said, "but living in New Orleans, I actually thought it was Mardi Gras."

The angry crowd chanted, "Two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate." They tried to block the entrance to the school. While Bridges and her mother sat in the principal's office, hundreds of parents entered the school and removed their children from their classrooms. "They didn't see a child," Bridges later said in the PBS special series The African Americans. "They saw change and what they thought was being taken from them."

The next day, Bridges was led past the screaming crowd and into the school by four marshals. When she arrived at her classroom, she found a teacher but no students. Her teacher, Barbara Henry, was a Boston, Massachusetts, native who had moved to the South hoping to help schools integrate. She was the only teacher willing to teach Bridges. "She would greet me, take me to my classroom, and it was just her and I," said Bridges. Although Bridges and Henry remained in the classroom alone, neither missed a single day of school that year.

A Lasting Legacy

The following school year, Bridges attended second grade at William Frantz. This time, the crowds had disappeared, and her classroom was full of students. In 1963, she was immortalized in a now-iconic painting called The Problem We All Live With, by artist Norman Rockwell.

In 1999, Bridges established the Ruby Bridges Foundation to teach tolerance to students. The following year, she was made an honorary deputy federal marshal in Washington, D.C. "I am so proud to have received such an honor," she said. "Deputy U.S. marshals are peacemakers and advocates of justice."

In 2014-54 years after she attended her first day of school at William Frantz-a bronze statue of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges was unveiled in the school's courtyard. "We need to honor the power of children," she said at the ceremony. "We need to encourage them that they can do extraordinary things."

Today, Bridges is an author, activist, and public speaker. She continues her work helping people learn to be more accepting of others.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1960, Ruby Bridges (September 8, 1954-present) walked through the doors of William Frantz Elementary School, in New Orleans, Louisiana. By doing so, she became the first African-American student to attend an all-white elementary school in the Southern United States....

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(1971-95). American singer Selena was a vivacious entertainer whose fluid voice celebrated the sound of Tejano. Tejano is a fast-paced accordion-based Latin dance music that...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Born: April 16, 1971
Lake Jackson, Texas
Died: March 31, 1995
Corpus Christi, Texas
Hispanic American singer

Often called the "Mexican Madonna," Selena used her talent and voice to become one of popular music's fastest rising stars. Although she was murdered very early in her career, she brought great exposure to Tejano, or Tex-Mex, music.

A musical family

Selena Quintanilla-Perez was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. Her parents were Abraham Jr. and Marcella Quintanilla. Her father had led a band in the 1950s and 1960s that played early rock and roll songs mixed with traditional Mexican music. This music, later called Tejano music, would become very popular throughout the southwest United States and Mexico. Abraham eventually gave up his music career to start a family.

Selena was the youngest of the three Quintanilla children. She attended elementary school in Lake Jackson, a small town about fifty-five miles south of Houston, Texas. When she was six years old, her father saw her talent. He was teaching her older brother, Abraham III, to play guitar when Selena began to sing. The children formed a family band. They practiced almost every day.

"Selena and the Boys"

In 1980 Selena's father opened a restaurant. The family band, called Selena y Los Dinos, would play there on weekends and at weddings and parties. Her father began to write original Spanish-language songs for the band to perform. Since Selena's first language was English, she had to learn the words to the Spanish-language songs syllable by syllable. They had many local fans, but the family restaurant failed and closed down. Her father moved the family to his hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, to start over again.

Traveling all over the state, the band continued to perform their music. The concert touring paid off when the band opened for a popular Tejano act called Mazz. At age eleven, Selena took the stage by storm and the crowd loved her. At this time, Selena focused on her music but often missed classes and stopped going to school for good when she was in the eighth grade. To keep up with her schooling, she took courses through the American School in Chicago. She eventually earned her General Education Diploma (GED) in 1989, which is the same as earning a high school diploma.

Early recordings

Selena took some time out from touring to record music. For Corpus Christi's Freddie label, Selena recorded Mis Primeras Grabaciones in 1984. Freddie was one of the oldest and most established Spanish-language record companies in Texas. The album and its only single, "Ya Se Va," did not sell well. Switching to Cara and Manny record labels, Selena's albums did not sell much better. Living in a van, the band continued to tour by opening for larger Tejano acts in the southwest United States.

For larger and larger audiences, the band learned to play many different styles of music. They played rhythm-and-blues-based music in larger cities. They played more traditional Tejano music in small Texas towns. In 1988 Selena was popular enough that she was voted the female artist of the year at the Tejano Music Awards. She would win this

award again for the next seven years. Her popularity increased every year.

Growing success

In 1989 Selena joined EMI Records. She suddenly had a major record company supporting her. José Behar, the head of the company's new Latin music division, knew that she could appeal to a very wide audience, not just Tejano fans. In 1991 her song with Alvaro Torres, called "Buenos Amigos," became a hit. The song went to number one on Billboard 's Latin chart and introduced her to audiences throughout the United States. With her next hit song, "Donde Quiero Que Estes," Selena continued to grow in popularity and reach wider and wider markets for her music.

The early 1990s included many bright spots in Selena's music and personal life. On April 2, 1992, Selena married twenty-two-year-old Christopher Perez. He was the lead guitarist in her band. Together they shared in the success and in Selena's growing popularity, particularly in Mexico. Her father was now writing more international-sounding songs for her. These new songs were not only popular in Mexico but also began to be heard throughout the United States and in South and Central America. The size of the audiences at her shows swelled. In February 1994 more than sixty thousand people saw her perform in Houston. In March 1994 her album Selena Live won a Grammy Award for the best Mexican American album.

Selena's growing fame also increased record sales. In July 1994 Selena released Amor Prohibido. The album would sell more than one million copies. It was the top selling Latin album of that year. It also was named the Tejano Music Award's album of the year.

English-language success

Selena was often compared with other English-language artists such as Madonna (1958-), Janet Jackson (1966-), and Mariah Carey (1969-). She was eager to make an album in her first language so that she could have the same kind of success that these artists had. In December 1993 Selena was moved to a record company that made mostly English-language records. She began recording English-language songs for a new album and continued performing.

On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar (1960-). Millions mourned her death and with this attention she became even more famous. Dreaming of You, the album released after her death in 1996, contained five songs sung in English. It also contained a number of traditional Tejano songs. The album was a huge hit and sold more than a million copies. It was the wide success that Selena had always hoped for. The album also introduced Tejano music to millions of new fans. At the Houston Astrodome, a place she often performed, she was honored with a memorial concert. A movie was made about her life, starring Jennifer Lopez (1970-), a year later.

For More Information

Arrarás, María Celeste. Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Jones, Veda Boyd. Selena. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1999.

Marvis, Barbara J. Selena. Childs, MD: Mitchell Lane, 1998.

Wheeler, Jill C. Selena: The Queen of Tejano. Edina, MN: Abdo & Daughters, 1996.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Born: April 16, 1971 Lake Jackson, Texas Died: March 31, 1995 Corpus Christi, Texas Hispanic American singer Often called the "Mexican Madonna," Selena used her talent and voice to become one of popular music's fastest rising stars. Although she was murdered very early in her career, she brought great exposure to Tejano, or Tex-Mex, music.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of Amelia Earhart, aviator and first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Amelia Earhart didn't flinch. The 21-year-old was attending an air show in Canada in 1918 when a stunt plane dived right toward her. But instead of running out of the way, she faced the plane down.

That wasn't Earhart's only brave moment. Born in Kansas on July 24, 1897, she volunteered during World War I starting in 1917, treating wounded Canadian soldiers returning from the European battlefields. Nearby were pilot practice fields, where she discovered her passion for flying. After taking her first flight in 1920, she started working odd jobs to pay for flying lessons. Then, in 1923, she earned an international pilot's license, becoming one of only 16 women in the world to have one.

Aviation in the 1920s was still new-after all, the Wright brothers ' first flight had just happened in 1903-and most pilots were men. Earhart wanted to change that and in 1931 became the first president of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of female pilots. The next year, no one would ever think of pilots as "just men" again.

In 1932, Earhart took off from Newfoundland, Canada. Fifteen hours later, she landed in a cow pasture in Northern Ireland and became the first woman to fly by herself across the Atlantic Ocean. And she didn't stop there. In 1935, she became the first person to fly solo across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans after she flew from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California. In fact, between 1930 and 1935, Earhart set at least five women's speed and distance flying records.

But Earhart wanted to do something even bigger. On June 1, 1937, she and navigator Fred Noonan took off from Miami, Florida, in an attempt to fly 29,000 miles around the world. By June 29, they had made it to New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea), an island north of Australia in the Indian Ocean. They had only 7,000 miles to go. But something happened as they crossed the Pacific Ocean. They set out on July 2, 1937, at 12:30 a.m., heading toward tiny Howland Island. They were never seen again.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent 66 aircraft and nine ships to look for them, but the fliers had vanished. The official search ended on July 18, 1937, but to this day people are still trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the woman who changed aviation history.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How this pilot changed how high people thought women could fly

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Amelia Earhart, known as Meelie when she was a child, loved to be swept away on adventures. Her father was a lawyer who worked for the Rock Island Railroad in Kansas City, Missouri. As the daughter of a railroad employee, Amelia got to travel all over the country and see amazing sights.

FPG/GETTY IMAGES

When she was 7 years old, Amelia visited the 1904 World's Fair, in St. Louis, Missouri. Inspired by a roller coaster there, she decided to build one herself. She enlisted the help of her younger sister, Muriel, nicknamed Pidge. Meelie and Pidge gathered planks, a wooden box, and a tub of lard to grease the tracks. They built their roller coaster off the roof of a tool-shed. Amelia took the first ride-and crash-landed. Despite the bruises, she loved the experience, and told Pidge it felt like flying.

Amelia first saw an air-plane in person when she was 10. It was at a state fair in Des Moines, Iowa. She wasn't too impressed: "It was a thing of rusty wire and wood and looked not at all interesting," she said.

Another airplane she saw was a bit more exciting. Around 1918, she and a friend attended a f lying exposition in Toronto, Canada. While they were watching a pilot perform stunts, he suddenly dove right at them. "I am sure he said to himself, 'Watch me make them scamper,'" Amelia recalled. She held her ground as the airplane swooped by.

HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY-BUYENLARGE/GETTY IMAGES

Amelia wasn't sure what she wanted to do for her career. She nursed wounded World War I soldiers, trained to be a mechanic, and studied medicine and medical research. When she was 23, she attended an air show that offered plane rides. Amelia jumped at the chance, and flew in an air-plane for the first time.

When the plane got a few hundred feet off the ground, Amelia was filled with exhilaration. At that moment, she knew flying was exactly what she was meant to do.

MIAMI HERALD/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE/GETTY IMAGES

Famous Flier

Amelia Earhart is one of the most celebrated pilots of all time. She made history with her aviation feats.

In 1928, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. That flight made her famous, but she'd been only a passenger. In 1932, she set off on another flight-this time in the pilot's seat. When she landed, 14 hours and 56 minutes later, she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. Three years later, she became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

Amelia inspired generations of girls. "Women must try to do things as men have tried," she said. "When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

TRANSCENDENTAL GRAPHICS/GETTY IMAGES

Fast Facts

Amelia's first plane was bright yellow. She named it The Canary.

In 1933, she created a clothing line. Some of the pieces were made from parachute silk or from the fabric then used for airplane wings.

Amelia helped found an organization for women pilots called the Ninety-Nines. It's still active.

She wrote three books about her flights, plus numerous articles for magazines and newspapers.

In 1937, Earhart took off on a flight around the world. She'd traveled more than 22,000 miles when she disappeared. She was never found.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
This is Amelia: Read the Story of Amelia Earhart

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amelia Earhart, known as Meelie when she was a child, loved to be swept away on adventures. Her father was a lawyer who worked for the Rock Island Railroad in Kansas City, Missouri. As the daughter of a railroad employee,...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Born on November 30, 1924, Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American woman to serve in the United States Congress. An early education expert from New York City, Chisholm began working with local political organizations and in 1964 won a seat on the New York state legislature, representing her Brooklyn neighborhood. Four years later, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Chisholm was outspoken and brave. Instead of accepting her seat on the Agriculture Committee-even though she represented people from a city-she complained to leaders until they reassigned her to an education committee. When she was blocked from television debates after she decided to run for president (the first African-American woman to do so), she sued. She fought for equal rights for women, minorities, immigrants, and the poor.

Serving seven terms (14 years) in Congress, Chisholm helped open up opportunities for people like President Barack Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren. But she said she didn't want to be remembered as the first woman or African American to do something. She wanted to be remembered as someone who "had guts." She died on January 1, 2005.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Born on November 30, 1924, Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American woman to serve in the United States Congress. An early education expert from New York City, Chisholm began working with local political organizations and in 1964 won a seat on the New York state legislature, representing her Brooklyn neighborhood.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Copyright © 1961 United Artists Corporation

(born 1931). Rita Moreno, an American actor, singer, and dancer, won many awards for her work. She performed in films, television shows, and plays. Moreno was the third person and the first Hispanic performer to win all four major North American entertainment awards. This feat is called an EGOT, with each letter standing for an award: Emmy (for television), Grammy (music), Oscar (film), and Tony (theater). She was also the first Latina to receive an Oscar (Academy Award).

Rosa Dolores Alverio was born on December 11, 1931, in Humacao, Puerto Rico. A few years later her parents divorced, and she moved to New York City with her mother. Her mother eventually remarried, and Rosa began using her stepfather's surname, Moreno. She ultimately adopted Rita Moreno as her stage name.

Rosa started her performing career at a young age. She took dance lessons, and at age 11 she began dubbing voices for American child stars in films released to Spanish-speaking countries. She made her New York stage debut at age 13, acting in the play Skydrift (1945). Her film debut was in So Young, So Bad (1950). Other early performances were in the movies Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The King and I (1956). As a Latina in Hollywood at the time, however, the types of parts offered to Moreno were limited. Her early career was plagued by studios wanting to cast her only in stereotypical, ethnic roles.

In 1962 Moreno won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Anita in the film West Side Story. A musical, it highlighted her energetic dancing. Despite this success, she continued to struggle to find good film roles. Her later movies include Summer and Smoke (1961), Carnal Knowledge (1971), and Slums of Beverly Hills (1998).

From time to time Moreno returned to the stage. In 1975 she won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Googie Gomez in the comedic play The Ritz. The following year she played the same character in a film adaptation of the play. Moreno's other notable stage work included The Odd Couple (1985-86), a revival of the Neil Simon play but featuring female leads. In 2011 she starred in a critically acclaimed show based on her life, Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup, which was staged in California.

Moreno also frequently appeared on television. From 1971 to 1977 she starred in the children's educational series The Electric Company. In 1972 she received a Grammy for her work on the show's album. An appearance on The Muppet Show earned her an Emmy in 1977, and with that award she secured an EGOT. In 1978 Moreno claimed a second Emmy, for her work on The Rockford Files. She later appeared in the prison drama Oz (1997-2003) and in One Day at a Time (2017-20), a remake of Norman Lear's 1970s sitcom of the same name. Moreno had guest roles in numerous television series. She also provided the voice of the title character in the PBS series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?

Among Moreno's many honors was receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004. In 2015 she was named a Kennedy Center honoree. Moreno published a book about her life in 2013.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(born 1931). Rita Moreno, an American actor, singer, and dancer, won many awards for her work. She performed in films, television shows, and plays. Moreno was the third...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Chisholm became an expert on early education and child welfare. She served as director of New York City's Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959. She then moved to the city's bureau of child welfare. She worked as an educational consultant in the day-care division. In 1964 Chisholm won a seat in the New York state legislature. She served in that post until 1968, when she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In Congress, Chisholm became a champion of causes associated with women's rights and with minority voters. She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Women's Political Caucus. She retired from Congress in 1983.

Chisholm wrote two books about her life, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973). She was a professor at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, from 1983 to 1987. Chisholm died on January 1, 2005, in Ormond Beach, Florida. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Chisholm became an expert on early education and child welfare. She served as director of New York City's Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959. She then moved to the city's bureau of child welfare. She worked as an educational consultant in the day-care division.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and theater projects throughout her extensive career spanning over seven decades.

Her work includes supporting roles in the classic musical films Singin' in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956), and the 1961 and 2021 film adaptations of West Side Story. Her other notable films include Popi (1969), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Four Seasons (1981), I Like It Like That (1994) and the cult film Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). She is also known for her work on television including the children's television series The Electric Company (1971-1977), and as Sister Peter Marie Reimondo on the HBO series (1997-2003). She voiced the titular role of in Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? from 1994 to 1999. She also gained acclaim for her roles in Jane the Virgin (2015-2019) and the revival of Norman Lear's One Day at a Time (2017-2020). In theater, she is best known for her role as Googie Gomez in the 1975 musical The Ritz.

Among her numerous accolades, Moreno is one of a few performers to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT). She is also one of 24 people who have achieved what is called the Triple Crown of Acting, with individual competitive Academy, Emmy and Tony awards for acting. In 2004, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor bestowed upon her by George W. Bush. In 2009, President Barack Obama presented her with the National Medal of Arts. In 2013, she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2015, she was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor for her contribution to American culture through performing arts. She was awarded the Peabody Award in 2019. Her life was profiled in the 2021 documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It.

Early years

Moreno was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, to Rosa María (née Marcano), a seamstress, and Francisco José "Paco" Alverío, a farmer. She was nicknamed "Rosita". Moreno, whose mother was 17 at the time of her birth, was raised in nearby Juncos. Her maternal grandparents were Justino Marcano (b. Puerto Rico) and Trinidad from Spain. Moreno's mother moved to New York City in 1936, taking her daughter, but not her son, Moreno's younger brother, Francisco, whom Moreno would not see again until 2021. Moreno adopted the surname of her first stepfather, Edward Moreno, Rosa Maria's second husband. She spent her teenage years living in the villages of Valley Stream on Long Island, part of the town of Hempstead bordering New York City.

Early career

Moreno began her first dancing lessons soon after arriving in New York with a Spanish dancer known as "Paco Cansino", who was a paternal uncle of film star Rita Hayworth. When she was 11 years old, she lent her voice to Spanish-language versions of American films. She had her first Broadway role, as "Angelina" in Skydrift, by the age of 13, which caught the attention of Hollywood talent scouts.

Moreno's film career began in the later years of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Moreno and her mother moved to a Culver City "cottage" within walking distance of MGM. She acted steadily in films throughout the 1950s, usually in small roles, including in The Toast of New Orleans (1950) In 1952, she appeared in Stanley Donen's musical comedy film Singin' in the Rain alongside Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. In the film she played silent film star Zelda Zanders. She described having gotten the role by Gene Kelly "wanting her in the movie" and that she "seemed to fit the role for him". Moreno praised Kelly for casting her in a non-stereotypical Hispanic role playing Zelda saying, "he never said 'Oh she's too Latina', he just thought I'd be fine for it". She called the experience working in the film as an "amazing experience" and a "privilege".

In March 1954, Moreno was featured on the cover of Life magazine with the caption "Rita Moreno: An Actress's Catalog of Innocence".

Moreno disliked most of her film work during this period, as she felt the roles she was given were very stereotypical. One exception was her supporting role in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I directed by Walter Lang. In the film she played Tuptim, a slave brought from Burma to be one of the King's junior wives. She starred alongside Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. The film was a critical and financial success. It received nine Academy Award nominations including five wins including Best Actor, Best Art Direction - Color, Best Costume Design - Color, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Recording.

In 1959, Moreno appeared as Lola Montez in Season 3, Episode 23, of the TV western Tales of Wells Fargo, episode title "Lola Montez".

In 1961, Moreno landed the role of Anita in Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's and Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking Broadway musical West Side Story, which had been played by Chita Rivera on Broadway. Moreno won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for that role.

After winning the Oscar, Moreno thought she would be able to continue to perform less stereotypical film roles, but was disappointed:

Ha, ha. I showed them. I didn't make another movie for seven years after winning the Oscar.... Before West Side Story, I was always offered the stereotypical Latina roles. The Conchitas and Lolitas in westerns. I was always barefoot. It was humiliating, embarrassing stuff. But I did it because there was nothing else. After West Side Story, it was pretty much the same thing. A lot of gang stories.

Moreno had a major role in Summer and Smoke (1961), released soon after West Side Story. She did appear in one film during her self-imposed exile from Hollywood - Cry of Battle (1963) - although it had been filmed directly before and after she won the Academy Award.

She made her return to film in The Night of the Following Day (1968) with Marlon Brando, and followed that with Popi (1969), and Marlowe (1969) with James Garner.

Moreno's Broadway credits include Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969), the very short-lived musical Gantry (1970), and The Ritz, for which she won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. She appeared in the female version of The Odd Couple that ran in Chicago, for which she won the Sarah Siddons Award in 1985.

From 1971 to 1977, Moreno was a main cast member on the PBS children's series The Electric Company. She screamed the show's opening line, "Hey, you guys!" Her roles on the show included Millie the Helper, the naughty little girl Pandora, and Otto, a very short-tempered director. Moreno also starred in Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge (1971) alongside Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, and Art Garfunkel. In the film she plays Louise, whom Jack Nicholson plays cards with. The film was a critical success. In 1976 she starred as Googie Gomez in Richard Lester's film adaptation of the comedy farce The Ritz alongside Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, and F. Murray Abraham. Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film made the transition from the stage "surprisingly well, given the odds," with "two of the most flamboyantly entertaining and skillful comedy performances of the year" by Jack Weston and Rita Moreno.

Moreno's appearance on The Muppet Show earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program in 1977. As a result, she became the third person (after Richard Rodgers and Helen Hayes) to have won an Oscar (1962), a Grammy (1972), a Tony (1975), and an Emmy (1977), frequently referred to as an " EGOT". She won another Emmy award the following year, 1978, this time a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Drama Series, for her portrayal of Rita Kapcovic on a three-episode arc on The Rockford Files.

1980s-1990s

In the 1980s Moreno starred as Lucille in Richard Benner's comedy-drama film Happy Birthday, Gemini alongside Madeline Kahn. She was in Alan Alda's The Four Seasons (1981) which was a financial and critical hit and starred Alda, Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Sandy Dennis, and Jack Weston. She was a regular on the three-season network run of 9 to 5, a sitcom based on the film hit, during the early 1980s. Rita Moreno has made numerous guest appearances on television series in the 1980s, including The Love Boat, The Cosby Show, George Lopez, The Golden Girls, and Miami Vice.

In 1993, she was invited to perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration and later that month was asked to perform at the White House.

During the mid-1990s, Moreno provided the voice of Carmen Sandiego on Fox's animated series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? In the franchise's 2019 animated series, Moreno voices the character Cookie Booker. In the late 1990s, Moreno played Sister Pete, a nun trained as a psychologist in the popular HBO series , for which she won several ALMA Awards. She made a guest appearance on as Coach Stone, Maggie's tyrannical gym teacher, whom Fran Fine also remembered from her school as Ms. Wickavich.

2000s-2010s

She released an eponymous album of nightclub songs in 2000 on the Varèse Sarabande label, with liner notes by Michael Feinstein. In 2006, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in Berkeley Repertory Theatre's revival of The Glass Menagerie. She had a recurring role on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as the dying mother of Detective Robert Goren. She played the family matriarch on the short-lived 2007 TV series Cane, which starred Jimmy Smits and Hector Elizondo. She played the mother of Fran Drescher's character in the 2011-13 TV sitcom Happily Divorced.

Since then, she has continued to work in film, including a small voice role in the 2014 film , perhaps her most commercially successful film. In September 2011, Moreno began performing a solo autobiographical show at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup written by the theatre's artistic director Tony Taccone after hours of interviews with Moreno. In 2014, Moreno appeared in the NBC television film Old Soul, alongside Natasha Lyonne, Fred Willard and Ellen Burstyn. The film was intended as a pilot for a television series, but it was not picked up.

Moreno plays the matriarch of a Cuban-American family in the Netflix sitcom One Day at a Time, a remake produced by Norman Lear of Lear's 1975-84 sitcom. The first season premiered in January 2017. Critics overall praised the show, and especially the performances of Moreno and the series' star, Justina Machado. Also that year, Moreno and others contributed to Lin-Manuel Miranda's single "Almost Like Praying" where proceeds from the song went to the Hispanic Federation's UNIDOS Disaster Relief program to benefit those affected by Hurricane Maria that devastated the island of Puerto Rico.

2020s-present

In 2020-21, Moreno starred in and executive-produced the Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation of West Side Story. Moreno plays a newly created character, Valentina; she famously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Anita in the 1961 original movie. The film was released on December 10, 2021. Justin Chang of wrote, "Sixty years later, Moreno is an executive producer on Spielberg's West Side Story. She also gives a poignant performance in the new role of Valentina, the widow of Doc, the drugstore owner. By her presence, Moreno teaches us how to approach this movie, as both an affectionate tribute and a gentle corrective."

On August 29, 2021, Moreno took part in the " Wicked in Concert" special on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video App, performing "The Wizard and I".

Moreno's life was profiled in the feature documentary entitled Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It which was produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews. The Guardian declared, "Overall, she emerges just as vampish, feisty and fun as you'd expect, and as a gracious giver of speeches at ceremonies where she collects endless lifetime achievement awards".

Personal life

From 1954 to 1962, Moreno was in an on-and-off relationship with Marlon Brando.

In 1965, Moreno married cardiologist and internist Leonard Gordon, who became her manager after he retired from medicine. In 1995, they relocated to Berkeley, California. They remained together until his death in 2010. Moreno and Gordon have one daughter, Fernanda Gordon Fisher, and two grandsons. Moreno said she once considered leaving her husband, but did not to avoid breaking up the family.

Awards and honors

Main page: List of awards and nominations received by Rita Moreno

Moreno has achieved what is called the Triple Crown of Acting, with individual competitive Academy, Emmy and Tony awards for acting; as well as the EGOT. In 1962, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for West Side Story. In 1972, she received a Grammy Award for Best Children's Album for The Electric Company. In 1975, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Ritz. She won her Primetime Emmy Awards in 1977 and 1978 for her performances in The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files, respectively.

She has also received a Golden Globe Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she was Inducted into the California Hall of Fame, 2007 In 2013, she received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award which was presented to her by Morgan Freeman.

She has won numerous other honors, including various lifetime achievement awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. In 2009, President Barack Obama presented her with the National Medal of Arts. In 2015, she was awarded a Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for her contribution to American culture, through performing arts. She was awarded the Peabody Career Achievement Award in 2019.

In 2000, The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actresses (HOLA) renamed their Award for Excellence in her honor, known as the HOLA Rita Moreno Award for Excellence.

Among Moreno's awards and recognition are the following:

Joseph Jefferson Award: Best Chicago Theatre Actress, 1968

Sarah Siddons Award for her portrayal of Olive Madison in the female version of The Odd Couple, 1985

Library of Congress Living Legends Award, April 2000

Special Recognition Award from the International Latin Music Hall of Fame, 2001

Hispanic Organization of Latin Actresses (HOLA) Lifetime Achievement Award, 2010

Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012

Honorary doctorate of music, awarded by the Berklee College of Music, May 7, 2016

Ellis Island Medal of Honor, May 11, 2018

Grand Marshal of the 2020 Rose Parade

Acting credits

Main page: Rita Moreno on screen and stage

In Spanish: Rita Moreno para niños

List of Puerto Ricans

List of Puerto Ricans in the Academy Awards

List of people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award

List of Puerto Rican Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients

History of women in Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rita Moreno has influenced the entertainment industry for over 70 years as an actress, singer, and dancer. After earning the four major entertainment awards: an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, Moreno became the first Latina woman to have an "E.G.O.T." In 2004, she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her many contributions to the arts.

Rita Moreno was born on December 11, 1931 in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Given the nickname "Rosita," when she was young, Moreno's birth name was Rosa Dolores Alverío. She spent much of her childhood on a Puerto Rican farm until she was five years old. Her mother saved enough money for them to move to New York, but Moreno's little brother Francisco had to be left behind. When she arrived in New York City, Moreno began taking dance classes and quickly started working in the film industry. She was first hired at age 11 to record Spanish language versions of American films. Shortly after this, Moreno made her Broadway debut at age 13 as "Angelina" in Skydrift. This role caught the attention of Hollywood filmmakers and she started receiving offers from Hollywood agents. Her first film was called So Young, So Bad, and was released in 1950. After this role, she signed a seven-year contract with Louis B. Mayer's MGM Studios where she adopted the stage name Rita Moreno.

For the next few years, Moreno was offered smaller roles in feature films. Her first role for MGM Studios was in the musical The Toast of New Orleans. Two years later, she landed a small role as the actress Zelda Zanders in Singin' in the Rain. Moreno was often typecast and remembers frequently being offered stereotypical "ethnic" or sexualized roles. Casting directors asked her to depict various ethnicities including; Hawaiian, Native American, Egyptian, Filipino, and a young Burmese woman named Tuptim in The King and I. In 1961, Moreno was cast as Anita in the film adaptation of the musical West Side Story. For her portrayal, Moreno won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Even after winning the Oscar, Moreno's agents still only submitted her for "exotic" and Latina roles. Moreno decided to leave the mistreatment of Hollywood and mostly acted in summer theater for the next seven years.

In the 1970s, Moreno decided to return to the entertainment industry with popular films such as The Night of the Following Day, Carnal Knowledge, and Marlowe. Upon her return, Moreno also starred as a main cast member of the PBS children's television series The Electric Company from 1971 to 1977. Moreno won a Grammy in 1972 for "The Electric Company Album" based on her contributions to the show's soundtrack. A few years later, Moreno appeared in the musical The Ritz and subsequently earned the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. During this time, she also appeared on various television shows as a guest. In 1977, Moreno appeared on The Muppet Show and earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. This award solidified her as the third person in history and first Latina to win all four major entertainment awards: an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony.

Shortly after, Moreno earned another Primetime Emmy for her role on the television show The Rockford Files. She also voiced the role of Carmen Sandiego on the Fox cartoon series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? In the late 1990s, Moreno continued to star on television and played a psychologist in the HBO series OZ. She won several ALMA Awards for her work. Moreno's talent and influence has also been recognized by the White House. She was invited to perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2004, and received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2009. At 87 years-old, Moreno has won countless lifetime achievement awards but does not show any signs of slowing down. She currently starts as Lydia on the Netflix series One Day at a Time, and she is set to executive produce and star in Steven Spielberg's 2020 remake of West Side Story.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rita Moreno has influenced the entertainment industry for over 70 years as an actress, singer, and dancer. After earning the four major entertainment awards: an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, Moreno became the first Latina woman to have an "E.G.O.T." In 2004, she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her many contributions to the arts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 - January 1, 2005) was an American politician, educator, and writer. She was a member of the Democratic Party.

Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York City. She studied at Brooklyn College.

She was a member of the United States House of Representatives for New York's 2nd district. She served as a representative from 1969 to 1983.

She ran for President of the United States in 1972 as a Democrat. She lost the primary to George McGovern. Chisholm became the first major-party black candidate for President of the United States.

Shirley Anita St. Hill was born in Brooklyn, New York, of immigrant parents. Her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill, was born in British Guiana and arrived in the United States via Antilla, Cuba, on April 10, 1923, aboard the S.S. Munamar in New York City. Her mother, Ruby Seale, was born in Christ Church, Barbados, and arrived in New York City aboard the S.S. Pocone on March 8, 1921. At age three, Chisholm was sent to Barbados to live with her maternal grandmother, Emaline Seale, in Christ Church; where she attended the Vauxhall Primary School. She did not return until roughly seven years later when she arrived in New York City on May 19, 1934, aboard the S.S. Narissa. In her 1970 autobiography Unbought and Unbossed, she wrote: "Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason." Chisholm is an alumna of Girls' High School, she earned her BA from Brooklyn College in 1946 and later earned her MA from Columbia University in elementary education in 1952. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

From 1953 to 1959, she was director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center. From 1959 to 1964, she was an educational consultant for the Division of Day Care.

In 1964, Chisholm ran for and was elected to the New York State Legislature. In 1968, she ran as the Democratic candidate for New York's 12th District congressional seat, and was elected to the House of Representatives. Defeating Republican candidate James Farmer, Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress. Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 as one of its founding members.

As a fresh black woman, Chisholm was assigned to the House Agricultural Committee. Given her urban district, she felt the placement was irrelevant to her constituents and shocked many by asking for reassignment. She was then placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Soon after, she voted for Hale Boggs as House Majority Leader over John Conyers. As a reward for her support, Boggs assigned her to the much-prized Education and Labor Committee, which was her preferred committee. She was the third highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress.

All those Chisholm hired for her office were women, half of them black. Chisholm said that during her New York legislative career, she had faced much more discrimination because she was a woman than because she was black.

In the 1972 U.S. presidential election, she made a bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. She survived three assassination attempts during the campaign. She campaigned in 12 states and won the Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey primaries earning 152 delegates. However, she lost the hotly contested primaries to George McGovern at the convention in Miami Beach, Florida. At the 1972 Democratic National Convention, as a symbolic gesture, McGovern opponent Hubert H. Humphrey released his black delegates to Chisholm, giving her a total of 152 first-ballot votes for the nomination. Chisholm's base of support was ethnically diverse and included the National Organization for Women.

Chisholm said she ran for the office "in spite of hopeless odds... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo." Among the volunteers who were inspired by her campaign was Barbara Lee, who continued to be politically active and was elected as a congresswoman 25 years later. Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem attempted to run as Chisholm delegates in New York.

Chisholm created controversy when she visited rival and ideological opposite George Wallace in the hospital soon after his shooting in May 1972, during the 1972 presidential primary campaign. Several years later, when Chisholm worked on a bill to give domestic workers the right to a minimum wage, Wallace helped gain votes of enough Southern congressmen to push the legislation through the House.

From 1977 to 1981, during the 95th Congress and 96th Congress, Chisholm was elected to a position in the House Democratic leadership, as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus.

Throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm worked to improve opportunities for inner-city residents. She was a vocal opponent of the draft and supported spending increases for education, health care and other social services, and reductions in military spending.

In 1970, she authored a child care bill. The bill passed the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Richard Nixon, who called it "the Sovietization of American children".

In the area of national security and foreign policy, Chisholm worked for the revocation of Internal Security Act of 1950. She opposed the American involvement in the Vietnam War and the expansion of weapon developments. During the Jimmy Carter administration, she called for better treatment of Haitian refugees.

Personal life

Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm, a Jamaican private investigator from 1949 to 1977. In 1978, she married Arthur Hardwick, Jr., a Buffalo businessman who died in 1986. Chisholm had no children and moved to Florida when she retired.

Retirement and death

Chisholm announced her retirement from Congress in 1982. Her seat was won by a fellow Democrat, Major Owens, in 1983.

After retirement she resumed her career in education, teaching politics and women's studies and being named to the Purington Chair at Mount Holyoke College from 1983 to 1987. In 1985 she was a visiting scholar at Spelman College. In 1984 and 1988, she campaigned for Jesse Jackson for the presidential elections. In 1990, Chisholm, along with 15 other African-American women and men, formed the African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom. In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton nominated her to the ambassadorship to Jamaica, but she could not serve due to poor health. In the same year she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Chisholm retired to Florida and died on January 1, 2005, in Ormond Beach near Daytona Beach. She was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.

In February 2005, Shirley Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary film, aired on U.S public television. It chronicled Chisholm's 1972 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was directed and produced by independent, African-American filmmaker Shola Lynch. The film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. On April 9, 2006, the film was announced as a winner of a Peabody Award.

In 1975, Chisholm was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Smith College.

In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Shirley Chisholm on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

Images for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 - January 1, 2005) was an American politician, educator, and writer. She was a member of the Democratic Party. Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York City. She studied at Brooklyn College. She was a member of the United States House of Representatives for New York's 2nd district.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón ( 6 July 1907 - 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. She is also known for painting about her experience of chronic pain.

Early years

Born to a German father and a mother, Kahlo spent most of her childhood and adult life at La Casa Azul, her family home in Coyoacán - now publicly accessible as the Frida Kahlo Museum. Although she was disabled by polio as a child, Kahlo had been a promising student headed for medical school. Due to polio, Kahlo began school later than her peers. Along with her younger sister Cristina, she attended the local kindergarten and primary school in Coyoacán and was homeschooled for the fifth and sixth grades. While Cristina followed their sisters into a convent school, Kahlo was enrolled in a German school due to their father's wishes. She was soon expelled for disobedience.

Kahlo enjoyed art from an early age, receiving drawing instruction from printmaker Fernando Fernández (who was her father's friend) and filling notebooks with sketches.

A severe bus accident at the age of 18 left Kahlo in lifelong pain. Confined to bed for three months following the accident, Kahlo began to paint. She started to consider a career as a medical illustrator, as well, which would combine her interests in science and art.

Her mother provided her with a specially-made easel, which enabled her to paint in bed, and her father lent her some of his oil paints. She had a mirror placed above the easel, so that she could see herself. Painting became a way for Kahlo to explore questions of identity and existence. She explained, "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best." She later stated that the accident and the isolating recovery period made her desire "to begin again, painting things just as [she] saw them with [her] own eyes and nothing more."

Most of the paintings Kahlo made during this time were portraits of herself, her sisters, and her schoolfriends.

In 1925, Kahlo began to work to help her family. She became a paid engraving apprentice for Fernández. He was impressed by her talent, although she did not consider art as a career at this time.

Kahlo spent the late 1920s and early 1930s travelling in Mexico and the United States withe her husband and fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. During this time, she developed her artistic style, drawing her main inspiration from Mexican folk culture. She painted mostly small self-portraits that mixed elements from pre-Columbian and Catholic beliefs.

Her paintings raised the interest of surrealist artist André Breton, who arranged for Kahlo's first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1938; the exhibition was a success and was followed by another in Paris in 1939. While the French exhibition was less successful, the Louvre purchased a painting from Kahlo, The Frame, making her the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection. Throughout the 1940s, Kahlo participated in exhibitions in Mexico and the United States and worked as an art teacher. She taught at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (" La Esmeralda") and was a founding member of the Seminario de Cultura Mexicana. Kahlo's always-fragile health began to decline in the same decade. She had her first solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953, shortly before her death in 1954 at the age of 47.

Later years

Even as Kahlo was gaining recognition in Mexico, her health was declining rapidly, and an attempted surgery to support her spine failed. Her paintings from this period include Broken Column (1944), Without Hope (1945), Tree of Hope, Stand Fast (1946), and The Wounded Deer (1946), reflecting her poor physical state. During her last years, Kahlo was mostly confined to the Casa Azul. She painted mostly still lifes, portraying fruit and flowers with political symbols such as flags or doves.

Photographer Lola Alvarez Bravo understood that Kahlo did not have much longer to live, and thus staged her first solo exhibition in Mexico at the Galería Arte Contemporaneo in April 1953. Though Kahlo was initially not due to attend the opening, as her doctors had prescribed bed rest for her, she ordered her four-poster bed to be moved from her home to the gallery. To the surprise of the guests, she arrived in an ambulance and was carried on a stretcher to the bed, where she stayed for the duration of the party. The exhibition was a notable cultural event in Mexico and also received attention in mainstream press around the world. The same year, the Tate Gallery's exhibition on Mexican art in London featured five of her paintings.

In 1954, Kahlo was again hospitalized in April and May. That spring, she resumed painting after a one-year interval. Her last paintings include the political Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick (c. 1954) and Frida and Stalin (c. 1954) and the still-life Viva La Vida (1954).

Health issues and death

In 1950, Kahlo spent most of the year in Hospital ABC in Mexico City, where she underwent a new bone graft surgery on her spine. It caused a difficult infection and necessitated several follow-up surgeries. After being discharged, she was mostly confined to La Casa Azul, using a wheelchair and crutches to be ambulatory. During these final years of her life, Kahlo dedicated her time to political causes to the extent that her health allowed. She had rejoined the Mexican Communist Party in 1948 and campaigned for peace, for example, by collecting signatures for the Stockholm Appeal.

Kahlo's right leg was amputated at the knee due to gangrene in August 1953. She became severely depressed and anxious, and her dependency on painkillers escalated.

In her last days, Kahlo was mostly bedridden with bronchopneumonia, though she made a public appearance on 2 July 1954, participating with Rivera in a demonstration against the CIA invasion of Guatemala. She seemed to anticipate her death, as she spoke about it to visitors and drew skeletons and angels in her diary. The last drawing was a black angel, which biographer Hayden Herrera interprets as the Angel of Death. It was accompanied by the last words she wrote, "I joyfully await the exit - and I hope never to return - Frida" ("Espero Alegre la Salida - y Espero no Volver jamás").

The demonstration worsened her illness, and on the night of 12 July 1954, Kahlo had a high fever and was in extreme pain. At approximately 6 a.m. on 13 July 1954, her nurse found her dead in her bed. Kahlo was 47 years old. The official cause of death was pulmonary embolism, although no autopsy was performed.

On the evening of 13 July, Kahlo's body was taken to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, where it lay in state under a Communist flag. The following day, it was carried to the Panteón Civil de Dolores, where friends and family attended an informal funeral ceremony. Hundreds of admirers stood outside. In accordance with her wishes, Kahlo was cremated. Rivera, who stated that her death was "the most tragic day of my life", died three years later, in 1957. Kahlo's ashes are displayed in a pre-Columbian urn at La Casa Azul, which opened as a museum in 1958.

Recognition

Kahlo's work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists. By the early 1990s, she had become a recognized figure in art history. She was also regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Kahlo's work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions.

Personal life

Kahlo's interests in politics and art led her to join the Mexican Communist Party in 1927, through which she met fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The couple married in 1929. He was 42 and she was 22.

The couple divorced in 1939, but remarried December 8, 1940, in San Francisco, California. A year after Kahlo's death, on July 29, 1955, Rivera married Emma Hurtado, his agent since 1946.

Kahlo and Rivera had no children together.

Frida Kahlo quotes

"They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."

"I paint flowers so they will not die."

"At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can."

"Nothing is worth more than laughter."

"The most important part of the body is the brain. Of my face, I like the eyebrows and eyes."

Interesting facts about Frida Kahlo

Frida was born in Mexico, but her father was German.

Her name, which was originally spelled "Frieda" means "peace" in German.

Frida survived both polio and a bus crash.

She married a man with a name even longer than hers. Her husband's full name was Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez.

She exaggerated her facial hair in her self-portraits.

Because of the bright clothing she wore, she was asked by children, "Where's the circus?"

She was born and died in the same house, called "La Casa Azul" (The Blue House), which is now known as Frida Kahlo Museum.

Commemorations

Kahlo's legacy has been commemorated in several ways:

La Casa Azul, her home in Coyoacán, was opened as a museum in 1958, and has become one of the most popular museums in Mexico City, with approximately 25,000 visitors monthly.

The city dedicated a park, Parque Frida Kahlo, to her in Coyoacán in 1985. The park features a bronze statue of Kahlo.

In the United States, she became the first Hispanic woman to be honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 2001.

She was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display in Chicago that celebrates LGBT history and people, in 2012.

Kahlo received several commemorations on the centenary of her birth in 2007.

Notable artists such as Marina Abramovic, Alana Archer, Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso, Yasumasa Morimura, Cris Melo, Rupert Garcia, and others have used or appropriated Kahlo's imagery into their own works.

Kahlo's life and art have inspired artists in various fields. Kahlo has also been the subject of several stage performances.

In 2018, Mattel unveiled seventeen new Barbie dolls in celebration of International Women's Day, including one of Kahlo. Critics objected to the doll's slim waist and noticeably missing unibrow.

In 2018, San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to rename Phelan Avenue to Frida Kahlo Way. Frida Kahlo Way is the home of City College of San Francisco and Archbishop Riordan High School.

In 2019, Frida was featured on a mural painted by Rafael Blanco in downtown Reno, Nevada.

In 2019, Frida's "Fantasmones Siniestros" ("Sinister Ghosts") was burned to ashes, publicizing an Ethereum NFT.

In 2022, as part of a collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Swatch released a watch based on The Frame.

Solo exhibitions

4 January 2022 onwards Frida Kahlo: The Life of an Icon at Barangaroo Reserve, Sydney. Audio visual exhibition created by the Frida Kahlo Corporation.

8 February - 12 May 2019 - Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving at the Brooklyn Museum. This was the largest U.S. exhibition in a decade devoted solely to the painter and the only U.S. show to feature her Tehuana clothing, hand-painted corsets and other never-before-seen items that had been locked away after the artist's death and rediscovered in 2004.

16 June - 18 November 2018 - Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The basis for the later Brooklyn Museum exhibit.

3 February - 30 April 2016 - Frida Kahlo: Paintings and Graphic Art From Mexican Collections at the Faberge Museum, St. Petersburg. Russia's first retrospective of Kahlo's work.

27 October 2007 - 20 January 2008 - Frida Kahlo an exhibition at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 20 February - 18 May 2008; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 16 June - 28 September 2008.

1-15 November 1938 - Frida's first solo exhibit and New York debut at the Museum of Modern Art. Georgia O'Keeffe, Isamu Noguchi, and other prominent American artists attended the opening; approximately half of the paintings were sold.

Images for kids

Kahlo (on the right) and her sisters Cristina, Matilde, and Adriana, photographed by their father, 1916

Frida photographed in 1932 by her father, Guillermo

Kahlo and Rivera's houses in San Ángel; they lived there from 1934 until their divorce in 1939, after which it became his studio

1937 photograph by Toni Frissell, from a fashion shoot for Vogue

In Spanish: Frida Kahlo para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Frida Kahlo is among the most famous Mexican artists of the 1900s. She was known especially for her disturbing style and her many unsmiling self-portraits. She often included skulls, daggers, and bleeding hearts in her paintings.

The pain Kahlo expressed in her paintings came from her own life. She was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón in Coyoacán, Mexico, on July 6, 1907. She suffered from the disease polio at 6 years old and walked with a limp the rest of her life. At 18 she was nearly killed in a bus crash. Her injuries were so severe that she spent many weeks in the hospital. She felt physical pain throughout her life.

Kahlo began painting self-portraits while in the hospital. Once she was well, she showed her paintings to the famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Rivera was enthusiastic. He encouraged her and promoted her work to others. Kahlo and Rivera married in 1929. They divorced in 1939 but remarried in 1941.

During her life Kahlo was more famous in the United States and Europe than in her homeland. Since her death, on July 13, 1954, she has become equally famous in Mexico.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Frida Kahlo is among the most famous Mexican artists of the 1900s. She was known especially for her disturbing style and her many unsmiling self-portraits. She often included...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the biography of Frida Kahlo, Mexican artist who expressed her pain and life struggles in her art.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discover the life of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts...
All people should be treated equally, right? Well, sadly, throughout history, there have been many people who have been treated differently because of where they come from, what religion they follow, or whether they're a boy or a girl. And sometimes, this still happens today!

Thankfully, the incredible stories that people leave behind can be used to educate and inspire people to be kinder to one another, no matter their background. One such story, is that of Anne Frank...

Anne Frank facts
Anne Frank in 1942, Photo Collection Anne Frank House
Full name: Annelies Marie Frank

Born: 12 June 1929

Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany

Occupation: Jewish diarist

Died: February 1945

Best known for: Her diary entries during World War II

Also known as: Anne Frank

Who was Anne Frank?

Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929 during a time when the country was troubled. Many people had lost their jobs and were becoming poorer and Adolf Hitler - the leader of the Nazi* party - was blaming Jews* for Germany's problems.

Afraid for their safety, Anne's parents moved the family to Holland when Anne was just four years old. Anne lived and went to school in Amsterdam, and had to learn Dutch. She made lots of friends, and spent her free time reading and playing table tennis.

But when World War II broke out, life for Anne and her family became much harder. The Nazis imposed strict rules on Jews, restricting the places they could visit, the shops they could use and even the schools they went to. Anne's father lost his company, as Jewish people were no longer allowed to run their own businesses.

Anne Frank's house

In 1942, the Nazis wanted to take Anne's elder sister, Margot, to Germany, but her family refused to be separated and went into hiding. Anne's father had spent several months preparing a hiding place, in the backhouse of his company at Prinsengracht 263. Anne later named it the ' Secret Annex'.

The Secret Annex was above the warehouse. The entrance to the Annex was later hidden behind a bookcase. Anne's father, Otto Frank, enlisted help from four of his employees who worked at the office and who became known as ' the helpers ' - Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Krugler. The helpers brought the family food, clothing and other supplies while they were in hiding. The people working in the warehouse didn't know about the people in hiding, except for Johannes Voskuijl, Bep's father, who made the book case.

The Franks were the first family to move into the Secret Annex. Soon after, another family moved in - Hermann and Auguste van Pels, and their son Peter. Later followed by Fritz Pfeffer.

The diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank's first, red chequered diary. Photo Collection Anne Frank House.
On her 13th birthday, Anne was given a diary. She loved writing and dreamed of becoming a famous writer one day. She named her diary, Kitty.

Anne would write about everyday events in her diary; things that probably didn't seem that important at the time, but that have helped us form a picture of what life was like during this incredibly difficult time in history.

She wrote about what she ate, the film stars that she admired, the books she read, and the arguments she would have with her mother. She also wrote about being in hiding, the fears and difficulties, and how she longed to go outside.

"Footsteps in the house, the private office, the kitchen, then... on the staircase. All sounds of breathing stopped, eight hearts pounded... Then we heard a can fall, and the footsteps receded. We were out of danger, so far!"

- An extract from Anne's diary
When in hiding, the Franks, the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer had to be incredibly careful to ensure they weren't discovered. For example, they weren't allowed to flush the toilet during the day in case the warehouse workers heard them, and Anne was only rarely allowed to open a window. She could never go outside, either.

How did Anne Frank die?

On 4th August 1944, the Nazis raided the Prinsengracht 263 and found the hiding place. They took the 8 people in hiding to Westerbork - a camp that held Jewish people and others captive - in Holland. A month later, they were sent to Auschwitz, a larger concentration camp* in Poland. Men and women were separated. Eventually, Anne and her sister Margot were separated from their mother and sent to another concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, on a crowded train.

Conditions at the camp were extremely poor. It was cold and wet, there was little food to eat and disease was common. Anne and Margot both died at the camp in February 1945 - just a few months before the end of World War II. It is believed that they died of a disease called typhus.

Anne and Margot's mother, Edith, also died at Auschwitz. Their father Otto was the only survivor of the eight people in hiding in the Secret Annex.

Anne Frank's story

Anne's diary was saved by one of the helpers, Miep. When Anne's father Otto - the only surviving member of the Frank family - returned to Amsterdam at the end of the war, he received his daughter's diary from Miep, at the day he heard that Anne and Margot died in Bergen-Belsen. He started to read Anne's diary and published it, making Anne's dream of becoming a writer a reality. The diary was published in 1947, titled: The Secret Annex.

Since its publication, Anne Frank's diary has sold millions of copies around the world and has been translated into more than 70 languages. It remains an important account of the treatment that Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Otto hoped that his daughter's diary would educate readers on the dangers of hatred against others, prejudice and discrimination.

In 1960, with the help of Otto, the former hiding place opened its doors as a museum, named the Anne Frank House. Each year, it is visited by more than 1.2 million people from around the world, wanting to learn more about Anne Frank's life story.

*The Jews are people born into a Jewish family or practice the religion of Judaism.

*The Nazis were a group of people who followed the ideas of a German leader named Adolf Hitler.

*Concentration camps were places where Nazis held Jews and others. Many people lost their lives in camps due to the harsh treatment they faced, like being forced to work, and the lack of food, space and healthcare. Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp complex was based in Poland.

What did you think of our Anne Frank facts? Leave a comment below and let us know!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Anne Frank facts - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover the life of a Jewish family in hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts. Who was Anne Frank? What did Anne write in her diary during World War II?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
About the Author —Mara Kurlandsky is the digital projects manager at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Fast Facts: Hung Liu | Broad Strokes Blog | NMWA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Impress your friends with five fast facts about artist Hung Liu, whose work Winter Blossom (2011) is on view in NMWA’s newly reinstalled collection galleries.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hung Liu (劉虹) (17 February 1948 - 7 August 2021) was a Chinese-born American contemporary artist. One of the first Chinese artists to establish a career in the West, her paintings and prints typically featured layered brushstrokes combined with washes of linseed oil which give the imagery an indistinct and drippy appearance. They were often inspired by anonymous Chinese historical photographs, particularly those of women, children, refugees, and soldiers. Although thought of predominantly as a painter, her body of work moves fluidly between painting, mixed-media and site-specific installation.

A ten-year retrospective of Liu's work traveled nationally in the U.S. in 1998 and 1999. Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu was a retrospective collection of Liu's work that remains the most extensive exhibit of her work to date, with paintings from more than 40 collections displayed.

Hung Liu was born in Changchun, China in 1948. Shortly after her birth, her father was thrown into prison for being a member of the Kuomintang of China. In 1958, Hung Liu followed her aunt to Beijing at the age of 10 and entered the famous 北师大 女附中 (now The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University). In 1970, two years after the beginning of China's Cultural Revolution, Liu was sent to Huairou, a small village in the Beijing countryside, where she lived and worked among the local villagers from 1968 to 1972. She attended Beijing Teachers College in 1975 and studied mural painting as a graduate student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. As a student Liu's art education had strict limits; the constrained and academic style which students were forced to emulate has been likened by Liu to paint-by-numbers. Although the use of cameras to aid painting was prohibited, Liu rebelled by secretly taking photographs of local farmers in Huairou with their families and making drawings of them.

Liu's paintings typically feature layered brushstrokes combined with washes of linseed oil which gives the imagery an indistinct and drippy appearance. Various commenters have suggested that this visual strategy's surrealism and its absence of Socialist political drive can be seen as the opposite of (or a rejoinder to) the rigid academicism of the Chinese Socialist Realist style in which Liu was trained. It has also been characterized as a metaphor for the loss of historical memory: the dripping in Liu's paintings is described by art critic Bill Berkson as "analogous to memory" and how "[memory] is blurred." Given the pathos that often infuses her works, her painting style has been described by Liu's partner, critic and curator Jeff Kelley, as a kind of "weeping realism."

Liu's paintings and prints often make use of anonymous Chinese historical photographs, particularly those of women, children, refugees, and soldiers, as subject matter. Many are drawn from the artist's personal collection of 19th century Chinese photographs, a large portion of which feature prostitutes. Liu believes her paintings "gives a spirit to them, the forgotten." As curator Réne de Guzman writes, her paintings bring details of Chinese history and memory into the present for American viewer. Writing for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Kelley suggests that Liu's paintings "challenge the documentary authority of historical photographs by subjecting them to the more reflective process of painting [...] Much of the meaning in her paintings comes from the way the washes and drips dissolve the photo-based images, suggesting the passage of memory into history."

Since the late 1990s Liu has occasionally taken historical photographs of non-Chinese women, refugees, migrants, workers, and children as a point of departure. Her Strange Fruit paintings of the early to mid 2000s depicted Korean " comfort women" forced to serve as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers in the second World War. Several of her paintings draw imagery from the portrait and documentary photographs of the Chinese populace by John Thomson. In her American Exodus series, Liu addresses American subject matter, creating images of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression after the photographs of Dorothea Lange.

Although thought of predominantly as a painter, her body of work moves fluidly between painting, mixed-media and site-specific installation. Pieces such as Goddess of Love/Goddess of Liberty incorporate significant mixed-media elements (often antique or hand-made objects) either installed in close proximity to or mounted directly onto the piece. Liu cited her installation work as a continuation of the principles she utilized as a muralist "an ability to work in large scale and to take the site specificity of the situation into account. Creating an installation merely required pushing the work out into the third dimension". Liu's paintings also often incorporate a sculptural dimensionality through the use of custom canvases shaped to the contours of their subject matter.

My Secret Freedom paintings

Liu also disobeyed the ban against non-sanctioned art of the Maoist Regime in her series called "My Secret Freedom." These miniature landscape paintings, created during Liu's time at Da Dulianghe, depict scenes of everyday life. Their title refers to the rebellion inherent in their creation: Liu had to hide a small paint box and brushes beneath her coat and painted each tiny image quickly. Jeff Kelley writes that Liu's "intent was radical in China at the time: to paint not in the service of state ideology or party dicta, but simply to paint. To paint for the sheer pleasure of painting."

Immigration and Resident Alien exhibition

Liu immigrated to the United States in 1984. She is a class of 1986 alumna of the University of California, San Diego.

As resident artist at Capp Street Project in San Francisco in 1988, Liu painted a series of works whose main focus was the issue of identity as it relates to immigrant status. Among these was the eponymous Resident Alien. This was Liu's first self-portrait, in which the artist painted an enlarged version of her own green card with several pointed changes, e.g. her birthdate of 1948 becoming 1984, the date of her immigration, and her name comically replaced by the words "Fortune Cookie." The off-site exhibition of these works brought Liu her first major art world attention; the painting Resident Alien also subsequently received numerous treatments and interpretations by scholars of gender identity and women's studies as well as art historians. Dong Isbister proposes that Resident Alien is best understood via a 'diasporic consciousness,' as Liu asks her audience to "examine how her body is positioned and portrayed in relation to legal, racial, and gender issues based on immigration." The painting evidences the "tension between an ethnic, a national and a transnational identity"; at the same time, Liu "shows resistance to being assimilated into the stereotypes imposed upon her by inserting her own voice." In 1988, as part of her Capp Street Project residency, Liu produced a mural, Reading Room, for the Chinese for Affirmative Action Community Room in San Francisco's Chinatown.

"Jiu Jin Shan (Old Gold Mountain)"

Liu's installation work Jiu Jin Shan (Old Gold Mountain) (1994) was originally commissioned by the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum. In this work, Liu created a "gold mountain" made of 200,000 fortune cookies, engulfing a crossroads of railroad tracks. The junction of the tracks references the cultural intersection of East and West, as well as the Chinese immigrants who perished during the building of the Sierra Nevada stage of the transcontinental railroad. Jiu Jin Shan (Old Gold Mountain) was also installed at the Mills College Art Museum in 2013 as part of the exhibition Hung Liu: Offerings.

"Going Away, Coming Home" airport installation

In November 2006, Liu's public art installation Going Away, Coming Home was unveiled at the Oakland International Airport. The installation is a 160-foot long wall of windows in the Terminal 2 concourse. The installation was commissioned by the Port of Oakland for $300,000.

The installation depicts 80 cranes that are meant to comfort and give blessings to people who are leaving their homes or returning from travel. Liu was inspired by a silk Chinese scroll painting from the 12th century, which also depicts cranes symbolizing good luck. Liu painted the work with enamel in her signature style of allowing the paint to drip. To make the work, she collaborated with the 140-year-old German glass fabrication company Derix Glasstudios.

Summoning Ghosts retrospective

Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu was a retrospective collection of Liu's work, including around 80 paintings and an assortment of photographs, studies, and sketchbooks. It remains the most extensive exhibit of her work to date, with paintings from more than 40 collections displayed. The exhibit featured works from throughout Liu's artistic career, beginning from the late 1960s; these paintings draw upon her personal history and experience of the Maoist regime, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution, as well as drawing from themes of Ancient China. Réne de Guzman, the chief curator at the Oakland Museum of California, organized the exhibit in collaboration with Hung Liu. The artist describes the exhibit as a "...full circle... [Comprising] where I come from, what I was interested in, and what was possible to do in China."

Liu has received numerous awards, including two painting fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Joan Mitchell Fellowship. In 2011 she received an SGC International Award for Lifetime Achievement in Printmaking from the Southern Graphics Council. Other awards include a Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA) award and a Eureka Fellowship.

She was the Professor Emerita of Painting at Mills College in Oakland, California, where she taught from 1990 until retiring in 2014.

Liu died from pancreatic cancer on 7 August 2021 in Oakland, California. At the time of her passing, the de Young Museum in San Francisco had a collection of her work on exhibit. The exhibition will run until 13 March 2022. Liu was in the process of developing an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery before her death. Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands opened in August 27, 2021 and will close on May 30, 2022.

Liu's work is held in the following public collections:

In addition to the exhibitions discussed above, Liu's work has appeared in exhibitions and venues including the following:

Portraiture Exhibition, Winter Palace Gallery, Beijing, China; 1978

National Fine Arts Colleges Exhibition, a traveling group show in China; 1980

Chinese Pieta (mixed-media installation), The Women's Building, Los Angeles, CA; 1989

Goddesses of Love and Liberty, Nahan Contemporary Gallery, New York, NY; 1989

Precarious Links: Emily Jennings, Hung Liu, and Celia Munoz, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX and Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Houston TX; 1990

Decoding Gender, School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD; 1992 (curated by Robert Atkins)

In Transit, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; 1993

Year of the Dog, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, NY; 1994

Twelve Bay Area Painters: The Eureka Fellowship Winners, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; 1994

The Last Dynasty, Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York, NY; 1995

Parameters: Hung Liu, the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA; 1995-1996

American Stories: Amidst Displacement and Transformation, various venues in Japan (traveling) 1997-1998 including Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo; Chiba City Museum, Chiba; Fukui Fine Arts Museum, Fukui; Kurashiki Art City Museum, Kurashiki; Atorion, Akita

Hung Liu: A Ten-Year Survey, 1988-1998, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, Ohio (March-June 1998); Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, Virginia (August-October 1998); Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri (November-December 1998); University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California (January-March 1999); Bowdin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine (April-June 1999); and Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (September-November 1999).

New Work: Painting Today, Recent Acquisitions, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; 1999-2000

Where is Mao? 2000, The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkom University, Bangkok, Thailand; 2000

Text and Subtext: Contemporary Art and Asian Women, various venues (traveling) 2000-2003 including Earl Lu Gallery, La Salle-Sia College of the Arts, Singapore; Ivan Dougherty Gallery, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia; Artspace, Sydney, Australia; Museum of Far East Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden; Stenersen Museum, Stockholm, Sweden; Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; X-Ray Art Centre, Beijing, China

Art/Women/California: Parallels and Intersections, 1950-2000, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; 2002

Strange Fruit: New Paintings by Hung Liu, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona (26 January - 28 April 2002); Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho (1 June - 4 August 2002); Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California (27 October - 23 February 2003); and Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California (8 March - 4 May 2003).

Hung Liu: Toward Peng-Lai (Paradise), Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA; 2003

Visual Politics: the Art of Engagement, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA; 2005-2006

Daughters of China, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA; 2007

Prodigal Daughter, F2 Gallery, Beijing, China; 2008

Half-Life of a Dream: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; 2008

First Spring Thunder, Alexander Ochs Gallery, Beijing, China; 2011

Culture Revolution: Contemporary Chinese Paintings from the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH; 2011

SGC International Award Exhibition, Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University, St Louis, MO; 2011

Happy and Gay, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA; 2012

Gold, Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria; 2012

The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pennsylvania, PA; 2012-2013

I, You, We, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; 2013

Qianshan: Grandfather's Mountain, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY; 2013

Summoning Ghosts, Oakland Museum of California on 16 March 2013; then travelled to Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, October 2014 and toured, finishing its tour at Palm Springs Art Museum.

The Rat Years, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV; 2014

Hung Liu: Daughter of China, Resident Alien; American University Museum at the Katzen Art Center, Washington, D.C.; 2016 (curated by Peter Selz)

American Exodus, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY; 2016

Unthinkable Tenderness, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; 2018

Women with Vision, Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA; 2018

Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 2021

Moss, Dorothy et al. "Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands". Yale University Press, Published in association with the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, June 29, 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hung Liu (劉虹) (17 February 1948 - 7 August 2021) was a Chinese-born American contemporary artist. One of the first Chinese artists to establish a career in the West, her paintings and prints typically featured layered brushstrokes combined with washes of linseed oil which give the imagery an indistinct and drippy appearance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During World War II a young Jewish girl, Anne Frank, kept a diary for two years while hiding from the Nazis with her family. Anne and her family were victims of the...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction
(born 1980). American figure skater Michelle Kwan was known for her artistry on the ice, but she was also a superb technician. She was a five-time world champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003) and two-time Olympic medalist (winning silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002). In all, Kwan won 43 championships. After her skating career ended, she became a U.S. diplomat.

She was born Kwan Shan Wing in Torrance, California, on July 7, 1980. Her parents had moved to the United States from Hong Kong, and Kwan and her siblings were the first native-born Americans in the family. When Kwan was five years old, her parents took her and her sister, Karen, to watch their brother play hockey. The game inspired the sisters to learn to skate, and within a year both girls were enrolled in figure skating classes. At the age of six, Michelle entered her first competition, which she won.

Convinced of their daughters' potential as champion skaters, in 1990 the Kwans hired a professional coach, Frank Carroll, to work with Michelle and Karen. After a year the sisters moved to Ice Castle International, a world-class training center in Lake Arrowhead, California. There they began intensive training in the company of some of the top skaters in the world.

Skating Career
While Carroll was out of town, 12-year-old Michelle went against his wishes and took the test to become a senior-level skater. After passing, she finished sixth at the 1993 U.S. national championship, where she was the youngest skater to compete in the senior class in 20 years. Later that year at the U.S. Olympic Festival, she landed six triple jumps. In 1994 she won the silver medal at the U.S. nationals and was selected as the alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team.

Kwan captured both her first national title and her first world title in 1996 at the age of 15. The following year she placed second at both the national and world championships. Near the end of that year, stress fractures in her toe forced her to slow down. Her foot continued to cause her pain in 1998. Nevertheless, in January of that year she became the first female skater to earn a perfect score of 6.0 in the short program at the U.S. nationals. In the long program she earned a history-making eight out of nine 6.0 marks for artistic impression.

Kwan was favored to win gold at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and was in the lead after the short program. Despite high marks for her long program, however, she finished second to fellow American Tara Lipinski. With her usual optimism, Kwan told reporters afterward that she had won the silver, not lost the gold.

Kwan decided to remain an amateur athlete while also attending college at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her back-to-back victories at the 2000 and 2001 world championships set her up as the one to beat at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Having split from Carroll in October 2001, Kwan was without a coach as she captured her sixth national title in January 2002 and headed to Salt Lake City in February. Kwan fell in the Olympic long program, however, and took home the bronze. Shortly after the Games Kwan earned a silver medal at the world championships, becoming the first U.S. skater to medal seven times at that competition. She won her fifth gold medal at the world championships in 2003.

Kwan won the nationals again in 2003, 2004, and 2005, for a career total of nine U.S. titles. With her ninth win she tied a record set by Maribel Vinson in 1937. Later in 2005, however, Kwan finished fourth at the world championships. That event turned out to be the last of her competitive career. Kwan qualified for the 2006 U.S. Olympic team but was forced to withdraw after she suffered an injury during her first practice at the Games.

Diplomatic Career
In 2006 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Kwan as an envoy for public diplomacy. In that role Kwan gave speeches to young people around the world on behalf of the U.S. State Department, talking about athletics as well as social and educational issues. Meanwhile, Kwan earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Denver and then attended graduate school at Tufts University. She earned a master's degree in international relations from Tufts in 2011. Kwan then became a senior adviser at the U.S. State Department. She worked on the U.S. presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton for the 2016 election and Joe Biden for 2020. Biden was elected president, and in December 2021 he nominated Kwan as ambassador to the Central American country of Belize. Kwan published an autobiography, Michelle Kwan, Heart of a Champion, in 1997.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Introduction (born 1980). American figure skater Michelle Kwan was known for her artistry on the ice, but she was also a superb technician. She was a five-time world champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003) and two-time Olympic medalist (winning silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002). In all, Kwan won 43 championships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From Academic Kids

Template:ScratchspinImg

Michelle Wing Kwan (Kwan Ying Shan, 關穎珊; pinyin:Guān Yǐngshān) (born July 7, 1980) is a Chinese American figure skater, considered to be the sport's most determined figure during the late 1990s and early 2000s and one of the world's most famous figure skaters of the last half century.

Overview

Kwan has won five World Championships ( 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003), the most by anyone in the ladies' division since Carol Heiss ( 1956 - 1960) with whom she is tied for the most wins by an American. She has won nine United States National Championships (1996, 1998- 2005), tying the record for most set by Maribel Vinson-Owen ( 1928 - 1933, 1935 - 1937). She has also won a silver and a bronze Olympic medals, but not a gold. Among her many accolades, Michelle received the prestigious Sullivan Award in 2001. She has been awarded more than 40 perfect 6.0s in major competitions, the most of any skater in history.

Born in Torrance, California, Kwan is the third child of Chinese immigrants. She was named after the song from the Beatles called " Michelle". At the age of five her love for figure-skating began as she followed after her two older siblings (one who played ice hockey and one who skated) onto the ice. Kwan's family moved to Lake Arrowhead, California, in 1991 to intensify her training with Frank Carroll, a leading figure skating coach. At the age of 12 in 1992 Kwan passed a test to become a senior level figure skater. In 1993 Kwan finished sixth at her first senior U.S. championships, and later that year she won the 1994 World Junior title.

In 1994, Kwan finished second to Tonya Harding at the U.S. championships, which ordinarily would have earned her a spot on the U.S. team to the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. However, that place was instead given to 1993 national champion Nancy Kerrigan, sidelined by an assault (eventually connected to Harding) after a practice session at those championships. The 13-year-old Kwan went to Lillehammer as an alternate.

By 1996 both Harding and Kerrigan had left the amateur level, leaving behind a sport badly damaged by the scandal and ready for a new star to help it regain its stature. That year Kwan won both the U.S. and World championships. Within a year however, the younger Tara Lipinski upstaged Kwan in both events. Kwan responded in 1998 by winning both the U.S. and World championships again. Although she was the favorite to win the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, Kwan was out-skated by Lipinski, then 15, with Kwan settling for second.

While Lipinski proceeded to turn professional, Kwan continued with determination to seek out an Olympic gold medal. In the years after Nagano, Kwan won four additional U.S championships (1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002) and two more World championships (2000 and 2001). Shortly before the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, she and Carroll parted ways. However, the 21-year-old Kwan, along with Russia's Irina Slutskaya, remained the favorites to win the gold medal. A combination of a flawed performance and the success of another young phenomenon, then 16-year-old Sarah Hughes, saw Kwan receive the bronze medal.

While the question of Kwan's retirement to the professional level continues to linger, she seems determined still to capture an Olympic victory. While a new generation of skaters has begun to emerge and present Kwan with new challenges, she has responded in kind; she has added three more U.S. championships (2003-2005, bringing her consecutive streak to an all-time record eight and total to a shared-record nine) and a fifth World championship (2003) to a list of her victories. In 2003, she hired noted technician Rafael Arutunian as her coach, with whom she has increased the technical difficulty of her programs. She continues to train, perhaps looking toward the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, for her gold medal.

In 1999 she appeared in Michelle Kwan Figure Skating computer game.

Competitive History

Olympics

1998 - 2nd
2002 - 3rd

World Championships

Quote

"As a child, I'd wonder, 'When I die, will people still remember me 1,000 years later?' And without the gold medal ... Well, the Olympics are the ultimate achievement in my sport. At times I think, 'Why should I push myself all those long hours in the rink?' But then I think, 'How will I ever know how good I could have been?' I want to be the Michael Jordan of my sport." - Kwan, following the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan.

"Work hard, have fun, and be yourself." - Michelle Kwan's motto, appears on publicity cards.

External links

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Template:ScratchspinImg Michelle Wing Kwan (Kwan Ying Shan, 關穎珊; pinyin:Guān Yǐngshān) (born July 7, 1980) is a Chinese American figure skater, considered to be the sport's most determined figure during the late 1990s and early 2000s and one of the world's most famous figure skaters of the last half century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Liu has starred as Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998-2002), Alex Munday in two Charlie's Angels films (2000 and 2003) and Joan Watson in the crime-drama series Elementary (2012-2019). Her film work includes starring in Payback (1999), Shanghai Noon (2000), Chicago (2002), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Watching the Detectives (2007), The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), and Set It Up (2018).

Liu provided voice acting for Master Viper in the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008-2016) and Silvermist in the Tinker Bell series (2008-2014). Her other voice credits include Maya & Miguel (2004-2007), (2004), as well as the English and Mandarin-dubbed versions of Magic Wonderland (2014) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013).

Liu was born on December 2, 1968, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. In high school, she adopted a middle name, Alexis. She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, a trained civil engineer who sold digital clock pens. Liu's parents originally came from Beijing and Shanghai and immigrated to Taiwan as adults before meeting in New York. She has an older brother, John, and an older sister, Jenny. Her parents worked many jobs while Lucy and her siblings were growing up.

Liu has stated that she grew up in a diverse neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin at home and began studying English when she was five. She studied the martial art kali-eskrima-silat as a hobby when she was young. Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145), and graduated from Stuyvesant High School. She later enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in Asian languages and cultures.

At the age of 19, while traveling on the subway, Liu was discovered by an agent. She did one commercial. As a member of the Basement Arts student-run theater group, she auditioned in 1989 for the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year of college. Although she had originally tried out for only a supporting role, Liu was cast in the lead. While in line to audition for the musical Miss Saigon in 1990, she told The New York Times, "There aren't many Asian roles, and it's very difficult to get your foot in the door." In May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in Fairy Bones, directed by Tina Chen.

Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. In 1992, she made her big-screen debut in the Hong Kong film Rhythm of Destiny, which starred Danny Lee and Aaron Kwok. In 1993, she appeared in an episode of L.A. Law as a Chinese widow giving her evidence in Mandarin. Liu starred on the sitcom Pearl, which lasted one season. Shortly after the end of Pearl's run in 1997, Liu was cast in a role on Ally McBeal. Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Liu's part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member. Additionally, she earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.

In 2000, Liu starred in Charlie's Angels along with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. In 2001, Liu was the spokeswoman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises money for breast cancer research and education. In 2004 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries. In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm. She appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, Kill Bill. While in negotiations for Kill Bill with Tarantino the two joined to help produce the Hungarian sports documentary Freedom's Fury. She won an MTV Award for Best Movie Villain for her part in Kill Bill. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels films. She also had minor roles as Kitty Baxter in the film Chicago and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller Domino. In Lucky Number Slevin, she played the leading love interest to Josh Hartnett. 3 Needles was released on December 1, 2006, Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Chinese woman.

Liu had previously presented her artwork under a pseudonym, Yu Ling (which is her Chinese name). Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had several gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography. She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter. Liu attended the New York Studio School for drawing, painting, and sculpture from 2004 to 2006. In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF. She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Her painting, "Escape", was incorporated into Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection and was shown during Art Basel Miami 2008, which showed works by contemporary American artists. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits from the NYC Milk Gallery gallery show to UNICEF. In London, a portion of the proceeds from her book Seventy Two went to UNICEF.

Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility. She also hosted an MTV documentary, Traffic, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. In 2008, she produced and narrated the short film The Road to Traffik, about the Cambodian author and human rights advocate Somaly Mam. The film was directed by Kerry Girvin and co-produced by photographer Norman Jean Roy. This led to a partnership with producers on the documentary film Redlight.

In 2007 Liu appeared in Code Name: The Cleaner; Rise: Blood Hunter, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter; and Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy. She made her producer debut and also starred in a remake of Charlie Chan, which had been planned as early as 2000. The producers of Dirty *** Money created a role for Liu as a series regular. Liu played Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney who faced Nick George (Peter Krause). Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.

In March 2010, Liu made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage as Annette on the second replacement cast alongside Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer, and Dylan Baker. Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for same-sex marriage, and became a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign in 2011. She has teamed up with Heinz to combat the widespread global health threat of iron deficiency anemia and vitamin and mineral malnutrition among infants and children in the developing world.

In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is an American Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men. She has gained praise for her role as Watson, including three consecutive nominations for the People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actress. She also has played police officer Jessica Tang on Southland, a television show focusing on the lives of police officers and detectives in Los Angeles, as a recurring guest actor during the fourth season. She received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress for this role. Liu's other directorial credits include 6 episodes of Elementary, an episode of Graceland, the episode "Dearly Beloved" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the second-season premiere of Luke Cage.

In August 2011, Liu became a narrator for the musical group The Bullitts. In 2013, Liu was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Liu was named Harvard's 2016 Artist of the Year. She was awarded the Harvard Foundation's arts medal at the annual Harvard Foundation Award ceremony, during the Cultural Rhythms Festival in Sanders Theatre. She is also part of the cast in the post-apocalyptic thriller Future World, directed by James Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung. Her first national museum exhibition was held at the National Museum of Singapore in early 2019 and was titled "Unhomed Belongings."

In April 2021, Liu was cast as the villainess Kalypso in the upcoming superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods. In 2022, she was cast to voice a role in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Strange World, and in Jake Kasdan's upcoming film Red One.

Personal life

In 1991, Liu underwent surgery after a breast cancer scare. "The doctor sort of felt and said it was cancer and it needs to come out. I went into shell-shock. It was pretty traumatizing." The lump was removed just two days after the doctor's examination and was found to be benign.

Liu has studied various religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Jewish mysticism. She has stated, "I'm into all things spiritual-anything to do with meditation or chants or any of that stuff. I studied Chinese philosophy in school. There's something in the metaphysical that I find very fascinating." She has been a member of the Chinese-American organization Committee of 100 since 2004.

Liu is a single parent. She has a son, Rockwell, who was born in 2015 via gestational surrogate. She has stated that surrogacy was the right option for her because, "I was working and I didn't know when I was going to be able to stop." She was involved in Tylenol's #HowWeFamily Mother's Day Campaign, which celebrated non-traditional families.

Filmography

Television

Video games

Why Women Kill
Episode #8: "Marriages Don't Break Up on Account of Murder - It's Just A Symptom That Something Else Is Wrong"

Art exhibitions

2007

-

Art Basel Miami, Casa Tua in South Beach Miami, US as part of Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection

Painting Escape, a black and white abstraction

2010

-

As Yu Ling. Painting included in the Bloomsbury Auctions 20th Century Art and Editions sale in New York, US

Painting

Awards and nominations

1997
Screen Actors Guild Award
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Ally McBeal
Nominated

NAACP Image Award

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Primetime Emmy Award
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Screen Actors Guild Award

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

2000

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Blockbuster Entertainment Award

Favorite Supporting Actress - Action
Shanghai Noon
Won

MTV Movie Award

Best On-Screen Duo

Best Dressed

Nominated

Saturn Award
Best Supporting Actress

Phoenix Film Critics Society Award

Best Cast

Nominated

Screen Actors Guild Award

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Won

MTV Movie Award

Best Dance Sequence
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

Saturn Award

Best Supporting Actress

Nominated

2011

NAACP Image Award

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Marry Me

2012

New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award

Best Actress
Elementary
Won

2013

Prism Awards

Female Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode

Nominated

Seoul International Drama Awards

Best Actress

Won

Teen Choice Awards
Choice TV Actress: Action

Critics' Choice Television Award

Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
Southland

NAACP Image Award

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Nominated

2015
People's Choice Awards
Favorite TV Crime Drama Actress
Elementary

Chinese Americans in New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of Anne Frank, Jewish girl who wrote about hiding from the Nazis in World War II.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Liu has starred as Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal (1998-2002), Alex Munday in two Charlie's Angels films (2000 and 2003) and Joan Watson in the crime-drama series Elementary (2012-2019). Her film work includes starring in (1999), Shanghai Noon (2000), (2002), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Lucky Number Slevin (2006), Watching the Detectives (2007), The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), and (2018).

Liu provided voice acting for Master Viper in the Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008-2016) and Silvermist in the Tinker Bell series (2008-2014). Her other voice credits include Maya & Miguel (2004-2007), (2004), as well as the English and Mandarin-dubbed versions of Magic Wonderland (2014) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). Most recently, she has voiced Callisto Mal in the Disney-animated film Strange World (2022).

Liu was born in the New York City borough of Queens. In high school, she adopted a middle name, Alexis. She is the youngest of three children born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, a trained civil engineer who sold digital clock pens. Liu's parents originally came from Beijing and Shanghai and immigrated to Taiwan as adults before meeting in New York. She has an older brother, John, and an older sister, Jenny. Her parents worked many jobs while Lucy and her siblings were growing up.

Liu has stated that she grew up in a diverse neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin at home and began studying English when she was five. She studied the martial art kali-eskrima-silat as a hobby when she was young. Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145), and graduated from Stuyvesant High School. She later enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority and studied Asian languages and cultures.

At the age of 19, while traveling on the subway, Liu was discovered by an agent. She appeared in one commercial as a result. As a member of the Basement Arts student-run theater group, she auditioned in 1989 for the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year of college. Although she had originally tried out for only a supporting role, Liu was cast in the lead. While in line to audition for the musical Miss Saigon in 1990, she told The New York Times, "There aren't many Asian roles, and it's very difficult to get your foot in the door." In May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in Fairy Bones, directed by Tina Chen.

Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut. In 1992, she made her big-screen debut in the Hong Kong film Rhythm of Destiny, which starred Danny Lee and Aaron Kwok. In 1993, she appeared in an episode of as a Chinese widow giving her evidence in Mandarin. Liu starred on the sitcom , which lasted one season. Shortly after the end of Pearl's run in 1997, Liu was cast in a role on Ally McBeal. Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter (played by Portia de Rossi), and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Liu's part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member. Additionally, she earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series.

In 2000, Liu starred in Charlie's Angels along with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. In 2001, Liu was the spokeswoman for the Lee National Denim Day fundraiser, which raises money for breast cancer research and education. In 2004 Liu was appointed an ambassador for U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She traveled to Pakistan and Lesotho, among several other countries. In 2002, Liu played Rita Foster in Vincenzo Natali's Brainstorm. She appeared as O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film, . While in negotiations for Kill Bill with Tarantino the two joined to help produce the Hungarian sports documentary Freedom's Fury. She won an MTV Award for Best Movie Villain for her part in Kill Bill. Subsequently, Liu appeared on several episodes of with Matt LeBlanc, who played her love interest in the Charlie's Angels films. She also had minor roles as Kitty Baxter in the film and as a psychologist opposite Keira Knightley in the thriller . In Lucky Number Slevin, she played the leading love interest to Josh Hartnett. was released on December 1, 2006, Liu portrayed Jin Ping, an HIV-positive Chinese woman.

Liu had previously presented her artwork under a pseudonym, Yu Ling (which is her Chinese name). Liu, who is an artist in several media, has had several gallery shows showcasing her collage, paintings, and photography. She began doing collage mixed media when she was 16 years old, and became a photographer and painter. Liu attended the New York Studio School for drawing, painting, and sculpture from 2004 to 2006. In September 2006, Liu held an art show and donated her share of the profits to UNICEF. She also had another show in 2008 in Munich. Her painting, "Escape", was incorporated into Montblanc's Cutting Edge Art Collection and was shown during Art Basel Miami 2008, which showed works by contemporary American artists. Liu has stated that she donated her share of the profits from the NYC Milk Gallery gallery show to UNICEF. In London, a portion of the proceeds from her book Seventy Two went to UNICEF.

Early in 2006, Liu received an "Asian Excellence Award" for Visibility. She also hosted an MTV documentary, Traffic, for the MTV EXIT campaign in 2007. In 2008, she produced and narrated the short film The Road to Traffik, about the Cambodian author and human rights advocate Somaly Mam. The film was directed by Kerry Girvin and co-produced by photographer Norman Jean Roy. This led to a partnership with producers on the documentary film .

In 2007 Liu appeared in Code Name: The Cleaner; Rise: Blood Hunter, a supernatural thriller co-starring Michael Chiklis in which Liu plays an undead reporter (for which she was ranked number 41 on "Top 50 Sexiest Vampires"); and Watching the Detectives, an independent romantic comedy co-starring Cillian Murphy. She made her producer debut and also starred in a remake of Charlie Chan, which had been planned as early as 2000. In 2007 named Liu number 96 of their "100 Sexiest Movie Stars". The producers of Dirty Sexy Money created a role for Liu as a series regular. Liu played Nola Lyons, a powerful attorney who faced Nick George ( Peter Krause). Liu voiced Silvermist in Disney Fairies and Viper in Kung Fu Panda.

In March 2010, Liu made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage as Annette on the second replacement cast alongside Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer, and Dylan Baker. Liu is a supporter of marriage equality for same-sex marriage, and became a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign in 2011. She has teamed up with Heinz to combat the widespread global health threat of iron deficiency anemia and vitamin and mineral malnutrition among infants and children in the developing world.

In March 2012, she was cast as Joan Watson for Elementary. Elementary is an American Sherlock Holmes adaptation, and the role Liu was offered is traditionally played by men. She has gained praise for her role as Watson, including three consecutive nominations for the People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actress. She also has played police officer Jessica Tang on , a television show focusing on the lives of police officers and detectives in Los Angeles, as a recurring guest actor during the fourth season. She received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Drama Guest Actress for this role. Liu's other directorial credits include 6 episodes of Elementary, an episode of , the episode "Dearly Beloved" of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the second-season premiere of .

In August 2011, Liu became a narrator for the musical group The Bullitts. In 2013, Liu was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Liu was named Harvard's 2016 Artist of the Year. She was awarded the Harvard Foundation's arts medal at the annual Harvard Foundation Award ceremony, during the Cultural Rhythms Festival in Sanders Theatre. She is also part of the cast in the post-apocalyptic thriller Future World, directed by James Franco and Bruce Thierry Cheung. Her first national museum exhibition was held at the National Museum of Singapore in early 2019 and was titled "Unhomed Belongings."

In April 2021, Liu was cast as the villainess Kalypso in the upcoming superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods. In 2022, she was cast to voice a role in the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Strange World, and in Jake Kasdan's upcoming film .

In 1991, Liu underwent surgery after a breast cancer scare. "The doctor sort of felt and said it was cancer and it needs to come out. I went into shell-shock. It was pretty traumatizing." The lump was removed just two days after the doctor's examination and was found to be benign.

Liu has studied various religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Jewish mysticism. She has stated, "I'm into all things spiritual-anything to do with meditation or chants or any of that stuff. I studied Chinese philosophy in school. There's something in the metaphysical that I find very fascinating." She has been a member of the Chinese-American organization Committee of 100 since 2004.

Liu is a single parent. She has a son, Rockwell, who was born in 2015 via gestational surrogate. She has stated that surrogacy was the right option for her because, "I was working and I didn't know when I was going to be able to stop." She was involved in Tylenol's #HowWeFamily Mother's Day Campaign, which celebrated non-traditional families.

2007

-

Painting Escape, a black and white abstraction

2008
je suis. envois-moi
Six oil paintings, four prints and ten sculptures. Revenue was donated to UNICEF. May 8 to 31

2010

-

As Yu Ling. Painting included in the Bloomsbury Auctions 20th Century Art and Editions sale in New York, US

Painting

2019
Unhomed Belongings
First museum exhibit, included works by Shubigi Rao

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Michelle Obama was the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She became first lady when her husband, Barack Obama, took office as president. She was the first...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Download FREE resources to teach children about 'Michelle Obama'

Who is Michelle Obama?

Michelle Obama is an attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, as the wife of President Barack Obama. In her appointment as first lady, Michelle Obama became the first Black woman to hold the position. Known for her philanthropic efforts, Michelle Obama is often ranked as one of the most inspirational women in America.

Teaching Wiki Contents

Quick Michelle Obama Facts for Kids

Michelle Obama Biography for Kids

Early Life

Michelle Obama was born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson on January 17, 1964, to parents Fraser Robinson III and Marian Shields Robinson, in Chicago, Illinois. Michelle Obama has one older brother named Craig, who was born in 1962.

As a teenager, Michelle Obama attended Whitney Young High School - a three-hour trip from her home in South Shore. It was at this time that Michelle Obama first experienced gender discrimination, with the views and opinions of her older brother being seen as more important than her own. This was a motivating factor for Michelle Obama to continue to work hard at school - she was continually on the honor roll, took additional classes, and was a member of the National Honor Society. Michelle Obama graduated from high school in 1981, as a salutatorian (second-highest-ranking-graduate in her class).

In 1981, Michelle Obama enrolled at Princeton University where she majored in sociology and minored in African-American studies. Obama was determined to work hard and prove herself - especially after her high school teachers had advised her against enrolling at such a prestigious university. It is at Princeton that Michelle Obama says she first became aware of her race and how that would affect her. The mother of her white roommate asked for her daughter to be re-assigned, and Michelle Obama said that she felt like a " visitor on campus. "

"Some of my teachers straight up told me that I was setting my sights too high. They told me I was never going to get into a school like Princeton. Nobody was going to take my hand and lead me to where I needed to go. Instead, it was going to be up to me to reach my goal. I would have to chart my own course. It is not your circumstance that defines your futures. It's your attitude."

-November 12, 2013.

As part of her college degree, Michelle Obama wrote a thesis called Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Communitywhere she researched the identity of Black Americans in the educational field and how they identified as part of the Black community. Michelle Obama graduated cum laude (with distinction) with a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton in 1985.

Shortly after graduating, Michelle Obama enrolled at Harvard University with the intention of pursuing a doctorate of law. At this point, Michelle Obama was facing her own struggle with her identity but ultimately decided that she could be both " brilliant and black ," without having to sacrifice anything. Michelle Obama earned her Juris Doctor (a doctor of law) degree from Harvard Law School in 1988.

Early Career and Family Life

At Sidley Austin, Michelle Obama met her future husband Barack Obama, who was also a lawyer. The two married on October 3, 1992, and bought a house on Chicago's South Side. After suffering a miscarriage, Michelle Obama underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to have children. Michelle and Barack Obama have two daughters, Malia (born in 1998) and Natasha (known more commonly as Sasha) (born in 2001).

In 1991, Michelle Obama decided to explore roles in Chicago politics. She first held the position of assistant to the mayor, as well as the role of assistant commissioner of planning and development, working alongside politicians and professionals to help the people of Chicago. In 1993, Michelle became the executive director of Chicago's branch of Public Allies, a nonprofit charity that encouraged social activism and leadership in young people. During her four years at Public Allies, Michelle Obama set record-high figures for fundraising.

Barack Obama's Political Campaigns

During the campaign trail, Michelle Obama gave speeches where she discussed . This led to race and education, as well as the importance of motherhood. Early into the campaign, Michelle Obama was criticized for her no-nonsense approach stereotyping from some commentators, who mocked Michelle and her background. However, Michelle Obama continued with her work, giving well-received interviews with Oprah Winfrey negative and The View.

"We believe that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, and you do what you say you're going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them."

-August 25, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. This not only made Barack Obama the first Black American to become president, but it meant that Michelle Obama would become the first Black woman to hold the position of first lady of the United States.

First Lady of the United States

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the president of the United States. Shortly after the inauguration, the Obama family moved into the White House in Washington, D.C.

In her early months of becoming the first lady, Michelle Obama decided on four key initiatives that she wanted to cover. This included the campaigns:

Let's Move - advocating healthy eating and exercise for children.

Reach Higher - empowering young people to pursue education.

Let Girls Learn - an incentive for girls to seek higher education.

Joining Forces - supporting the families of the Armed Forces.

Michelle Obama grew increasingly popular during her term as the first lady, with critics praising her commitment to her role and desire to help others. In 2008, Time Magazine named Michelle Obama the Woman of the Year. 2009 saw Michelle Obama named as journalist Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person, as well as appearing on the cover of fashion magazine Vogue. During this time, Michelle Obama was often noted for her class and professionalism at large events and charitable visits, with her "star power" being noted by organizations such as NewsWeek. By 2011, her approval ratings even outranked her husband's - commentators frequently pointed out that Michelle Obama was the most popular member of the Obama administration.

In 2011, Michelle Obama began to campaign for her husband's re-election as president in the 2012 presidential election. Once again, Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention, this time addressing her tenure as first lady and what she and her husband had achieved.

"So today, when the challenges we face start to seem overwhelming - or even impossible - let us never forget that doing the impossible is the history of this nation. It's who we are as Americans. It's how this country was built."

-September 4, 2012.

"I wake up every morning in a house that was built by [enslaved people]. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. So don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again, because this right now is the greatest country on earth."

-July 25, 2016

Recent Years

In 2016, Barack Obama's presidency ended after his second term (the maximum term allowed for an elected president). Donald Trump was elected the president of the United States, with his family taking up residence in the White House in 2017. The Obama family stayed in Washington, D.C., and bought a house in the district.

In the years following Michelle Obama's time as the first lady, she has continued to work on bringing awareness to women's rights and the importance of education. Her campaigning included speaking out against the new presidency under Donald Trump, who put into effect many executive orders that undermined Michelle Obama's earlier initiatives as the first lady.

"Going low is easy, which is why people go to it. It's easy to go low. It's easy to lead by fear. It's easy to be divisive. It's easy to make people feel afraid... There is a bigger purpose for me out there."

-February 8, 2020

Despite repeated calls from Democratic Party members to run for office (most notably during the Trump administration), Michelle Obama has refused, stating that she never had a passion for politics, but intends to continue her work helping others.

In 2019, Michelle Obama made her first appearance on Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People list. An article by Beyoncé emphasized Obama's achievements, saying "I am so grateful that my daughters and my son live in a world where Michelle Obama shines as a beacon of hope who inspires all of us to do better and to be better. ". Similarly, in polls by Gallup, Inc., Michelle Obama ranked as America's most admired woman in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In 2021, Michelle Obama was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Michelle Obama's Accomplishments

2005: Becomes vice president for Community and External Affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals.

2008: Becomes the first Black American to be the first lady of the United States.

Michelle Obama's Timeline

10 Michelle Obama Facts for Kids

1. In 2011, Michelle Obama said her favorite color was purple.

2. Some of Michelle Obama's favorite foods include french fries and pizza.

3. Michelle Obama has two dogs named Sunny and Bo.

4. Michelle Obama loves watching reruns of the Brady Bunch!

5. Michelle Obama has many hobbies, including knitting!

6. Michelle Obama supports the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

7. Michelle Obama's favorite sport is tennis.

8. At 5'11, Michelle Obama is one of the tallest First Ladies in history!

9. Michelle Obama loves to listen to artists such as Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, and Lizzo when she works out.

10. Michelle Obama is one of only three First Ladies to have a graduate degree.

Teaching Video about Michelle Obama

Teaching Resources about Michelle Obama

If you're looking for teaching resources on the former first lady of the United States, we have several activities we'd love to show you. From informational PowerPoints to fun trading cards, we've got everything you could need for an engaging Michelle Obama-themed learning topic:

For starters, we have this set of Michelle Obama Biographical PowerPoint & Google Slides. With tons of fast facts and interesting information about the former first lady, this presentation is a must-see!

Next up, we have this Fifth Grade Michelle Obama Reading Passage Comprehension Activity. With a fifth grade-level reading passage for your students to read, there are also three multiple-choice questions to answer about Michelle Obama's life and career.

Finally, we have this set of International Women's Day Trading Cards. Featuring Michelle Obama and other such pioneering women, these fun cards can be used to play an interactive game with your class.

Looking for more? Join us on social media!

We hope this Teaching Wiki on Michelle Obama was helpful. For more informative Teaching Wikis, be sure to check out our entire section. Then, for more Twinkl resources, be sure to sign up today!

Disclaimers: All images reproduced under Creative Commons license: Public Domain Mark 1.0.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Who is Michelle Obama? Facts for Kids | Twinkl Teaching Wiki

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Download FREE resources to teach children about 'Michelle Obama' Michelle Obama is an attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, as the wife of President Barack Obama. In her appointment as first lady, Michelle Obama became the first Black woman to hold the position.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is a former First Lady of the United States and the wife of the 44th president of the U.S., Barack Obama. She is also a lawyer and an author. She is the first African American First Lady of the United States. Like many other First Ladies, Mrs. Obama has worked as a spokesperson for a cause. The cause she supports is better nutrition and exercise for children. She has done work with the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon to support this cause.

Obama was born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson at Provident Hospital of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois on January 17, 1964.

Robinson's childhood home was on the upper floor of 7436 South Euclid Avenue in Chicago's South Shore community area, which her parents rented from her great-aunt, who had the first floor. She was raised in what she describes as a "conventional" home, with "the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table". Her elementary school was down the street. She and her family enjoyed playing games such as Monopoly, reading, and frequently saw extended family on both sides. She played piano, learning from her great-aunt, who was a piano teacher. The Robinsons attended services at nearby South Shore United Methodist Church. They used to vacation in a rustic cabin in White Cloud, Michigan. She and her 21-month-older brother, Craig, skipped the second grade.

Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis, which had a profound emotional effect on her as she was growing up. She was determined to stay out of trouble and be a good student, which was what her father wanted for her. By sixth grade, Michelle joined a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School (later renamed Bouchet Academy). She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago's first magnet high school, established as a selective enrollment school, where she was a classmate of Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita. The round-trip commute from the Robinsons' South Side home to the Near West Side, where the school was located, took three hours.

Michelle recalled being fearful of how others would perceive her, but disregarded any negativity around her and used it "to fuel me, to keep me going". She recalled facing gender discrimination growing up, saying, for example, that rather than asking her for her opinion on a given subject, people commonly tended to ask what her older brother thought. She was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society, and served as student council treasurer. She graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of her class.

Michele Obama became a lawyer after graduating from law school. While working at the law firm Sidley Austin, she met her future husband.

In 1991, she left the company to work in the mayor's office as an Assistant to the Mayor, then she pursued various jobs outside the city including executive director, associate dean and executive vice president.

After her husband's inauguration, she focused on lifestyle and fitness, and she launched the Let's Move campaign to eliminate childhood obesity. Her approval rating was 71% in March of 2010.

Meeting Barack Obama

She met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin LLP. She was assigned to mentor him while he was a summer associate. Their relationship started with a business lunch and then a community organization meeting where he first impressed her.She and Barack Obama were married on October 3, 1992, and they have two children, Malia (born July 4, 1998) and Sasha (born June 10, 2001).

For a long time, she lived in Chicago with her family. Then, her husband became a junior Senator for the State of Illinois. After that, he ran for president of the USA and won. Michelle became the First Lady of the United States and lived in the White House with her husband and two children. Her husband was elected on November 6, 2012, to a second term as president, so she served as First Lady until January 20, 2017.

On September 17, 2014, Obama visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Kids there asked her questions. She said when she was asked who in her family that she liked to prank the most that her husband was the person, also saying they love to scare each other. Their daughters also try to scare them. She also said the Truman Balcony is her favorite part of the White House. When asked about what she liked most about being First Lady of the United States, she answered that she enjoyed meeting the Pope and also spoke of being around Beyoncé and her fans at one of her concerts. She showed how excited she was by saying "Oh, my stars!"

Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, is the head coach of the Oregon State University men's basketball team. Her father, Fraser Robinson, was a pump operator for the Chicago Water Department. Her mother Marion Robinson stayed home to raise her and her brother Craig. Her children are Sasha and Malia Ann Obama.

These books were written or ghostwritten and published by Michelle Obama while she was First Lady and afterwards:

American Grown. New York: Crown Publishing Group. 2012. ISBN 978-0307956026.

Becoming. New York: Crown Publishing Group. 2018. ISBN 978-1524763138.

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times. New York: Crown Publishing Group. 2022. ISBN 978-0593237465.

Michelle Obama quotes

"I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them."

"When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high."

"Strong men, men who are truly role models, don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful."

"Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude."

"Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own."

Interesting facts about Michelle Obama

She was the first African American first lady of the United States of America.

Her brother Craig is only 21 months older than her so people thought they were twins when they were growing up.

Michelle Obama served as a role model for women.

She worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating.

Michelle Obama began the Let's Move! campaign to help stop the United State's childhood obesity epidemic.

She supported American designers and was considered a fashion icon.

Michelle skipped second grade.

Michelle Obama isn't a fan of the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?", because she believes you continue to grow, change, learn and do different things even as an adult.

Images for kids

In Spanish: Michelle Obama para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction
(born 1978). Zimbabwean American actress Danai Gurira was perhaps best known for her roles in the television series The Walking Dead and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Panther and Avengers movies. She was also a successful playwright.

Early Life and Education
Danai Jekesai Gurira was born on February 14, 1978, in Grinnell, Iowa. Danai means to be in love or to love one another in Shona, a language of southern Africa. Her parents were from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). They had moved to the United States in the 1960s amid Rhodesia's struggle for independence from Great Britain. Gurira's father taught chemistry at Grinnell College, and her mother was a librarian.

When Gurira was five years old her family moved back to Zimbabwe (which had won independence in 1980), settling in Harare. She returned to the United States to attend school at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2001. Gurira then entered New York University's Tisch School of the Arts to study acting. She earned a master's degree in 2004.

Playwright and Theater Career
While at New York University Gurira teamed up with fellow student Nikkole Salter to write the play In the Continuum. It features two Black women, one in the United States and the other in Zimbabwe, who have contracted HIV from their partners. Gurira and Salter also starred in the play, which premiered in 2005 in New York City. That year Gurira won an Obie Award for writing, and the next year she earned the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production (a play originally produced for a theater outside Washington, D.C.).

In 2009 Gurira appeared in her first Broadway role in August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone. The second play she wrote, Eclipsed, debuted that same year. The play is about several women who are held captive by rebels in 2003, during the civil war in Liberia. Eclipsed reached Broadway in 2016, and that year it was nominated for several Tony Awards, including best play and best actress ( Lupita Nyong'o).

Gurira's third play, The Convert, premiered in 2011. Set in the 1890s, it explores the effects of British colonialism in southern Africa. The play follows a girl who converts to Christianity-and must give up all her traditional African beliefs-to escape an arranged marriage. Gurira's fourth play, Familiar, debuted in 2015. The comedy-drama investigates family and cultural identity as a first-generation Zimbabwean American woman prepares to marry a white American.

Television and Movie Career
© Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Entertainment

Gurira began her television and movie career in the 2000s with various bit parts on television shows, including Law & Order and Life on Mars. Her first movies included the drama The Visitor (2007), the horror film My Soul to Take (2010), and the drama Restless City (2011). In 2010 and 2011 she had a recurring role on the television series Treme, which followed residents of New Orleans, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. In 2012 Gurira joined the cast of The Walking Dead, a television show about a zombie apocalypse. The popular success of the show, as well as Gurira's portrayal of the sword-wielding character Michonne, helped to catapult her to stardom. Gurira remained with the show until 2020. During that time she portrayed her character growing from a wary loner to a just and fair leader.

Copyright by Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Pictures

Meanwhile, Gurira continued to act in movies. She starred in the drama Mother of George (2013) and in a biography of rapper Tupac Shakur titled All Eyez on Me (2017). In 2018 Gurira took a role in the Marvel Comics movie Black Panther. She played Okoye, a martial arts expert and leader of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panther's guard of women warriors. Both reviewers and audiences praised the movie. The actors received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Gurira went on to reprise the role of Okoye in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

Other Interests
Gurira founded Love Our Girls, an organization dedicated to bringing awareness to the injustices faced by women and girls around the world. She cofounded Almasi Collaborative Arts. It is an organization that helps to educate and to develop dramatic arts students in Zimbabwe through collaboration with American arts institutions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Introduction (born 1978). Zimbabwean American actress Danai Gurira was perhaps best known for her roles in the television series The Walking Dead and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Panther and Avengers movies. She was also a successful playwright. Early Life and Education Danai Jekesai Gurira was born on February 14, 1978, in Grinnell, Iowa.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively. She was also a member of the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships.

Douglas is the first African American to become the Olympic individual all-around champion, and the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. She was also the 2016 AT&T American Cup all-around champion.

As a public figure, Douglas' gymnastics successes have led to her life story adaptation in the 2014 Lifetime biopic film, The Gabby Douglas Story, as well as the acquisition of her own reality television series, Douglas Family Gold. Douglas has also written a book about her life and what it takes to be an Olympic gold medalist by determination and perseverance.

Douglas was born in Newport News, Virginia and grew up in nearby Virginia Beach, to parents Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins-Douglas. She has two older sisters, Arielle and Joyelle, and one older brother, Johnathan. She began training in gymnastics at age six when her sister convinced their mother to enroll her in classes. In October 2002, she began her training at Gymstrada.

At the age of eight, Douglas won the Level 4 all-around gymnastics title at the 2004 Virginia State Championships.

At 14, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to train full-time with coach Liang Chow. Because her family had to stay in Virginia while her siblings finished school, she lived with Travis and Missy Parton and their four daughters, one of whom also trained at Chow's gym. However, Douglas struggled to fit in because of the separation from her family and hometown.

Douglas is Christian; she said, "I believe in God. He is the secret of my success. He gives people talent", and "I love sharing about my faith. God has given me this amazing God-given talent, so I'm going to go out and glorify His name." Douglas has also stated in her biography that when she was younger her "family practiced some of the Jewish traditions", including attending a Conservative Jewish synagogue, keeping kosher, and celebrating Hanukah.

Junior career

Douglas made her international debut in 2008 at the US Classic in Houston, Texas, where she placed 10th place in the all-around rankings. She went on to compete at the 2008 Visa Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. Placing 16th in that competition, Douglas was not eligible for the 2008 Junior Women's National Team.

In 2009, Douglas suffered a fracture in the growth plate of her wrist. Due to this injury, she was not able to compete and missed the 2009 Covergirl US Classic. While she competed at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas, Douglas was unable to perform her full routines and competed only on balance beam and floor exercise.

Douglas competed at the 2010 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, a televised Level 10 meet held in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she placed fourth all-around.

Her first elite meet was the 2010 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where Douglas placed third on balance beam, 6th on vault, and 9th all-around in the junior division.

At the 2010 U.S. Junior National Championships, Douglas won the silver medal on balance beam, placed fourth all-around and on vault, and tied for eighth on floor exercise.

At the 2010 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, Douglas won the uneven bars title, and she won a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed fifth all-around.

In October, at age 14, Douglas moved into the home of Missy Parton in West Des Moines, Iowa, to train under Liang Chow, the former coach of 2007 World Champion and 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist Shawn Johnson. Although Douglas' former coach, Walker, stated in 2012 that she was convinced Douglas could have made it to the Olympics if she had remained in Virginia Beach, Douglas said, "Something clicked in my head that said, if I really want to make this happen I need to get better coaching." The impetus for Douglas' move to Iowa was when Walker had invited Chow to teach a clinic at her gym, Excalibur. Douglas was impressed when Chow was able to teach her how to perform the Amanar vault in a single afternoon. Douglas considered a move to Texas to train with a renowned coach there, but after that coach declined to train her out of loyalty to Walker, Douglas selected Chow. Chow was initially skeptical, since Douglas had been just one of hundreds of children at the clinic in Virginia Beach. However, Chow subsequently informed Douglas's Excalibur coaches that he had agreed to train her, but pointed out that he did not recruit her, saying, "I would never recruit anybody to my program." Later on, Douglas suffered from a hamstring strain and a hip flexor injury in July. She couldn't do much during this time, but this allowed her to improve her bar skills.

Senior career

At the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, Douglas was part of the US team that won gold. She also placed second on floor, tied for third on beam, and placed fourth in the all-around and on vault.

Douglas earned the silver medal in uneven bars at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago.

At the 2011 U.S. National Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, Douglas tied for third on bars and placed seventh all-around.

At the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Douglas shared in the team gold medal won by the U.S. Douglas also placed fifth in uneven bars.

At the AT&T American Cup at Madison Square Garden in March, Douglas received the highest total all-around score in the women's competition, ahead of her teammate and current world champion Jordyn Wieber. However, her scores did not count towards winning the competition because she was an alternate.

Later in March, she was part of the gold-winning U.S. team at the Pacific Rim Championships, where she also won gold in uneven bars. At the 2012 U.S. National Championships in June, Douglas won the gold medal in uneven bars, silver in the all-around, and bronze in floor. Márta Károlyi, the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics, nicknamed Douglas the "Flying Squirrel" for her aerial performance on the uneven bars.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 Olympic Trials held in San Jose, California on July 1, Douglas placed first in the all-around rankings, securing the only guaranteed spot on the women's Olympic gymnastic team.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics gymnastics event at the O2 Arena (North Greenwich Arena) in London, Douglas and her teammates - Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, captain Aly Raisman and Kyla Ross (collectively nicknamed the "Fierce Five") - won the team event gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They were the first to do so since the "Magnificent Seven"'s victory in the 1996 Games in Atlanta, where they were hosts. Douglas was the only gymnast on the team to compete on all four apparatus (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise) during the finals of the team competition. She then won the gold medal in the individual all-around, becoming the first African-American woman, as well as the first woman of color of any nationality, to win the event. She also became the fourth American woman to win Olympic all-around gold as well as the third straight to do so (after Mary Lou Retton in Los Angeles in 1984, Carly Patterson in Athens in 2004 and Nastia Liukin in Beijing in 2008, all of whom were at the venue and watched Douglas equal their feat.) She also became the first American gymnast ever to win both the team and individual all-around gold at the same Olympics.

Douglas finished eighth in uneven bars, and seventh in balance beam. She is the first all-around champion to fail to medal in an individual event since women's gymnastics was added to the Olympics in 1952.

In August 2013, Douglas left Missy Parton's home, and moved to Los Angeles to be with her family. Although she was no longer training with Chow, she said that she was still preparing to compete in the 2016 Olympics.

In mid-April 2014, Douglas returned to Iowa to train once more with Coach Chow, in an attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Chow and his wife were delighted to have Douglas return to the Iowa gym, which they had not expected she would after her departure to Los Angeles in summer 2013. At that time they were also training promising junior Norah Flatley, who many considered similar to both Douglas and Shawn Johnson in performance style.

In mid-July, it was announced that Douglas had once again left Chow's Gymnastics & Dance Institute. She remained in the market for a new coach until the beginning of August, when news broke that Douglas would train under Kittia Carpenter at Buckeye Gymnastics in Genoa Township, Ohio. Nia Dennis, national team member, also trained at Buckeye at the time. Carpenter announced that Douglas would not aim to return to competition at the 2014 national championships, as previously planned, but would instead train with a goal of returning in time for Worlds 2015. The stated reasoning for Douglas's delay is that she wishes to return as strong as - or stronger than - when she left. National Team Coordinator Marta Karolyi, who expressed satisfaction and some surprise with Douglas's physical condition at her first two national team training camps back (while she was once again working with Chow), commented on Douglas's planned comeback in Ohio, "My wish is that she will be consistent in her training. And if that's what she will do, I think she will be fine. But if she jumps up and down and left and right, it will be much harder."

After participating in several national team camps in 2014, on November 25, 2014, Douglas was added back to the U.S. national team, along with Olympic teammate Aly Raisman and former Chow's Gymnastics teammate Rachel Gowey.

In March 2015, Douglas returned to international competition at the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy. Douglas helped the USA win gold in the team competition and also placed 4th all-around behind defending World Champion Simone Biles, newcomer Bailie Key, and Olympic teammate Aly Raisman.

In July, Douglas competed at the U.S. Classic and finished second in the all-around behind 2-time World All-Around Champion Simone Biles and ahead of Maggie Nichols with a score of 60.500. She had a consistent night hitting clean routines. She placed second on uneven bars behind Madison Kocian and ahead of Bailie Key with a score of 15.400, third on balance beam behind Biles and Olympic teammate Aly Raisman with a score of 14.900, and second on floor exercise behind Biles and ahead of Key and Nichols with a score of 15.000.

On August 13 & 15, Douglas competed at the P&G Championships Indianapolis, Indiana, where she placed 5th overall with a score of 117.950, placing behind Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, and Bailie Key.

Douglas started Night 1 on vault and despite a hop backwards on her double-twisting Yurchenko vault, she scored a 15.150. On bars, she had a high-flying piked Tkachev connected to her Pak Salto and had an excellent landing on her double layout dismount. She scored a 15.300 on bars. On beam, she had a shaky routine with balance checks but did score a 14.450. On floor, she had bad wobbles on her double Y-turn and her double turn with leg at horizontal (then didn't connect to her single turn with leg at horizontal). She had low landings and almost fell on her tucked full-in and scored a 13.850 to end Night 1 in 3rd with a total all-around score of 58.700.

On Night 2, Douglas started on bars where she excelled once again on her inbar-stalder pirouettes and her piked Tkachev-Pak Salto connection but she took a large step forward on her double layout dismount and almost fell. She scored a 15.100. Her total bars score of 30.400 placed her 4th on the event behind Madison Kocian, Ashton Locklear and Key (by 0.100). On beam, she had a shaky routine, with multiple balance checks and some lost connections, as well as a hop and low landing on her double pike dismount. She scored 14.200 on the event for a two-day total of 28.650, placing 9th on the event and scoring .050 behind Raisman and Mykayla Skinner. On floor, she improved her turns and connections and had better landings on her tumbling passes. She scored a 14.800 and totaled her score to 28.650, placing her 6th on the event.

Douglas was named to the Senior National Team for the first time since 2012 and received an invite to the 2015 Worlds Selection Camp in September. On October 8, 2015, it was announced that Douglas had been selected as a member of the 2015 US Women's World Championship team.

At the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Douglas shared in the team gold medal won by the U.S. She also qualified for the individual all-around in 3rd place, and to the uneven bars final in 6th place. Douglas won the silver in the all-around, becoming the first reigning Olympic all-around champion since 2001 to return to the sport and win a world championships medal.

On November 13, 2015, The Columbus Dispatch revealed that Douglas would participate in the 2016 AT&T American Cup, in Newark, New Jersey. It was confirmed on December 17, 2015.

In March 2016, following her win at the 2016 AT&T American Cup, Douglas participated at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy, where she won the all-around title.

Douglas competed at the 2016 Secret US Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 4. She did not compete in the all-around competition, which was won by Fierce Five teammate Aly Raisman. Douglas competed on UB and BB, scoring a 15.650 on UB to finish in 3rd behind Ashton Locklear and Madison Kocian on that event. On the balance beam, she scored a 14.550. This meant her all-around total was 30.200.

On June 24 and 26, Douglas competed at the P&G Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. On Night 1, she scored a 14.800 on vault, a 15.100 on uneven bars, a 14.200 on balance beam, and a 14.800 on floor exercise. On Night 2, she scored a 14.900 on vault, a 14.500 on uneven bars, a 15.050 on balance beam, and a 14.450 on floor exercise. Her grand total was 117.800 for both nights, putting her in fourth all-around.

On July 10, Douglas was named to the team for the 2016 Olympics, alongside Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman. She and Raisman became part of a select group of American gymnasts including Miller and Dawes to compete in two Olympics.

On July 11, Mattel, Inc. released a "Gymnast Barbie" doll modeled after Douglas.

2016 Summer Olympics

On August 7, Douglas competed in the Women's Qualification at the 2016 Summer Olympics at the HSBC Arena (Arena Olimpica de Rio) in Rio de Janeiro. She scored a 15.166 on the vault, a 15.766 on the uneven bars, a 14.833 on the balance beam, and a 14.366 on the floor exercise. Along with the team final, she individually qualified into the uneven bars final. Douglas narrowly missed advancing to the all-around final to defend her title despite tallying the third-highest score in the preliminaries, since she was outscored by teammates Biles and Raisman and rules only allow two competitors from one NOC, similar to Wieber four years ago in London. Douglas also changed coaches during the competition, but kept her assistant coach.

Douglas helped the United States win a second consecutive gold medal in the team event, which was also her third Olympic gold medal. When the team final scores were announced, Douglas and her teammates called themselves the "Final Five" in honor of coach Marta Karolyi's retirement and the team size being reduced to four beginning in 2020.

Douglas finished seventh in the uneven bars event final.

2022-present: potential comeback

In October 2022 several gymnastics media outlets, such as The Gymternet and Gymcastic, reported that Douglas had recently returned to training, this time at WOGA. In November 2022 a photograph was posted online that showed Douglas in the gym with other current WOGA athletes, further strengthening rumors of a possible comeback.

Awards and honors

In December 2012, the Associated Press named Douglas the Female Athlete of the Year. She became the fourth gymnast to receive the honor.

Douglas was a nominee for the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year. In June 2013, Douglas received two BET Awards for her accomplishments.

In the media

In July 2012, Douglas and her teammates were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Olympic Preview issue, the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover of the magazine. On July 20, Douglas was on one of five magazine Olympic covers.

On August 3, the Kellogg Company announced that it would put a picture of Douglas standing on the podium with her gold medal on special-edition boxes of corn flakes, breaking the tradition of Olympic athletes appearing on Wheaties boxes.

On August 23, Douglas threw the ceremonial pitch at Citi Field when the Colorado Rockies played the New York Mets.

On August 26, Douglas spoke about racist bullying at Excalibur Gymnastics in an interview with Oprah Winfrey and how it nearly made her quit the sport. She described an incident in which she had heard other girls at the gym say, "Why doesn't Gabby do it? She's our slave", when chalk was needed to be scraped off the bars. The CEO of Excalibur Gymnastics, Gustavo Maure, denied these claims.

In September 2012, Nintendo announced that Douglas would be part of a new ad campaign for New Super Mario Bros. 2. On September 4, Douglas led the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In December 2012, Douglas released her autobiography, Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith. The book debuted at number four on The New York Times Young Adult Bestseller List. That same month, she performed a miniature floor routine at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards as part of the live performance by Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj of the Girl on Fire Inferno Remix - following Douglas' success in London, Minaj had opted to end her verse with a reference to her: "I ain't tryna be that / Haters wanna see that / But I got 'em aggy / 'Cause I win the gold like Gabby."

Douglas had a small acting role on the Disney XD series Kickin It in the episode "Gabby's Gold", which aired on August 12, 2013.

The Gabby Douglas Story aired on Lifetime on February 1, 2014, starring Imani Hakim. Douglas performed all the gymnastic stunts herself. In 2015, it was announced that a reality television show for the Oxygen channel had been commissioned to follow Douglas and her family's life, issued under the working title Douglas Family Gold. The show premiered on May 25, 2016. On August 23, 2016, it was announced that Douglas would be one of the judges at the 2017 Miss America pageant.

Douglas appeared disguised as a gray-haired, aspiring gym owner in a "Celebrity Edition" episode of Undercover Boss that first aired on May 11, 2018.

Gymnastic equipment used by Douglas at the 2012 Summer Olympics is at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In 2020, Douglas competed on The Masked Singer spin-off The Masked Dancer as "Cotton Candy" and was declared the winner of the season.

Selected competitive skills

Douglas is most well known for her high-flying release skills on the uneven bars (hence her nickname "The Flying Squirrel"), her resilient demeanor, and her upbeat floor exercise routines. The following routines are those that were performed by Douglas at either an Olympic or a World Championships competition.

Douglas, Gabrielle; Burford, Michelle (2012). Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith. Zondervan. pp. 224pp. ISBN 978-0310740681. https://books.google.com/books?id=J-QT7nMIPbsC .

Douglas, Gabrielle (2013). Raising The Bar. Zondervan. 144 pp. ISBN: 978-0-310-74070-4

Competitive history

List of Olympic female gymnasts for the United States

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(born 1995). At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, American gymnast Gabby Douglas won the most coveted prize in her sport-the individual all-around gold medal. In addition, she and her teammates Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Kyla Ross captured the women's team gold medal. Douglas was the first African American to win the Olympic all-around title and the first American gymnast to claim gold in both the team and individual all-around events.

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas was born on December 31, 1995, in Newport News, Virginia. She grew up in nearby Virginia Beach, where she practiced gymnastics from the age of six. In 2010-at age 14-she moved to West Des Moines, Iowa, to train with prominent coach Liang Chow. Soon thereafter Douglas, who lived with a host family in West Des Moines while training under Chow, began to attract attention at national competitions. She finished fourth in the all-around event at the 2010 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup. Douglas tied for third on the uneven bars and placed seventh all-around at the 2011 Visa Championships. Named to the senior national team, she helped the United States earn the team gold at the 2011 world championships, where she also placed fifth on the uneven bars. Douglas's skill on the uneven bars-specifically, her ability to gain extraordinary height in the air when releasing from the apparatus-led U.S. team coordinator Martha Karolyi to dub her "the Flying Squirrel," a nickname which Douglas embraced.

At the 2012 Visa Championships, Douglas narrowly lost the all-around gold to Wieber, the reigning world and national all-around champion. In addition to taking the all-around silver medal, Douglas claimed gold on the uneven bars as well as bronze in the floor exercise. Weeks later, at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Douglas turned the tables on Wieber, edging her for the all-around title by one-tenth of a point. With the victory, Douglas secured an automatic berth on the Olympic team.

Jason Kempin-Getty Images Entertainment/Thinkstock

Douglas shone again at the 2012 Olympics in London, England, advancing to the all-around finals with Raisman after Wieber shockingly missed the cut during the qualifying round. Douglas won the vault at the outset of the finals to take the overall lead, and she never relinquished her hold on it. She posted strong scores during each rotation and finished with the top overall score of 62.232, just ahead of Russia's Victoriya Komova (61.973). Similarly, in the team competition, Douglas helped the United States to an impressive start on the vault, establishing what proved to be an insurmountable lead. The gold for the U.S. women's team was its first since 1996. Douglas also competed individually in London on the balance beam and the uneven bars but did not medal in either event, finishing in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Her memoir Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith (cowritten with Michelle Burford) was released in 2012.

Douglas took two years off from competitive gymnastics before returning to the U.S. national team in November 2014. At the 2015 artistic gymnastics world championships, she won a gold medal in the team event and a silver in the all-around. Although Douglas did not win an individual medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she captured another team gold, with teammates Raisman, Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, and Madison Kocian.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(born 1995). At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, American gymnast Gabby Douglas won the most coveted prize in her sport-the individual all-around gold medal. In addition, she and her teammates Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Kyla Ross captured the women's team gold medal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995 in Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American gymnast. She competed with the United States' women's gymnastics team in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She won gold medals in both the individual all-around and team competitions. (In the "all-around" competition, gymnasts do all four gymnastics activities - balance beam, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise.)

Douglas is the first African-American woman in Olympic history to win first place in the individual all-around competition. She is also the first American gymnast who ever won gold medals in both the all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics.

Douglas started gymnastics at age 6. Her sister Arielle, who had broken her wrist doing gymnastics, convinced their mother to let Gabby start taking gymnastics classes. In October 2002, Douglas began her training at Gymstrada Gymnastics in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In July 2004, she left Gymstrada and began training at Excalibur Gymnastics.

At age 16, Douglas made it to the Olympic Trials. She won first place and got a spot on the United States' 2012 women's gymnastics Olympic team. Her teammates were Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, and Aly Raisman. They won the team all-around gold medal, and Gabby also won the individual all-around gold medal.

References

1. Pucin, Diane (June 18, 2012). . Gymnast Gabrielle Douglas adjusts well to spring to the top http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-oly-gymnastics-gabby-douglas-20120619,0,7708163,full.story. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Category handler/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Category handler/data' not found.

2. Emmert, Mark (July 2, 2012). . Assist from sister sends Gabby Douglas to London https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/gymnastics/story/2012-07-02/Gabby-Douglas-Olympics-gymnastics-London/55988698/1.

3. Luca, Olivia (July 7, 2012). . From her living room to London: Gabby Douglas strives for success at Olympics http://www.mercurynews.com/mosaic/ci_21029426/from-her-living-room-london-gabby-douglas-strives.

4. . "Gabby Douglas". NBCOlympics.comhttp://www.nbcolympics.com/wwbt/local-athletes/athlete=gabrielle-douglas/index.html.

Other websites

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995 in Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American gymnast. She competed with the United States' women's gymnastics team in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She won gold medals in both the individual all-around and team competitions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Coretta Scott King was a civil rights activist in the United States. With her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., she was a central figure in the civil rights movement. After...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Danai Jekesai Gurira (; born February 14, 1978) is a Zimbabwean-American actress and playwright. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2012-2020, 2022) and as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films, beginning with Black Panther (2018) and most recently appearing in its sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

Gurira is also the playwright of the Broadway play , for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play.

Gurira was born on February 14 1978 in Grinnell, Iowa, to Josephine Gurira, a college librarian, and Roger Gurira, a tenured professor in the Department of Chemistry at Grinnell College (both parents later joined the staff of University of Wisconsin-Platteville). Her parents moved from Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, to the United States in 1964. She is the youngest of four siblings; Shingai and Choni are her sisters and Tare, her brother, is a chiropractor. Gurira lived in Grinnell until December 1983, when at age five she and her family moved back to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, after Robert Mugabe rose to power in 1979.

She attended high school at Dominican Convent High School. Afterward, she returned to the United States to study at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. Gurira also earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Gurira taught playwriting and acting in Liberia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. One of her earliest notable performances occurred in 2001, as a senior at Macalester College. Gurira performed in a production of the Ntozake Shange play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, directed and choreographed by Dale Ricardo Shields. "She was a very intelligent, strong and independent young lady," said Shields. "She approached her studies, her classes, with a lot of focus, and you can see the same things in her performance in 'Black Panther.' "

Gurira said that she began writing plays in an effort to better utilize her strengths as an actress, and to tell stories that convey ideas about strong women with whom she identifies. As a playwright, she has been commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and the Royal Court.

Gurira co-wrote and co-starred in In the Continuum, first at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and later Off-Broadway, which won her an Obie Award,[citation needed ] an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress. In December 2011, In the Continuum commemorated World AIDS Day 2011. Sponsored by the United States Embassy in Zimbabwe, the play was performed at Harare's Theatre and featured the story of two women who were navigating the world after contracting HIV.

In 2009, Gurira made her acting debut on Broadway in August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone playing Martha Pentecost.

Gurira's 2012 play The Convert was premiered as a co-production between the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey. Later that year, Gurira received the Whiting Award for an emerging playwright.

In January 2015, , a play written by Gurira and directed by Rebecca Taichman, opened at Yale Repertory Theatre. It later premiered Off-Broadway in New York at Playwrights Horizons. The play is about family, cultural identity, and the experience of life as a first-generation American, and Gurira has said that it was inspired in part by her family and friends.

In 2015, Lupita Nyong'o starred in Gurira's play, (2009), Off-Broadway at The Public Theater. It was announced that the play would move to Broadway in 2016 at the John Golden Theatre. It was the first play to premiere on Broadway with an all female and black cast and creative team. The play is set in war-torn Liberia and focuses on three women who are living as sex slaves to a rebel commander, as well as one of his former wives, and a relief worker, and follows and how they deal with this difficult situation. It starred Lupita Nyong'o, Akosua Busia, Saycon Sengbloh, Zainab Jah, and Pascale Armand and was directed by Liesl Tommy. The inspiration for Gurira's play was a photo of Colonel Black Diamond, a female freedom fighter from Liberia, in an article in The New York Times. "Just to see these women standing there, you know, in their jeans and ... fashionable tops and their hair is all done, and they're all carrying AK-47s, was just an image I couldn't get out of my head." The image prompted curiosity about Liberia's fourteen-year civil wars, as well as a research trip to Liberia in 2007. Gurira interviewed more than 30 women who had been raped, among whose daughters that had been taken by rebel fighters and turned into sex slaves. She also spoke to female peace activists who were instrumental in ending the violence. The names of the women in Eclipsed come from the people Gurira met during her travels, whereas the fifth character is unnamed.

She received the 2016 Sam Norkin Award, for Eclipsed and , presented by the Drama Desk Awards, which said, in part: "Danai Gurira demonstrates great insight, range and depth, bringing a fresh new voice to American theater." Eclipsed was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, and won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Play.

Gurira starred in the drama film The Visitor in 2007, for which she won Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in the 2008 film , the 2010 films 3 Backyards and My Soul to Take, and Restless City in 2011, as well as the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Life on Mars, and . From 2010 to 2011, she appeared in the HBO drama series .

In March 2012, AMC announced on a live broadcast that Gurira would join the cast of their horror-drama series The Walking Dead, the highest rated series in cable television history, in its third season. Gurira plays Michonne, a relentless, katana-wielding character who joins a close-knit group in an apocalyptic world. Gurira had to learn how to ride horses for the series, which she enjoyed because it was a physical challenge. In February 2019, reports emerged that Gurira would be exiting the show once she had filmed her last episodes during the tenth season. Gurira's final episode, " What We Become" aired in March 2020, and by the time of her departure, she had been second billed in the opening credits.

In 2013, Gurira played a lead role in director Andrew Dosunmu's independent drama film Mother of George, which premiered at 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Gurira received critical acclaim for her performance as a Nigerian woman struggling to live in the United States. In June 2013, Gurira won the Jean-Claude Gahd Dam award at the 2013 Guys Choice Awards.

Gurira played rapper Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, in All Eyez on Me, a 2017 biopic about the rap star. She then starred in Marvel's film Black Panther, which was released in February 2018. She played Okoye, the head of the Dora Milaje, the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther, and received critical acclaim for her performance. Gurira reprised Okoye in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). In 2020, she signed a deal with ABC Studios.

In 2008, Gurira appeared at the Global Green Sustainable Design Awards to read a letter written by a New Orleans native displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

In 2011, Gurira co-founded Almasi Arts, an organization dedicated to continuing arts education in Zimbabwe. Gurira currently serves as the Executive Artistic Director.

In 2015, Gurira signed an open letter begun by the ONE Campaign. The letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively. The following year, Gurira founded the non-profit organization Love Our Girls, which aims to highlight the issues and challenges that specifically affect women throughout the world. In 2016, Gurira partnered with Johnson & Johnson in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

On December 2, 2018, Gurira was announced as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Gurira dedicates her support to putting a spotlight on gender equality and women's rights, as well as bringing unheard women's voices front and center.

Gurira is a Christian and lives in Los Angeles, though she regularly spends time in New York City. She speaks four languages: French, Shona, basic Xhosa, and English and stays physically fit through Pilates and cross training.

Gurira, Danai. Running Head: The Neglect of Black Women in Psychology. 2001. Honors paper, Macalester College

Gurira, Danai, and Nikkole Salter. In the continuum. New York, NY: Samuel French, 2008. ISBN 978-0-573-65089-5

Gurira, Danai. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2010. ISBN 978-0-822-22446-4

Gurira, Danai. The Convert. Washington, DC : Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 2013.

Gurira, Danai. Familiar. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Billy Rose Theatre Division, 2016.

Gurira, Danai. Power of women : Lupita Nyong'o. New York: DKC / O&M, 2016.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Danai Jekesai Gurira (; born February 14, 1978) is a Zimbabwean-American actress and playwright. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2012-2020, 2022) and as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films, beginning with Black Panther (2018) and most recently appearing in its sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Birthday: April 27, 1927 Who is Coretta Scott King? Coretta Scott King was the wife of the famous civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., and was a civil rights activist known for her advocacy in ending injustice within the country.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography and life of explorer and guide Sacagawea. Native American woman who helped Lewis and Clark.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sacagawea was not afraid. Although she was only 16 years old and the only female in an exploration group of more than 45 people, she was ready to courageously make her mark in American history.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought more than 825,000 square miles of land from France in what was called the Louisiana Purchase. To explore this new part of the country, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a two-year journey to report on what they found. They needed local guides to help them through this unknown territory. Sacagawea, a young Native American, joined them.

Born to a Shoshone chief around 1788, Sacagawea had been kidnapped by an enemy tribe when she was about 12, then sold to a French-Canadian trapper. When he was hired as a guide for Lewis and Clark's expedition in 1804, Sacagawea also joined as an interpreter to talk to Native-American people on their 8,000-mile journey.

Sacagawea soon became a respected member of the group. She was skilled at finding plants for food and medicine to help keep the explorers alive. When a boat capsized on the Missouri River as they were crossing into what is now Montana, Sacagawea saved important books and much-needed supplies. When they needed horses to cross rough terrain, she convinced a Shoshone tribe-led by her long-lost brother-to give them some. She was so respected by Lewis and Clark that when they reached the Pacific Ocean in November 1805, Sacagawea was asked to cast her vote for where they should build a fort.

Sacagawea proved herself again after the group took a different route home through what is now Idaho. As they passed through her homeland, Sacagawea remembered Shoshone trails from her childhood and helped the expedition find their way through. Clark even praised her as his "pilot."

Sacagawea left the group to return to what is now Bismarck, South Dakota, before the triumphant return of Lewis and Clark to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1806. She received no pay for her services and died on December 20, 1812. But Sacagawea's bravery and skill live on in the expedition's journals, which are full of praise for the 16-year-old Shoshone girl who guided the most famous American expedition of all time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sacagawea was not afraid. Although she was only 16 years old and the only female in an exploration group of more than 45 people, she was ready to courageously make her mark in American history. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought more than 825,000 square miles of land from France in what was called the Louisiana Purchase.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson organized an expedition to explore the territory between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark headed the expedition. They arrived near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota, in the fall of 1804. They spent the winter among the Mandan tribe of Native Americans.

During this time Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau as a guide. Sacagawea joined the expedition as well. On February 11, 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to a baby boy, Jean-Baptiste. When the expedition set out on April 7, Sacagawea carried her infant son on her back.

Sacagawea identified plants for the explorers. She also searched for fruits and vegetables that they could eat. In addition, her presence showed other Native Americans that the group came in peace. Many tribes believed that a woman with an infant would travel only with a peaceful group.

In August 1805 the expedition met some Shoshone in what is now Montana. The chief of these Shoshone was Sacagawea's brother, Cameahwait. He gave the expedition horses and guides to help them on their journey.

Charbonneau and Sacagawea went all the way to the Pacific coast with the expedition. Sacagawea may have died several years after the return journey, in 1812. But some stories say that she rejoined the Shoshone in Wyoming and lived until 1884.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson organized an expedition to explore the territory between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark headed the expedition. They arrived near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota, in the fall of 1804. They spent the winter among the Mandan tribe of Native Americans.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction
Underwood Archives/UIG/REX/Shutterstock.com

(1913-2005). Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist. By refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, she helped spark the American civil rights movement. Her action led to a successful protest action-the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56. Parks became a symbol of the power of nonviolent protest.

Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. When she was two years old, her parents separated. She went with her mother and siblings to live on her grandparents' farm in Pine Level, Alabama, outside Montgomery. For much of her childhood she was educated at home by her mother, who worked as a teacher at a nearby school. Rosa helped with chores on the farm and learned to cook and sew.

The family's life on the farm was disrupted by the constant threat of racist violence by the Ku Klux Klan. As Rosa later recalled, that terrorist group "moved through the country, burning Negro [Black] churches, schools, flogging, and killing" Black families. Rosa's grandfather would often keep watch at night, rifle in hand, awaiting a mob of violent white men. On nights thought to be especially dangerous, the children would have to go to bed with their clothes on. That way they would be ready if the family needed to escape.

Rosa and her family experienced racism in less violent ways, too. At that time in the South the races were segregated, or kept separate. This meant that Black people were kept away from white people on public transportation, and there were separate drinking fountains, restaurants, and schools for whites and Blacks. The facilities provided for Black people were not as good. When Rosa entered school in Pine Level, she had to attend a Black school where one teacher was put in charge of about 50 or 60 schoolchildren. Though white children in the area were bused to their schools, Black children had to walk.

Rosa briefly attended a high school run by the Alabama State Teachers College (now Alabama State University). At age 16, however, she had to leave school because of illness in the family. To make her living she began cleaning houses. In 1932 she married Raymond Parks, a barber and civil rights activist. She later worked as a seamstress and became an activist with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP worked to make life better and fairer for Black people. Parks served as secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP from 1943 to 1956.

The Bus Ride and Boycott
Everett Collection Inc./AGE fotostock

The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America/ Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-05808)

On her way home from work on December 1, 1955, Parks was riding a crowded Montgomery city bus. Some white people could not find seats. By law, Black passengers had to sit in a separate section. Black people sat at the back of the bus, while white people sat in the front. If the white section became full, Black people were ordered to give up their seats. That day Parks was seated in the first row of the Black section. The bus driver ordered the four Black people in that row, including Parks, to surrender their seats and stand so that white passengers could sit. The other three people stood, but Parks refused. As she later explained, she was "tired of giving in." Parks was arrested, briefly jailed, convicted, and fined. She appealed her conviction.

Meanwhile, Parks's arrest motivated local Black leaders to take action. Emerging civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., led a boycott of the bus company that lasted more than a year. For 381 days many Black people refused to take the city buses. Without the fares of those Black passengers, the bus company lost a lot of money. Local Black leaders also filed a federal lawsuit against bus segregation. The case was ultimately heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 1956 that Montgomery's segregated bus seating was unconstitutional. That meant that public transportation throughout the country could no longer legally have separate sections for Black and white people.

Dan Brothers/Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-47154)

As a result of her arrest and the bus boycott, Parks faced ongoing harassment. She and her husband both lost their jobs, and she received many death threats from angry white people. The couple moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957. She worked in the office of Michigan congressman John Conyers, Jr., from 1965 until she retired in 1988. She remained active in the NAACP and other civil rights groups. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference established the Rosa Parks Freedom Award in her honor, and in 1979 the NAACP awarded her its Spingarn Medal. In 1987 she cofounded an institute to help educate young people and teach them leadership skills. Her autobiography, Rosa Parks: My Story, appeared in 1992. Parks was the recipient of two of the U.S. government's most prestigious civilian honors-the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1996) and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor (1999)-for her contributions to the civil rights movement. Parks died on October 24, 2005, in Detroit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Introduction (1913-2005). Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist. By refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, she helped spark the American civil rights movement. Her action led to a successful protest action-the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discover how this remarkable woman helped change the lives of millions of African Americans and the history of her country in our Rosa Parks facts...
All people should be treated equally, right? Regardless of where you come from, what religion you follow, where you work, what language you speak or whether you're a boy or a girl. Well, sadly, this isn't always the case, and many groups of people around the world still suffer as a result of prejudices and discrimination.

Thankfully, there are some amazing people who have done incredible things to fight for equality. One such person was a civil rights activist called Rosa Parks.

Rosa Parks facts

Who was Rosa Parks?

Full name: Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
Born: 4 February 1913
Hometown: Tuskegee, Alabama, USA
Occupation: Civil rights activist
Died: 24 October 2005
Best known for: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa was born in the town of Tuskegee in Alabama, a state in southern USA. Her mother was a teacher and her father a carpenter, and she had a little brother called Sylvester. After her parents separated when she was just a little girl, Rosa and Sylvester moved with their mother to Alabama's capital city, Montgomery.

Rosa loved to learn and studied hard at high school. But, sadly, she had to leave school at 16 to care for her dying grandmother and, shortly after, her very sick mother. When she was 19 years old, Rosa married a barber called Raymond Parks, who encouraged her to return to high school to earn her diploma (an education certificate). And that's just what she did, before beginning work as a seamstress in Montgomery.

Racial segregation

Life for African Americans like Rosa was hard. At the time, the Southern United States operated under the ' Jim Crow laws' - a set of laws introduced in the late 19th century that claimed to give African Americans " separate but equal " status and treatment. But, in truth, there was no 'equality' whatsoever.

Created by white authorities who thought black people's lives didn't matter as much as theirs, these laws enforced racial segregation and allowed for discrimination against African Americans - referred to at that time as "colored" people.

The Jim Crow laws were introduced in different ways from state to state, but there was one common goal - to make sure black citizens and white citizens led very separate lives.

Among other things, they had separate schools, churches, libraries, restaurants, toilets, drinking fountains and waiting rooms. In some areas, there were laws banning black people from sports events and even forbidding them to work in the same office as a white person.

African Americans had far fewer rights, too. Racist laws known as ' Black Codes ' restricted them to low-paying jobs and made it incredibly difficult for them to vote. These laws also meant black people could be arrested for small things.

What did Rosa Parks do?

In the face of such racism, Rosa decided to make a stand for what was right. Together with her husband Raymond, she joined the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), working towards putting an end to discrimination and segregation.

But it was on the 1 December 1955 that Rosa truly sparked change. After a long day at work, Rosa boarded the bus home and took a seat. At that time in Montgomery, seats at the front of buses were reserved for white passengers, and the seats at the back for black passengers.

The bus quickly filled up and when a white man boarded, the driver told the African American passengers to give up their seats for him. Whilst the other black passengers obeyed, Rosa did not. The result? Rosa was arrested by the police and fined for breaking segregation laws! But Rosa refused to pay, and argued that it was the law that was wrong, not her behaviour.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

On news of Rosa's arrest, the black citizens of Montgomery came together and agreed to boycott the city's buses in protest. This meant that from 5 December 1955 (the date of Rosa's trial), African Americans refused to travel on buses. The boycott was managed by an organisation called the Montgomery Improvement Association, for which Dr Martin Luther King Jr was elected as leader.

The protest proved super effective, with more black people participating than had been expected. And since African Americans made up around 70% of bus users, the city's transport services made far less money and began to struggle. But it wasn't an easy protest for the black citizens. Many of them didn't own cars, and so they had to carpool together or walk long distances to get where they needed to go. What's more, the boycott was received with anger by members of the white population, who responded with aggressive and dangerous acts of violence.

Nevertheless, the protesters stuck together and fought for their cause - and on 13 November 1956 their efforts were finally rewarded. After 381 days of boycotting the buses, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's racial segregation laws were 'unconstitutional' - meaning they weren't valid and should not be recognised. In light of such a wonderful victory, Rosa became known as "the mother of the civil rights movement".

Rosa Parks' legacy

Sadly, despite the victory, life wasn't easy for Rosa and her fellow activists after the boycott. Faced with continued violence and threats by angry white groups, Rosa and Raymond moved to Detroit (a city in the northern US state of Michigan), to live with Rosa's brother.

There she continued to promote civil rights and help those suffering from discrimination and injustice. She continued to support the NAACP and many civil rights events, and in 1987 she co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development to provide career training for young people in Detroit.

Rosa received numerous awards for her strength, courage and her incredible work for civil rights - including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

When did Rosa Parks die?

Rosa died of natural causes on 24 October 2005 at the age of 92. But she continues to be recognised all over the world as a symbol of freedom and equality. Today, commemorative statues stand (or 'sit' we should say!) in her honour, to remind us of her remarkable achievements that should never be forgotten.

What do you think of our Rosa Parks facts? Leave a comment below and let us know!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rosa Parks facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn all about the African American civil rights activist who fought for equality and freedom in the USA in our Rosa Parks facts...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of Rosa Parks, civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on the bus.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party.

On June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez drew national recognition when she won the Democratic Party's primary election for New York's 14th congressional district. She defeated Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. She easily won the November general election, defeating Republican Anthony Pappas. She was reelected in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress. She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress. Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she double-majored in international relations and economics, graduating . She was previously an activist and worked as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.

Alongside Rashida Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez was the first female member of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress. She advocates a progressive platform that includes support for workplace democracy, Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee, a Green New Deal, and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Early life and education

Ocasio-Cortez was born in the New York City borough of the Bronx on October 13, 1989, the daughter of Sergio Ocasio-Roman and Blanca Ocasio-Cortez ( née Cortez). She has a younger brother named Gabriel. Her father was born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican family and became an architect; her mother was born in Puerto Rico. Ocasio-Cortez lived with her family in an apartment in the Bronx neighborhood of Parkchester until she was five, when the family moved to a house in suburban Yorktown Heights.

Ocasio-Cortez attended Yorktown High School, graduating in 2007. In high school and college, Ocasio-Cortez went by the name of "Sandy Ocasio". She came in second in the microbiology category of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in 2007 with a research project on the effect of antioxidants on the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In a show of appreciation for her efforts, the MIT Lincoln Laboratory named a small asteroid after her: 23238 Ocasio-Cortez. In high school, she took part in the National Hispanic Institute's Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session. She later became the LDZ Secretary of State while she attended Boston University. Ocasio-Cortez had a John F. Lopez Fellowship.

After graduating from high school, Ocasio-Cortez enrolled at Boston University. Her father died of lung cancer in 2008 during her second year, and Ocasio-Cortez became involved in a lengthy probate battle to settle his estate. She has said that the experience helped her learn "first-hand how attorneys appointed by the court to administer an estate can enrich themselves at the expense of the families struggling to make sense of the bureaucracy". During college, Ocasio-Cortez was an intern for U.S. senator Ted Kennedy in his section on foreign affairs and immigration issues. In interviews, she claimed to have been the only Spanish speaker in the office and the sole person responsible for assisting Spanish-speaking constituents. Ocasio-Cortez graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both international relations and economics.

Early career

After college, Ocasio-Cortez moved back to the Bronx and took a job as a bartender and waitress to help her mother-a house cleaner and school bus driver-fight foreclosure of their home. She later launched Brook Avenue Press, a now-defunct publishing firm for books that portrayed the Bronx in a positive light. Ocasio-Cortez also worked for the nonprofit National Hispanic Institute.

During the 2016 primary, Ocasio-Cortez worked as an organizer for Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign. After the general election, she traveled across America by car, visiting places such as Flint, Michigan, and Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and speaking to people affected by the Flint water crisis and the Dakota Access Pipeline. In an interview she recalled her December 2016 visit to Standing Rock as a tipping point, saying that before that, she had believed that the only way to run for office effectively was to have access to wealth, social influence, and power. But her visit to North Dakota, where she saw others "putting their whole lives and everything that they had on the line for the protection of their community", inspired her to begin to work for her own community. One day after she visited North Dakota, she got a phone call from Brand New Congress, which was recruiting progressive candidates (her brother had nominated her soon after Election Day 2016). She has credited Jabari Brisport's unsuccessful City Council campaign with restoring her belief in electoral politics, in running as a socialist candidate, and in Democratic Socialists of America as an organization.

U.S. House of Representatives

Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress, and also the youngest member of the 116th Congress.

Ocasio-Cortez submitted her first piece of legislation, the Green New Deal, to the House on February 7, 2019. She and Senator Ed Markey released a joint non-binding resolution laying out the main elements of a 10-year "economic mobilization" that would phase out fossil fuel use and overhaul the nation's infrastructure. Their plan called for implementing the "social cost of carbon" that was part of the Obama administration's plans to address climate change. In the process it aimed to create jobs and boost the economy. According to CNBC, an initial outline the Green New Deal called for "completely ditching fossil fuels, upgrading or replacing 'every building' in the country and 'totally overhaul[ing] transportation' to the point where 'air travel stops becoming necessary'". The outline set a goal of having the U.S. "creating 'net zero' greenhouse gases in 10 years. Activist groups such as Greenpeace and the Sunrise Movement came out in favor of the plan. No Republican lawmakers voiced support. The plan gained support from some Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker; other Democrats, such as Senator Dianne Feinstein and House speaker Nancy Pelosi, dismissed the proposal.

Senate Republicans called for an early vote on the Green New Deal on March 26 without allowing discussion or expert testimony. In protest, Senate Democrats voted "present" or against the bill, resulting in a 57-0 defeat on the Senate floor. In March 2019, a group of UK activists proposed that the Labour Party adopt a similar plan, "Labour for a Green New Deal". The group said it was inspired by the Sunrise Movement and the work Ocasio-Cortez has done in the US.

Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the 2021 Texas power crisis by organizing a fundraiser to provide food, water, and shelter to affected Texans. The fundraiser, which began on February 18, raised $2million in its first day and $5million by February 21. The money went to organizations such as the Houston Food Bank and the North Texas Food Bank. Ocasio-Cortez also traveled to Houston to help volunteers with recovery.

On April 15, 2021, Ocasio-Cortez and three other senators called a press conference to announce a bill that they had introduced to implement postal banking pilot programs in rural and low-income urban neighborhoods where millions of households cannot access or afford standard banking services. Ocasio-Cortez described the families she sees in her urban community who need to rely on check cashing companies that charge exorbitant interest rates due to the absence of mainstream banks. "They'll show up to a check cashing place and imagine cashing your stimulus check...and having 10 to 20% of that check taken away from you."

Committee assignments

Committee on Oversight and Accountability' (Vice Ranking Member, 2023-present)

Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services

Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs

Committee on Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Ranking Member, 2023-present)

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and embraces the democratic socialist label as part of her political identity. In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, she described democratic socialism as "part of what I am. It's not all of what I am. And I think that that's a very important distinction." In response to a question about democratic socialism ultimately calling for an end to capitalism during a Firing Line interview on PBS, she answered: "Ultimately, we are marching towards progress on this issue. I do think that we are going to see an evolution in our economic system of an unprecedented degree, and it's hard to say what direction that that takes." Later at a conference she said "To me, capitalism is irredeemable."

Ocasio-Cortez supports progressive ideals such as workplace democracy, single-payer Medicare for All, tuition-free public college and trade school, a federal job guarantee, the cancellation of all $1.6trillion of outstanding student debt, guaranteed family leave, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ending the privatization of prisons, enacting gun-control policies, and energy policy relying on 100% renewables. She told Anderson Cooper that she favors policies that "most closely resemble what we see in the UK, in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden".

Economic policy

Ocasio-Cortez is open to using Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), a heterodox economic theory with little support among mainstream academics, as an economic pathway to fund and enable implementation of her policy goals.

Ocasio-Cortez was among the 46 House Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

In late 2020, Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib proposed a public banking bill to encourage creation of state and local public banks by giving them access to facilities from the Federal Reserve and setting national guidelines on public banking.

In April 2021, Ocasio-Cortez announced a bill that she and three senators had introduced to implement postal banking pilot programs in rural and low-income urban neighborhoods where millions of households cannot access or afford standard banking services.

Ocasio-Cortez has called for reducing defense spending. In December 2022, she was the only House Democrat to vote against an omnibus spending package because of increased funding for defense and federal agencies that oversee immigration.

Labor rights

Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal supporter of labor rights, including a $15 per hour federal minimum wage. In May 2019, she returned to bartending at the Queensboro Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, to promote the Raise the Wage Act, which would increase the minimum hourly wage for restaurant servers and other tipped workers from $2.13 to $15. Speaking to restaurant workers, customers and reporters, she criticized an exemption in U.S. minimum wage law for restaurants and the service sector that allows them to be paid less than $7.25 per hour, saying, "Any job that pays $2.13 per hour is not a job, it is indentured servitude."

On January 20, 2021, Ocasio-Cortez skipped the inauguration of Joe Biden in order to join the 2021 Hunts Point Produce Market strike in the Bronx.

In September 2019, Ocasio-Cortez introduced an anti-poverty policy proposal (packaged in a bundle called "A Just Society") that would take into account the cost of childcare, health care, and "new necessities" like Internet access when measuring poverty. The proposal would cap annual rent increases and ensure access to social welfare programs for people with convictions and undocumented immigrants. According to the U.S. census, about 40million Americans live in poverty.

Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a marginal tax as high as 70% on income above $10million to pay for the Green New Deal. According to tax experts contacted by The Washington Post, this tax would bring in extra revenue of $720billion per decade. But an analysis by the think tank Tax Foundation estimated that, after accounting for macroeconomic effects, the proposal would increase tax revenue by $189.1 billion over ten years if it is applied only to ordinary income, or decrease tax revenue by 53.1 billion if it is applied to all forms of income, including capital gains. Ocasio-Cortez has opposed and voted against the pay-as-you-go rule supported by Democratic leaders, which requires deficit-neutral fiscal policy, with all new expenditures balanced by tax increases or spending cuts. She and Representative Ro Khanna have condemned the rule for hamstringing new or expanded progressive policies. She cites Modern Monetary Theory as a justification for higher deficits to finance her agenda. Drawing a parallel with the Great Depression, she has argued that the Green New Deal needs deficit spending like the original New Deal.

Amazon HQ2 plan

Ocasio-Cortez opposed a planned deal by New York City to give Amazon.com $3 billion in state and city subsidies and tax breaks to build a secondary headquarters (Amazon HQ2) that was expected to bring in $27 billion in tax revenue for the city and state, in an area near her congressional district, saying that the city should instead itself invest $3 billion in the district. Some commentators criticized her remarks on the grounds that she did not understand tax breaks are discounts on money paid to, not by, the government, that "New York does not have $3 billion in cash" it would "give" to Amazon, and that between 25,000 and 40,000 new jobs, in addition to the high-paying tech jobs Amazon would have created, disappeared when Amazon left. Conservative columnist Marc Thiessen argued that "her economic illiteracy is dangerous" because "by helping to drive Amazon away, she did not save New York $3 billion; she cost New York $27 billion."

Environment

Ocasio-Cortez has called for "more environmental hardliners in Congress", calling climate change "the single biggest national security threat for the United States and the single biggest threat to worldwide industrialized civilization". Referring to a recent United Nations report indicating that the effects of climate change could become irreversible unless carbon emissions are reined in within the next 12 years, she has argued that global warming must be addressed immediately to avert human extinction.

Ocasio-Cortez's environmental plan, the Green New Deal, advocates for the U.S. to transition to an electrical grid running on 100% renewable energy and to end the use of fossil fuels within ten years. The changes, estimated to cost roughly $2.5trillion per year, would be financed in part by higher taxes on the wealthy. She has said she has an "open mind" about nuclear power's role in the Green New Deal, but has been criticized for ignoring it in her proposals for the deal.

Healthcare

Ocasio-Cortez supports transitioning to a single-payer healthcare system and considers medical care a human right. She says that a single government health insurer should cover every American, reducing overall costs. Her campaign website says, "Almost every other developed nation in the world has universal healthcare. It's time the United States catch up to the rest of the world in ensuring all people have real healthcare coverage that doesn't break the bank." Many 2020 Democratic presidential candidates adopted the Medicare-for-all proposal.

In June 2019 and in July 2021, Ocasio-Cortez proposed legislation that would remove restrictions placed on researching the medical use of psilocybin.

Social issues

Ocasio-Cortez campaigned in favor of establishing tuition-free public colleges and trade schools. She has said she is still paying off student loans herself and wants to cancel all student debt.

Immigration

Ocasio-Cortez has expressed support for defunding and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on multiple occasions. In February 2018 she called it "a product of the Bush-era Patriot Act suite of legislation" and "an enforcement agency that takes on more of a paramilitary tone every single day". That June, she said she would "stop short of fully disbanding the agency", and would rather "create a pathway to citizenship for more immigrants through decriminalization". She later clarified that this does not mean ceasing all deportations. Two days before the primary election, Ocasio-Cortez attended a protest at an ICE child-detention center in Tornillo, Texas. She was the only Democrat to vote against H.R. 648, a bill to fund and reopen the government, because it funded ICE.

In January 2021, Ocasio-Cortez expressed support for the Roadmap to Freedom resolution to guide future immigration policy championed by Representative Pramila Jayapal. The resolution aims to safeguard vulnerable migrants while reducing criminal prosecutions of migrants.

Detention centers for undocumented immigrants

In June 2019, Ocasio-Cortez compared the detention centers for undocumented immigrants under the Trump administration at the Mexico-United States border to " concentration camps". In response to criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez said they had conflated concentration camps ("the mass detention of civilians without trial") with death camps. She refused to apologize for using the term: "If that makes you uncomfortable, fight the camps, not the nomenclature."

In July 2019, Ocasio-Cortez visited migrant detention centers and other facilities in Texas as part of a congressional delegation to witness the border crisis firsthand. She described the conditions as "horrifying".

In February 2021, when the Biden administration reopened a Carrizo Springs, Texas, center to house unaccompanied migrant children, Ocasio-Cortez responded that such actions "never will be okay-no matter the administration or party". For short-term measures to address the situation, she called for mandatory licensing for such centers and urged reconsideration of how the centers are "contracted out".

LGBTQ equality

Ocasio-Cortez is a proponent of LGBTQ rights and LGBTQ equality. At the January 2019 New York City Women's March in Manhattan, Ocasio-Cortez gave a detailed speech in support of measures needed to ensure LGBTQ equality in the workplace and elsewhere. She has also spoken in support of transgender rights, specifically saying, "Trans rights are civil rights are human rights."

Awards and honors

The MIT Lincoln Laboratory named the asteroid 23238 Ocasio-Cortez after her when she was a senior in high school in recognition of her second-place finish in the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Ocasio-Cortez was named the 2017 National Hispanic Institute Person of the Year by Ernesto Nieto. In 2019, Ocasio-Cortez received the Adelle Foley Award. She was named as one of the 2019 BBC 100 Women.

Personal life

After the death of Ocasio-Cortez's father in 2008, her mother and grandmother moved to Florida due to financial hardship. She still has family in Puerto Rico, where her grandfather was living in a nursing home before he died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Ocasio-Cortez said that "to be Puerto Rican is to be the descendant of... African Moors [and] slaves, Taino Indians, Spanish colonizers, Jewish refugees, and likely others. We are all of these things and something else all at once-we are Boricua."

Ocasio-Cortez is a Catholic.

During the 2018 election campaign, Ocasio-Cortez resided in Parkchester, Bronx, with her partner, web developer Riley Roberts. They got engaged in April 2022 in Puerto Rico.

Images for kids

Ocasio-Cortez with Kerri Evelyn Harris

Sanders rally Council Bluffs, Iowa

Ocasio-Cortez speaks on a Green New Deal in front of the Capitol Building in February 2019.

In Spanish: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez para niños

List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress

Women in the United States House of Representatives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez facts for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Biography for Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Birthday - October 13, 1989 Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? She is the youngest woman to be elected to Congress at the age of 29. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an American Democrat who made it to the news headlines last 2018 after beating the ten-term Democrat incumbent Joe Crowley.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version Download sample

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (also known as AOC) is an American politician, serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district. She is known as the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.
See the fact file below for more information on the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

AOC was born in New York City on October 13, 1989. She was the eldest child of Blanca Ocasio-Cortez and Sergio Ocasio. Her father was born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican family and became an architect.

In her high school life, AOC participated in various academic competitions. She won an award for a research project in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. In show of appreciation of her efforts, she has a small asteroid named after her: 23238 Ocasio-Cortez.

After graduating from high school, AOC enrolled at Boston University. During college, she served as an intern for U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, in the section on foreign affairs and immigration issues. She later graduated from Boston University in 2011 with Bachelor of Arts degree in both international relations and economics.

EARLY CAREER

AOC moved back to the Bronx and took a job as a bartender and waitress to help her mother. She also worked for the nonprofit National Hispanic Institute.

In 2016, AOC worked as an organizer for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. She traveled across America and interacted with people affected by the Flint water crisis and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Her experiences with the people across the country inspired her to begin to work for her own community. In 2016, she got a call from Brand New Congress, which was recruiting progressive candidates.

2018 CAMPAIGN

AOC began her campaign in April, to challenge the incumbent, Joe Crowley. Her campaign utilized the grassroots approach, which meant she did not take any donations from corporations.

AOC's campaign was endorsed by civil rights organizations such as MoveOn, Black Lives Matter, Democracy for America, and by actress and also first-time candidate Cynthia Nixon.

On June 28, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joe Crowley by almost 15 percentage points. Her win and Crowley's defeat gained nationwide attention. A lots of politicians were surprised by the defeat, since Joe Crowley had been incumbent for more than a decade.

MEDIA COVERAGE

After her win, she quickly gained nationwide media attention. The Young Turks became the first media network to give AOC a platform and extensively cover her campaign and policies.

In 2019, Elizabeth Warren wrote the entry of AOC for that year's Time 100. She was also involved in the Netflix documentary of Knock Down the House, which focused on four female Democrats in the 2018 U.S. elections who were not already politicians.

CAREER AS CONGRESSWOMAN

Because of her strong commitment to serving working-class people over corporate interests, and her advocacies for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice, many of her speeches gain popularity in the social media.

On the first day of congressional orientation, AOC participated in a climate change protest outside the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. In January 2019, AOC made her first speech, criticizing hold-paycheck policies that have been implemented by the Trump administration for the immigrant groups.

In February 2019, AOC delivered a speech that became the most-watched political video on Twitter. She questioned the panel about ethic regulations. She said that there are no rules for stopping lawmakers from being influenced by wealthy corporations.

Another session that gained AOC popularity was when she questioned President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. AOC was able to obtain information from Cohen about President Trump's shady practices.

The exchange between AOC and Cohen prompted investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and caused his son Eric Trump to testify.

GREEN NEW DEAL

On February 7, 2019, AOC and Senator Ed Markey submitted her first legislation draft, a joint non-binding resolution known as the Green New Deal to the Senate.

Their plan is to implement the "social cost of carbon" that was part of the Obama administration's plans to address climate change, in order to create jobs and boost the economy.

The outline is to set a goal for the U.S. to create net-zero greenhouse gases in 10 years, by completely ditching fossil fuels, upgrading or replacing 'every building' in the country.

The Green New Deal receives positive responses from activist groups such as Greenpeace and the Sunrise Movement. Meanwhile, no republican lawmakers have voiced support.

POLITICAL STANCE

As a member of Democratic Socialists of America, AOC supports progressive policies where every citizen is entitled to guarantees, such as single-payer Medicare for All, tuition-free public college and trade school, a federal job guarantee, the cancellation of student debt, and an energy policy relying on 100% renewables.

She favors policies that are similar to what happens in U.K, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (also known as AOC) who is an American politician, serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district. She is known as the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Facts

About AOC

True or False

Life Lessons from AOC

Spot the Differences!

Letter to Congresswoman

Female Leaders

Policy Proposal

The Life of AOC

Green New Deal

Guess the Roles

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, November 2, 2020
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Facts, Worksheets, Early LIfe & Career For Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version Download sample Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (also known as AOC) is an American politician, serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district. She is known as the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dolores Janney "Jenni" Rivera Saavedra (July 2, 1969 - December 9, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, television producer, spokesperson, philanthropist and entrepreneur known for her work within the Banda and ranchera music genres.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Little League pitcher Mo'ne Davis has one more thing that she can add to her resume: Sports Illustrated Kids' SportsKid of the Year.

The 13-year-old pitcher made headlines this August after throwing two shutouts games, one of which led her Philadelphia team to the Little League World Series. Her second shutout helped her team clinch the title.

First Lady Michelle Obama broke the news to the Twitterverse on Monday, tweeting, "Congrats to @MoneDavis11 on becoming the @SIKids' 2014 #SportsKid of the Year! You knocked it out of the park for girls everywhere. -mo"

Davis is the first girl to pitch a shutout in a Little League World Series, and in August, she was the first Little Leaguer to land a Sports Illustrated cover. Since then, she has appeared on countless talk shows, received praise from both celebrities and professional athletes, and just this month, she announced that she would be writing a memoir, set to drop next March.
Watch Sports Illustrated Kids' SportsKid video now.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mo'ne Davis Is 'Sports Illustrated Kids' SportsKid of the Year!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Little League pitcher Mo'ne Davis has one more thing that she can add to her resume: Sports Illustrated Kids' SportsKid of the Year. The 13-year-old pitcher made headlines this August after throwing two shutouts games, one of which led her Philadelphia team to the Little League World Series.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
SI Kids: Sports News for Kids, Kids Games and More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mo'ne Davis's interview is part of TIME Firsts, a multimedia project featuring 46 groundbreaking women. Watch the rest of the videos at Time.com/Firsts.

Mo'ne, the 2014 Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKid of the Year, three years ago became the first girl to pitch a shutout and win a Little League World Series game. The Philadelphia native is now 16. She still plays baseball-this summer, she pitched in the Junior RBI World Series in Cincinnati-and earlier this year she was the shortstop for her high school's softball team. She excels at basketball, and she's also good at soccer.

But baseball was the sport that made her famous and landed her on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Kids in the same year.

"The first time I walked out on a baseball field to pitch, different guys saw me come out and they were all just, like, saying that I wasn't going to be good and telling jokes to their teammates, and the parents were laughing," recalled Mo'ne. "But then when they saw me face the first batter, they were all shocked, and we didn't really hear anything from that side of the field."

Added Mo'ne, "Word got around the league, be aware for the Monarchs; they have this girl pitcher. Don't get too cocky or anything."

The fearless nature that has allowed her to excel on the mound has also made her a role model for young girls everywhere.

"After all of this, I've learned how to have more fun while playing sports, not just for myself but for everyone else," she says. "For people to come up to me saying that I inspired them, it just made me want to become a better player and a better person."
Photograph by Luisa Dörr for TIME

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mo'ne Davis's interview is part of TIME Firsts, a multimedia project featuring 46 groundbreaking women. Watch the rest of the videos at Time.com/Firsts. Mo'ne, the 2014 Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKid of the Year, three years ago became the first girl to pitch a shutout and win a Little League World Series game.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rosalía Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1993), known mononymously as Rosalía ( or stylised in all caps), is a Spanish singer and songwriter from Barcelona. After discovering Spanish folkloric music at an early age, Rosalía graduated Catalonia College of Music with honors by virtue of her collaborative cover record with Raül Refree, Los Ángeles (2017) and the baccalaureate project El Mal Querer ( Sony, 2018), which was co-produced by El Guincho on a low budget and contained modern interpretations of flamenco mixed with pop and urban. The album, which would later win the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year and be listed in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020, was released to critical acclaim and started the ascent of Rosalía into the international music scene.

Her first hit single came in 2019, when she collaborated with J Balvin on "Con Altura", a reggaeton-inspired track that marked Rosalía's journey to urban music. Selling over seven million copies, it was named as of the best songs of the year by Billboard and Pitchfork and Best Urban Song by the Latin Recording Academy. It also spawned her signature lyric and nickname "La Rosalía". She later continued collaborating with other musicians such as Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Arca and Travis Scott, achieving multiple accolades and breaking many records.

Throughout her career, Rosalía has won a Grammy Award, eight Latin Grammy Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, two UK Music Video Awards and two consecutive Premio Ruido for both of her studio albums, among others. In 2019, Billboard gave her the Rising Star Award for "changing the sound of today's mainstream music with her fresh flamenco-influenced pop" and became the first Spanish-singing act in history to ever be nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys.

Images for kids

Rosalía and Raül Refree during Los Ángeles Tour in July 2017

Rosalía performing on Motomami World Tour

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rosalía Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1993), known mononymously as Rosalía ( or stylised in all caps), is a Spanish singer and songwriter from Barcelona.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía ( Spanish: , Catalan: ), is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Born and raised in the outskirts of Barcelona, she has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. After being enthralled by Spanish folk music at age 13, she studied musicology at Catalonia College of Music while also performing at musical bars and weddings.

She completed her studies with honors by virtue of her collaborative cover album with Raül Refree, Los Ángeles (2017), and the baccalaureate project El Mal Querer (2018). Reimagining flamenco by mixing it with pop and hip hop music, it spawned the singles " Malamente" and " Pienso en tu Mirá", which caught the attention of the Spanish general public, and were released to universal critical acclaim. Recipient of the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year and listed in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, El Mal Querer started the ascent of Rosalía into the international music scene. Rosalía explored urbano music with her 2019 releases " Con Altura" and " Yo x Ti, Tú x Mí", achieving global success. She gave reggaeton an experimental twist on her third studio album (2022), departing from the new flamenco sound of its predecessor. The album caught international attention with its singles " La Fama" and " Saoko" and became the best reviewed album of the year on Metacritic.

Throughout her career, Rosalía has accumulated ten number-one singles in her home country, the most for a local artist. She has also won two Grammy Awards, eleven Latin Grammy Awards (including two Album of the Year wins), four MTV Video Music Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, three UK Music Video Awards and two Premio Ruido awards, among others. In 2019, gave her the Rising Star Award for "changing the sound of today's mainstream music with her fresh flamenco-influenced pop", and became the first Spanish-singing act in history to be nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys. She is widely considered one of the most successful and influential Spanish singers of all-time.

1992-2016: Early life and career beginnings

Rosalía was born on 25 September 1992 in Sant Cugat del Vallès and raised in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Baix Llobregat, Catalonia. Born in a family with no artistic background, she is the youngest daughter of Pilar Tobella, a businesswoman who runs a small family company specialised in metalworks. Her father, José Manuel Vila, was born in Cudillero, Asturias. They separated in 2019. She has an older sister, Pilar "Pili" Vila (born 1989), who works with Rosalía as her stylist and creative director. Rosalía expressed interest in the performing arts at an early age, especially after discovering the discography of Camarón de la Isla. She began her musical education at the Taller de Músics. She did a six-year course at the academy. She began attending class at the Raval school, later transfering to the Superior School of Music of Catalonia. She also autonomously worked as an independent singer at weddings and musical bars, for which she was paid "a little over 80 euros or in exchange for dinner". During that time, Rosalía met many underground Spanish artists who would later succeed such as La Zowi, Yung Beef, Kaydy Cain, Hinds and María Escarmiento.

At 15, she competed on the television show Tú Sí Que Vales, although she wasn't selected. At 17, she had to undergo vocal cord surgery after tearing one of her vocal cords due to "intense singing practices" and was unable to sing for a year. In 2012, she became the vocalist of Kejaleo, a flamenco music group featuring Jordi Franco, Roger Blavia, Cristo Fontecilla, Diego Cortés and Xavi Turull. They released an album, Alaire, in 2013. That same year, Rosalía professionally worked as a duo with Juan "Chicuelo" Gómez to promote the Blancanieves soundtrack at the 2013 Panama International Film Festival in substitution of Sílvia Pérez Cruz and at the Festival Grec de Barcelona for the contemporary dance work De Carmen. In 2013, she participated in the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) Conference in New York, and was the lead voice in the culmination of the Any Espriu 2014. In 2015, she collaborated with La Fura dels Baus on a show that premiered in Singapore. She was the opening act for flamenco artist Miguel Poveda, accompanied by Alfredo Lagos, at the International Music Festival of Cadaqués, and also at the 2016 Jerez Jazz Festival. She worked with Rocío Márquez on the presentation of her album El Niño, produced by Raül Refree, at Primavera Sound. In 2015, she also worked with clothing brand Desigual and sang the single for their campaign jingle "Last Night Was Eternal". and self-released "Un Millón de Veces" included in the benefit album Tres Guitarras Para el Autismo. At 20, she worked as a flamenco teacher and vocal coach.

In 2016, Rosalía collaborated with Spanish rapper and former boyfriend C. Tangana on " Antes de Morirme". The song was a sleeper hit and entered the Spanish Singles Chart in 2018, after the success of Rosalía's newer material. The collaboration received international attention when it was featured on the soundtrack of the first season of Spanish Netflix show .

In 2016, Rosalía performed to a crowd of a hundred people at the Tablao del Carmen, a flamenco specialized venue at the Pueblo Español, in Barcelona. In the audience was Raül Refree, whom she invited to the show. They began working on two albums together. Rosalía signed with Universal Music later in 2016, and she relocated to California. She went on to only release Los Ángeles. The album talks about death in a dark way with aggressive guitar chords by Refree. It presents reworks of flamenco classics receiving several accolades. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 18th Latin Grammy Awards. The album was released on 10 February 2017 through Universal Music and spawned two singles, "Catalina", released in October 2016, and " De Plata", released in May 2017. The album was very well received by critics. Jordi Bardají wrote in 2018 that the record was "one of the greatest ' sleepers' that Spanish sales lists have known in recent times." Los Ángeles reached its peak position of number nine on 11 November 2018 and has remained in the albums chart since its entry, having accumulated a total of 89 weeks. Los Ángeles won the "Album of the Year" award at the Time Out Awards and the Premio Ruido, among others. In 2017, RTVE contacted Rosalía to participate in the pre-selection to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, which she declined because of scheduling conflicts with the promotion of her debut record.

Rosalía and Raül Refree embarked on a concert tour, Los Ángeles Tour, supporting their first studio album together. The tour began on 11 February 2017 in Granada and ended on 1 March 2018 at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona. Spanish singer Bebe attended one of their concerts in Madrid alongside Juanes, who became "immediately obsessed with Rosalía" and asked his manager Rebeca León to work with her. She agreed to manage her as she felt like she was a "once in fifty years kind of artist".

2018-2020: El Mal Querer and international recognition

The recording cycle for Rosalía's second studio album, El Mal Querer, began in early 2017 as her baccalaureate project, graduating from the Catalonia College of Music. She personally chose to work alongside Spanish musician El Guincho and spawned its concept alongside friend Ferran Echegaray, who bet on the Romance of Flamenca to follow the album's storyline. Despite having no budget to produce the record as she was an independent artist working on a university project, Rosalía invested a lot of her own money, to the point of "almost going bankrupt". The album was almost completely recorded at El Guincho's apartment in Barcelona with a computer, a microphone and a sound table. It would mix traditional flamenco with today's pop and urban music.

In May 2018, the singer announced the title of her upcoming album in a little homemade YouTube series. J Balvin parallelly released his fifth studio album, , which featured Rosalía on the track " Brillo". Later that month, Rosalía released the album's lead single " Malamente". The single caught the attention of international personalities such as Kourtney Kardashian and Dua Lipa and numerous music critics, while its Canada-directed music video reached social media virality. The song was nominated for five Latin Grammy Awards, out of it won two, for Best Alternative Song and for Best Urban Fusion/Performance. The follow-up single, " Pienso en tu Mirá", was released in July. Its music video received critical acclaim for its aesthetics and poetic symbolism. The song was nominated for Best Pop Song at the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards. The third single, " Di Mi Nombre", released three days prior to the album, earned Rosalía her first number-one single in Spain.

El Mal Querer was released on 2 November 2018 and debuted at number two on the PROMUSICAE chart. Presented as experimental and conceptual, it revolves around a toxic relationship described in the anonymous 13th-century Occitan novel . The album was met with universal acclaim by music critics. Writing for The Guardian, head critic Alexis Petridis highly commended the album, giving it the highest rating and describing it as "the calling card of a unique new talent". El Mal Querer was listed in over twenty album year-end and decade-end lists by publications such as , and The Guardian. Rolling Stone listed it 315th on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, making it the highest Spanish-language album in the list. El Mal Querer was later nominated for several awards including four Latin Grammys, a Latin Billboard Music award, a Latin American Music award and a LOS40 Music award. It won the Latin Grammy awards for Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album and Best Recording Package. Therefore, Rosalía became the first female recipient of the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year since Shakira in 2006. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album.

In 2019 Rosalía took part in the Pedro Almodóvar film Pain and Glory. She had previously contributed vocals to the soundtracks of Arde Madrid and Paquita Salas. In March 2019, Rosalía embarked on her first global concert tour, El Mal Querer Tour, to further promote El Mal Querer, with shows in South America, North America, Europe and Africa.

While on tour, Rosalía issued several songs. On 28 March 2019, she released a second collaboration with Balvin, " Con Altura". Despite initially receiving mixed reviews from critics, "Con Altura" topped the charts in Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and Spain. Its music video, directed by Director X, became the most-watched music video by a female artist of 2019. It also spawned her nickname "La Rosalía" and its choreography eventually became viral and a moment in Latin pop culture. "Con Altura" won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Latin Video and Best Choreography, making her the first Spanish act to win one. It also won Best Collaboration at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Urban Song at the 2019 Latin Grammys. The song has sold over seven million copies worldwide so far. In May, Rosalía released the song " Aute Cuture". It became her third number one in Spain and earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. In July, she released the single Fucking Money Man, which includes two tracks: " Milionària" (which she sang in Catalan) and " Dios Nos Libre del Dinero". On 15 August, she released her collaboration with Ozuna " Yo x ti, tú x mí", which became her fifth number one single in Spain. In November, Rosalía released " A Palé", which features background vocals by James Blake, who she had worked earlier with on " Barefoot in the Park". In December, Rosalía was featured alongside Lil Baby on the remix of Travis Scott's " Highest in the Room". Peaking at four, this marked the first time a song of hers entered the Global Spotify chart. She was awarded the Rising Star award at Billboard's Women in Music for the international recognition she achieved during the year and for "changing the sound of today's mainstream music with her fresh flamenco-influenced pop".

Rosalía's performance of " Juro Que" at the 62nd Grammy Awards marked the first time a Spanish female artist performed at the gala. She also became the first Spanish-singing act in history to be nominated for Best New Artist. During lockdown, Rosalía released " Dolerme" and, in May, " TKN", her second collaboration with Travis Scott, which eventually became her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 66, as well as the sixth number-one single of hers in her home country. The song became went viral on TikTok. The music video for "TKN", directed by Nicolás Méndez, won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. It also spawned a nomination for Best Direction at the Berlin Music Video Awards. On 22 June, Arca and Rosalía released their highly anticipated collaboration " KLK", included in the musician's album .

2020-present: Collaborations and Motomami

Recording sessions for Rosalía's third studio album started as early as 2019. Due to unforeseen circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosalía relocated to Miami where she continued to work on the album while also providing vocals to multiple songs. On 4 September 2020, a remix of Sech's " Relación", which also features Daddy Yankee, Farruko and J Balvin, was released, earning Rosalía her second entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 64. She also took part in Bad Bunny's third solo studio album, El Último Tour del Mundo, on the track " La Noche De Anoche", which was later released as a single on Valentine's Day. The collaboration, performed on Saturday Night Live, became a huge commercial success, debuting at number two on the Spotify global chart with 6.63 million streams in a single day, marking the biggest debut for a song fully sung in Spanish in history. A week later, she collaborated alongside The Weeknd on the remix of " Blinding Lights" and, in January, with Billie Eilish on " Lo Vas a Olvidar", which was featured in a special episode of . Rosalía later collaborated with Oneohtrix Point Never and Tokischa on "Nothing's Special" and " Linda" respectively.

On 2 November 2021, Rosalía announced the title of her new album . It was released on 18 March 2022 through Columbia Records. Promotion prior to the album release encompassed the release of three singles and the promotional singles " Hentai" and " Candy". The lead single " La Fama", featuring The Weeknd, is an experimental bachata that saw great commercial success. It became Rosalía's seventh number one single in Spain while also peaking at five in France and reaching the top ten spot in eight other countries. In December 2021, Rockstar Games launched a new Grand Theft Auto Online radio station, Motomami Los Santos, curated by Rosalía and Arca. In February 2022, Rosalía revealed the album artwork for Motomami and released " Saoko" as the album's second single to wide critical acclaim. The song's accompanying music video, directed by Valentin Petit, was shot in Kyiv, mainly at Podilskyi Bridge. For its editing done by Petit and Jon Echeveste, the video would go on to win the MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing. On 24 February, Rosalía released " Chicken Teriyaki" as the album's third single.

Upon release, Motomami received universal acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised the experimentation and genre-bending sounds. Motomami received a perfect score from various publications, including The Telegraph, The Independent and and was given four stars or more by , Rolling Stone, , The Guardian etc. crowned Motomami with its "Best New Music" honor writing, "It feels rare to hear an album that's so experimental, that aspires to stretch itself out across genres and play with form, and that attains exactly what it sets out to achieve. Rosalía was already a formidable singer, but here she also sounds like she learned that with global superstardom comes the freedom to set her own agenda". The album has become the best reviewed and most discussed album of 2022 on Metacritic. Commercially, Motomami entered twenty-two charts in nineteen countries and reached the top ten in seven countries, two of them number-ones. The album entered major market charts, reaching the top forty in both on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200. On Spotify, it achieved the biggest debut for a Spanish-language album by a female artist on the platform's history, with 16.3 million streams in the first day.

In July 2022, Rosalía embarked on her second worldwide concert tour, Motomami World Tour, to further promote Motomami, with shows in Europe, South America and North America. The setlist featured four unreleased tracks including " Despechá", which was later released on 28 July to global success. Rosalía later took part in the forthcoming projects by Romeo Santos, Niño de Elche, and Wisin & Yandel.

At the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2022, Motomami won the four categories in which it was nominated in, which were Album of the Year, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Engineered Album and Best Recording Package. Rosalía was the first woman and sixth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist. She also received two nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album and Best Music Film for Motomami Tiktok Live, winning for the former category. However, media such as Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, the New York Times and W believed that the Recording Academy and the Grammys had snubbed Motomami for the Album of the Year category.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Rosalía at number 200 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. In February 2022, she collaborated with Coca-Cola to create a limited edition flavor under its 'Coca-Cola Creations' brand called 'Move'.

Rosalía's music has been described as "challenging" both for her and for the listener. Noted for the conceptuality and constant genre transformation of her albums and singles, Rosalía's music has evolved from folk to the mainstream and avant-pop. As Rosalía has a master's degree in flamenco interpretation, she started her professional career as a full flamenco singer. 2017 saw the release of her debut album Los Ángeles, a folk record in which Rosalía "is posited as the contemporary who has better understood the current times". The singer has, ever since, been described as "an old soul trapped in a young body" due to the maturity of the genre. After the release of " Malamente" in May 2018, which rose the singer's popularity to a national level, her music was described as a "heavily exciting fusion of flamenco and modern arts". American magazine Pitchfork called the singer's voice "a soft liquid velvet" and wrote that "Malamente consumes the listener with drums and soft synthesizers that drag you to their world completely". After releasing El Mal Querer later that year, The Guardian gave it a perfect score and stated: "the Catalan singer's potent, smart second album is more complex than any Latin pop currently in the charts". During the three-year droplet era that started with the 2019 release " Con Altura", Rosalía's music evolved to a more mainstream urbano field without leaving the flamenco essence that characterizes her artistry. Described by Rolling Stone as "one of the most daring and reckless productions of recent years", Rosalía's 2022 studio album "redifined mainstream" by taking reggaeton as its main influence and blending it with traditional music of Latin America as well as with other genres such as industrial or jazz. The singer has stated that she listens to a vast catalogue of music specially when she is making a record in the urge to learn about them. Rosalía has cited the 2011 eponymous album by James Blake as one of the most impactful records of her life.

In his El Mal Querer review, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote: "She can really sing [...] but her voice is audibly rooted in a different musical tradition to the usual styles in which pop vocalists perform. The standard set of tricks (post- Whitney extemporisation overload, sub- Winehouse aged soul, please-compare-me-to- Kate-Bush kooky swooping, etc) are all noticeable by their absence. Instead, her voice is powerful and gutsily emotive: her melismas sound more Middle Eastern than Mariah Carey." Despite her wide vocal range, Rosalía tends to use Auto-Tune aesthetically in songs and live performances.

The songwriting skills of Rosalía have recently been questioned and criticized for being "random" and " kitsch". Generally, her lyrics deal with various topics and contain multiple references to general and pop culture. Those references can also be seen in her visual work, which she considers the "crutial way of communication between the artist and the consumer". Graphic artist Carlota Guerrero is one of the singer's best friends. Rosalía's visual inspiration mainly comes from Spanish tradition and Eastern culture, mainly Japanese. The singer has wide knowledge of art history, which she translates to her public by constantly recreating religious portraits, contemporary paintings, and movie scenes within her musical projects. She has cited Pedro Almodóvar and Andrei Tarkovsky as her favorite filmmakers, Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void (2009) and Wong Kar-wai's Fallen Angels (1995) as her favorite films, and Jean-Michel Basquiat as her favorite artist.

Rosalía has been accused of cultural appropriation by some Romani people because she adapts Romani customs into her style, and she draws from the flamenco music tradition, which is often thought to be from Romani people in Andalusia. However, the origin of flamenco music is not known precisely, and it probably fused musical practices from three sources: Moorish, Jewish and Romani cultures. Responding to this criticism, Rosalía said, "music is universal."

Rosalía has cited Camarón de la Isla, James Blake and Björk as her major musical influences. In 2019 she told MTV "when I was 13 years old I started listening to him [Camarón de la Isla] by chance. This genre, flamenco, was what my high-school friends listened to and so did I. When I discovered him I was like 'oh my God!' I didn't think anyone was capable to sing with such a voice; it would go right through me so heartily. He was my introduction to flamenco. Thanks to him I discovered this vast universe within this music style which is almost endless and very exciting." Another flamenco influence of Rosalía is La Niña de los Peines. She states that despite not enjoying her recordings at first, she ended up appreciating her melodies and realized that she was a true pioneer since, at the time she became popular, most flamenco singers were men. She said: "flamenco is a masculine art form by tradition and there she was, with all her creativity as a woman. She became a professional at the time when it was very unusual". About Björk, Rosalía told that she "thanks God for Björk's existence" and for "paving the way for female producers". When she was asked about the impact James Blake had on her, she said: "I started listening to him when I was at university. His music has left a mark on me; not only the bold character of his production but also its minimalism and free structures. When I listen to him, I can feel that he allows himself a lot of freedom. I personally think that he doesn't do music to please nobody but only for himself." Rosalía collaborated with Blake on his song " Barefoot in the Park", which was released as the fourth single of his 2019 album Assume Form. She has also cited Aventura, Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, Héctor Lavoe, Kate Bush, Kanye West, Rihanna, Lil' Kim, Lole y Manuel, M.I.A., Shakira, Tego Calderón, Pharrell Williams and Lauryn Hill as direct musical inspirations.

The biggest fashion influence of Rosalía is Lola Flores. In an interview with Billboard she stated: "I love her. I love the attitude and the strength she had". She also mentioned Carmen Amaya; "she used to wear masculine clothes in a moment that any woman was dancing in typically-man clothing". Rosalía has become a regular fashion show attendee, expressing her love for Palomo Spain, Dion Lee, Martin Margiela, Dapper Dan, Pepa Salazar, Matthew Williams, Alexander Wang, Burberry, Dominnico, Dior and Versace among others. She has attended the Met Gala twice, dressed in Rick Owens and Givenchy.

named Rosalía in their list of "Most Influential Spanish Women" in 2020 and in 2022. In 2021, named Rosalía one of the most important artists of the last 25 years.

The popularization of new flamenco, both nationally and worldwide, has allowed new artists such as María José Llergo to reach a wider audience internationally. In 2020, The Atlantic stated that Rosalía had "turned the harrowing music of Andalusia into a global phenomenon". Rosalía has been credited with inspiring some contemporary artists, such as Marina, Kacey Musgraves and Christina Aguilera. The resurgence of flamenco music alongside Rosalía's work has led to discussions of cultural appropriation, sometimes dubbed "the Rosalía polemic". Rosalía has been accused of stealing the culture of the Spanish Romani people ( Gitanos), who claim this artistic expression as their own, as it has been one of the few ways of free cultural expression Gitanos had available to them, in the face of discrimination and persecution within wider society. Purists view flamenco performance by Catalans, non-Gitanos, or non- Andalusians, such as Rosalía, as unfair and illegitimate. Others have defended[who? ] Rosalía, saying that, in a global interconnected world, where exposure to cultural traditions and art forms are widely accessed, Rosalía's success can inspire international appreciation of this artform, and compare the situation to Madonna's use of Spanish traditions sparking international interest in Spanish culture and art.

The New York Times said in 2019: "the debate on the cultural appropriation of the Spanish singer is unfair: her music embodies, with height, the most eloquent artistic form of globalization: the remix". When asked about this topic, she responded: "I've realized that it is not that I am specifically being attacked, it is the situation where there are people who, like me, have been fortunate enough to be able to study music, which they have wanted. And having options that other people don't have", stating that this is more of a political issue and a matter of privileges. Following her win for Best Latin Video for " Con Altura" at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, Rosalía broached a related discussion, as to whether the expression " Latin" (derived from a Romance language, like Spanish) has been misunderstood and has evolved to " Latino" (person from Latin American countries previously ruled by the Spanish and Portuguese empires), extending the debate about cultural appropriation and whether she should or should not be nominated in Latin categories at award shows. Rosalía also discussed the topic at the 2020 Latin Billboard Music Week, where Leila Cobo, host of VP Latin, stated: " Billboard categorizes music sung in the Spanish language as Latin music. You are a Spanish artist, not a Latin American but your music is called ' Latin' because it is sung in Spanish. It is also very interesting to see how this term is only used in the United States". Rosalía has also said that she feels "uncomfortable" when this term is used on her. Stemming from these debates, Rosalía has received online criticism.

She is of paternal Asturian and maternal Catalan heritage. Her paternal grandparents were of Galician and Andalusian origin. One of her great-grandfathers was Cuban. She is fluent in Catalan, Spanish and English.

In 2016, Rosalía started dating Spanish rapper C. Tangana. They co-wrote eight of the eleven songs of Rosalía's sophomore album El Mal Querer and collaborated vocally twice. They broke up in May 2018. Since then, the couple has referenced each other in songs, social media posts, interviews and music videos. In April 2020, Tangana told the press that there "exists a good friendship between the two".

Since late 2021, she has been in a relationship with Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro. The two had worked together on his debut studio album, Afrodisíaco, which was released on 13 November 2020.

Rosalía identifies as a feminist. After being congratulated at the 2019 Billboard Women in Music gala, the singer stated: "I was fifteen when I entered a recording studio for the first time having all this women as references. I was so shocked by the fact that there were only men in that session that, since that moment, I've been fighting for having the same number of men and women in the studio. As simple as that". Rosalía has a garter belt buckle tattooed on her left thigh in reference to a 1970 body art performance by Valie Export. In the tattoo, the garter appears as a symbol of a past slavery, the dress as the suppression of sexuality, the garter as an attribute of a femininity not determined by ourselves. A social ritual that covers one of the physical needs, the opposition of our culture to the body is clear. The garter as a sign of belonging to a class that demands a specific behavior becomes a memory. Rosalía is also pro-choice. During a concert in Mexico, she wore a green handkerchief in support of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion. The singer is also a firm LGBT supporter. All profits from her Viva Glam cosmetic campaign were to be given in support of women, youth and the LGBT community. In July 2021, she condemned the killing of Samuel Luiz, stating, "Samuel didn't die, he was assassinated".

As for Rosalía's religious beliefs, she revealed that she has never been baptized nor taken to church by her parents. Her grandmother, who was Christian, used to take her to church if she voluntarily asked to. There she began to believe in God despite never having submitted to the Catholic Church nor considering herself Christian.

As for politics and international conflicts, in November 2019, following a second general Spanish election in the country within six months, Rosalía tweeted "fuck Vox". Vox is a far-right nationalist political party that had earned a lot of seats at the Spanish Parliament and was constantly growing in popularity at the time. After being asked about politics at a press conference a couple days later, she said: "I think it is a very delicate topic and I don't think this is the place to talk about it." In May 2020, Rosalía expressed anger for the murder of George Floyd and briefly attended a protest in Miami in defense of racial equality, leaving early in order to appear on a virtual benefit concert organized by TeleHit. In October, she offered her song " A Palé" for a vote-encouraging campaign of Sony Music for the 2020 United States presidential election titled "Your Voice. Your Power. Your Vote".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía ( Spanish: , Catalan: ), is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Born and raised in the outskirts of Barcelona, she has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
© Paul Smith/Featureflash/Shutterstock.com

(born 1969). American actress and musician Jennifer Lopez's career began in the late 1980s, and she soon became one of the highest-paid Latina actresses in the history of Hollywood. She later branched out into the music business and produced a series of pop albums. From 2011 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2016 Lopez served as one of the judges on the television singing competition show American Idol.

Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969, in the Bronx, New York. She took dance lessons as a child and performed internationally with stage musicals. When she was 16 years old she made her film debut with a small role in My Little Girl (1986). In 1990 she broke into television when she was cast as one of the dancers on the comedy show In Living Color. After she left the show, she appeared in several short-lived television series and then in movie roles. By the mid-1990s she had been in films with such notable actors as Robin Williams ( Jack, 1996) and Jack Nicholson ( Blood and Wine, 1997). Lopez, however, did not become well known until she landed the lead role in Selena (1997), a biopic of the murdered Tejano singer. She then went on to star in a number of thrillers and action dramas, including Anaconda (1997), U Turn (1997), Out of Sight (1998), and The Cell (2000). Her first successful attempt at romantic comedy came with The Wedding Planner (2001), which was quickly followed by the romantic drama Angel Eyes in the middle of the year.

John Shearer-Kohl's Department Stores/PRNewsFoto/AP Images

In 1999 Lopez released her debut album, On the 6. The pop album quickly went platinum and subsequently sold more than eight million copies worldwide. Her second album, J.Lo (2001), sold more than 270,000 copies in its first week. In 2003 Lopez returned to movies and starred in the critically panned Gigli, and a number of her subsequent films were box-office disappointments. In 2004 she married singer Marc Anthony, and the couple appeared in El Cantante (2006), the biopic of salsa musician Hector Lavoe. Her later albums included Rebirth (2005), the Spanish-language Como ama una mujer (2007), Brave (2007), Love? (2011), and A.K.A. (2014).

In 2008 Lopez gave birth to twins. Two years later she starred in the big-screen romantic comedy The Back-up Plan. Lopez served as a judge on American Idol in 2011 and 2012 alongside Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler. She returned for the show's 13th season in 2014, sharing the judge spotlight with Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. The show ended in 2016.

Meanwhile, in 2011 it was announced that Lopez and Anthony were divorcing, although the following year they began working together as producers and hosts of the TV program ¡Q'Viva!: The Chosen, a talent competition for Latin American performers. Lopez subsequently appeared in the movie What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012), an ensemble comedy about parenting. In the thrillers Parker (2013) and The Boy Next Door (2015) she played, respectively, a divorced businesswoman who takes part in a heist and a woman who is drawn into a romance with a teenager who then begins stalking her. She also provided voices for the animated Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Home (2015). In 2016 Lopez assumed the starring role in the television show Shades of Blue, in which she portrayed a conflicted police officer.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(born 1969). American actress and musician Jennifer Lopez's career began in the late 1980s, and she soon became one of the highest-paid Latina actresses in the history of Hollywood. She later branched out into the music business and produced a series of pop albums. From 2011 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2016 Lopez served as one of the judges on the television singing competition show American Idol .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and producer. In 1991, Lopez appeared as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993. For her first leading role in the 1997 Selena biopic of the same name, Lopez received a Golden Globe nomination and became the first Latin actress to earn over US$1 million for a film. She went on to star in the adventure horror Anaconda (1997) and crime comedy Out of Sight (1998), later establishing herself as the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood.

Lopez ventured into the music industry in 1999 with her debut studio album On the 6, which spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles "If You Had My Love" and "Waiting for Tonight". With the simultaneous release of her second studio album J.Lo and her romantic comedy The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first woman to have a number one album and film in the same week.

With a cumulative film gross of over US$2.9billion and global record sales exceeding 80 million, she is regarded as the most influential Hispanic performer in the United States, as well as its highest-paid Latin entertainer. listed her as one of the 25 most influential Hispanic Americans, and in 2012, Forbes ranked her as the most powerful celebrity in the world, as well as the 38th most powerful woman in the world.

For her contributions to the music industry, Lopez has received a landmark star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Billboard Icon Award among other honors. Her other ventures include clothing lines, fragrances, a production company, and a charitable foundation. She has been divorced three times and gave birth to twins in 2008 with then-husband Marc Anthony.

Discography

Filmography
Films Television
Images for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and producer. In 1991, Lopez appeared as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to become an astronaut. She was a part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which orbited Earth for more than a week in 1992.

Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. She was the youngest of three children. When she was 3, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Even as a young girl Jemison was deeply interested in science.

Jemison graduated from high school at age 16. She then received a scholarship to attend Stanford University in California. She graduated from there in 1977 with a degree in chemical engineering.

After Stanford, Jemison attended medical school at Cornell University in New York. She received her medical degree in 1981. She worked as a doctor first in Los Angeles, California, and then with the Peace Corps in West Africa.

Then Jemison applied to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to become an astronaut. She was one of only 15 out of 2,000 applicants accepted by NASA. Jemison entered NASA's astronaut program in 1987. In 1992 Jemison flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour as the science mission specialist. At the time she was the only female African American astronaut.

After retiring from NASA in 1993, Jemison founded her own company, the Jemison Group. The company created new technologies, especially to help developing countries. Jemison also created an international science camp for teenagers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to become an astronaut. She was a part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which orbited Earth for more than a week in 1992. Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. She was the youngest of three children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was chosen to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days from September 12-20, 1992.

Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago, Jemison graduated from Stanford University with degrees in chemical engineering as well as African and African-American studies. She then earned her medical degree from Cornell University. Jemison was a doctor for the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1983 until 1985 and worked as a general practitioner. Because she wanted to be an astronaut, she applied to NASA.

Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded a technology research company, The Jemison Group, Inc., that encourages science, technology, and social change. She later formed a non-profit educational foundation, The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence in 1994. Through the foundation she is the principal of the 100 Year Starship project funded by DARPA. Jemison also wrote several books for children and appeared on television several times, including in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She holds several honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, on October 17, 1956, the youngest of three children of Charlie and Dorothy Jemison. Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Ludwig van Beethoven Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois.

Jemison enjoyed studying nature and human physiology, using her observations to learn more about science. Although her mother encouraged her curiosity and both her parents were supportive of her interest in science, she did not always see the same support from her teachers. Seeing a lack of female astronauts during the Apollo missions frustrated Jemison. She later recalled, "everybody was thrilled about space, but I remember being really really irritated that there were no women astronauts."

Jemison began studying ballet at the age of 8 or 9 and entered high school at 12 years old, where she joined the cheerleading team and the Modern Dance Club. She learned several styles of dance, including African and Japanese, as well as ballet, jazz, and modern dance. At the age of 14, she auditioned for the leading role of Maria in West Side Story. She did not get the leading role but was selected as a background dancer.

After graduating from Chicago's Morgan Park High School in 1973, Jemison entered Stanford University at the age of 16. There were very few other African-American students in Jemison's classes and she continued to experience discrimination from her teachers. In an interview with The Des Moines Register in 2008, Jemison said that it was difficult to go to Stanford at 16 but that her youthful arrogance may have helped her.

At Stanford, Jemison served as head of the Black Students Union. She also choreographed a musical and dance production called Out of the Shadows. During her senior year in college, she struggled with the choice between going to medical school or becoming a professional dancer after graduation. She graduated from Stanford in 1977, receiving a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and B.A. degree in African and African-American studies. While Mae was at Stanford, she considered applying to NASA.

Medical Career

Jemison attended Cornell Medical School and during her training, she traveled to use her skills to help other people. She went to Cuba to help in a study funded by American Medical Student Association; she traveled to Thailand, where she worked at a Cambodian refugee camp; and she also worked for Flying Doctors stationed in East Africa. During her years at Cornell, Jemison continued to study dance by enrolling in classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. After graduating with an M.D. degree in 1981, she interned at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in 1982, and worked as a general practitioner (a doctor who helps as many people as possible, not focusing on and becoming very good at one area of medicine) for Ross-Loos Medical Group.

Jemison joined the staff of the Peace Corps in 1983 and served as a medical officer until 1985 in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Jemison's job was to direct the Peace Corps' pharmacy, laboratory, and medical staff. She helped patients, wrote handbooks for self-care, and created rules for health and safety issues. She also worked with the Centers for Disease Control helping with research for vaccines.

NASA Career

After returning home from the Peace Corps, Jemison applied to NASA's astronaut training program in October 1985. Soon after she applied, NASA had a terrible accident on January 28, 1986. Challenger was launched in Florida and it blew up soon after taking off. The astronauts were all killed. There would be no more astronauts going into space until the scientists figured out what had happened. Jemison became one of the fifteen people who were chosen for a special type of instruction at NASA a year after this accident had happened. The training was physically demanding and included more studying of science.

On September 28, 1989, she was chosen to join the 50th mission on the Endeavour, called STS-47. Her job was Mission Specialist 4, and she was also designated Science Mission Specialist, a new astronaut role being tested by NASA to focus on scientific experiments.

Jemison's mission was flown from September 12-20, 1992, where she logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space, and orbited the earth 127 times. The crew was split into two shifts with Jemison assigned to the Blue Shift. Throughout the eight-day mission, she began communications on her shift with the salute, "Hailing frequencies open," a quote from Star Trek. Jemison took a poster from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater along with her on the flight. She also took a West African statuette and a photo of Bessie Coleman, the first African American with an international pilot license.

STS-47 was a joint mission between the United States and Japan that included 43 Japanese and U.S. experiments. Jemison took part in several of the experiments that were completed in space. She and Japanese astronaut Mamoru Mohri looked into possible treatments for motion sickness, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. Jemison experimented with producing saline solution and was a co-investigator in two bone cell research experiments. Another experiment she participated in was to fertilize the eggs of female frogs and then see how tadpoles developed in zero gravity.

Resignation from NASA

Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993 to start her own company. NASA training manager and author Homer Hickam, who had trained Jemison for her flight, later said that he was sad that she had left NASA.

Post-NASA Career

Jemison served on the board of directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation from 1990 to 1992. In 1993, she founded The Jemison Group Inc., a business that studies how advancements in technology affect people. Jemison also founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence and named the foundation in honor of her mother. The foundation sponsors programs and events including:

The Earth We Share: a science camp for students aged 12 to 16

Shaping the World essay competition

Listening to the Future: a survey program to get information from students

Earth Online: an online chatroom that allows students to safely discuss ideas on space and science

Reality Leads Fantasy Gala

Jemison was a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College from 1995 to 2002 where she directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. In 1999, she also became an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Jemison continues to tell as many people as she can about science education and tries to get minority students interested in science. She is a member of several organizations, such as the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society, the Association of Space Explorers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1999, Jemison founded BioSentient Corp. She received a license to sell the relaxation technique that she and Mamoru Mohri tested on themselves during the STS-47 mission.

In 2012, the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence was awarded a $500,000 grant for further work. The new organization maintained the organizational name 100 Year Starship. Jemison is the current principal of the 100 Year Starship.

In 2018, she cooperated with Bayer Crop Science and National 4-H Council for the project named Science Matters, which was aimed at encouraging young children to understand and pursue agricultural sciences.

The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence

In 1994, Jemison established The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence. It is named after her mother Dorothy, who was a teacher in Chicago Public Schools for 25 years. This non-profit foundation develops and implements teaching methods and programs, with a focus on building critical thinking skills and science literacy, and encourages kids' responsibility in achieving excellence.

Mae Jemison quotes

"Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations."

"The best way to make dreams come true is to wake up."

"Science is very important to me, but I also like to stress that you have to be well-rounded."

"I want to make sure we use all our talent, not just 25 percent."

Interesting facts about Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison was 1 of 15 people selected to join NASA in the 1987 NASA Astronaut Group 12.

When she was a child, Jamison completed an entire science project on pus.

Mae holds 10 honorary doctorates at 10 different colleges.

When she left NASA, they were unhappy because they spent money training her and needed her to fill their woman of color position.

Jemison now leads the 100 Year Starship project, which strives to safely allow human space travel to another star within the next century.

Mae Jemison advocates for minority students to develop an interest in science.

Honors and awards

1988 Essence Science and Technology Award

1990 Gamma Sigma Sigma Woman of the Year

1991 McCall's 10 Outstanding Women for the 90s

1992 Johnson Publications Black Achievement Trailblazers Award

1992 Ebony Black Achievement Award

1993 National Women's Hall of Fame

1993 Ebony magazine 50 Most Influential women

1993 Kilby Science Award

1993 Montgomery Fellow, Dartmouth College

1993 People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World"

1993 Turner Trumpet Award

2002 listed among the 100 Greatest African Americans according to Molefi Kete Asante

2002 Texas Women's Hall of Fame inductee

2003 Intrepid Award by the National Organization for Girls

2004 International Space Hall of Fame

2005 The National Audubon Society, Rachel Carson Award

2017 Buzz Aldrin Space Pioneer Award

2019 Florida Southern College Honorary Chancellor

Institutions

1992 Mae C. Jemison Science and Space Museum, Wilbur Wright College, Chicago, Illinois

1992 Mae C. Jemison Academy, an alternative public school in Detroit, Michigan

2001 Mae Jemison School, an elementary public school in Hazel Crest, Illinois

2007 Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy, a public charter school in Baltimore, Maryland (closed in 2013)

2010 Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West, a Middle/High School in Baltimore, Maryland

2013 Jemison High School, Huntsville, Alabama

Honorary doctorates

1991 Doctor of Letters, Winston-Salem College, North Carolina

1991 Doctor of Science, Lincoln College, Pennsylvania

2000 Doctor of Humanities, Princeton University

2005 Doctor of Science, Wilson College, North Carolina

2006 Doctor of Science, Dartmouth College

2007 Doctor of Engineering, Harvey Mudd College

2007 Doctor of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

2008 Doctor of Humanities, DePaul University

2009 Doctor of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of NYU

2019 Doctor of Humane Letters, Florida Southern College

Filmography

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993) - Lieutenant Palmer, episode "Second Chances"

Susan B. Anthony Slept Here (1995) - herself

Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond (1996) - herself

The New Explorers (1998) - episode "Endeavor"

How William Shatner Changed the World (2005) - herself

African American Lives (2006) - herself

No Gravity (2011) - herself

The Real (2016) - herself

Images for kids

In Spanish: Mae Jemison para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Facts Just for Parents, Teachers and Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. Mae Jemison was an American astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

2. Mae Jemison was 1 of 15 people selected to join NASA in the 1987 NASA Astronaut Group 12.

3. Mae Jemison was born on Wednesday, October 17th, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama, USA.

4. Mae Jemison was the daughter of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Jemison.

5. Mae Jemison graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1977.

6. Mae Jemison earned her M.D. degree from Cornell Medical School in 1981.

7. Mae Jemison is best known for being the first African American to travel into outer space.

8. Mae Jemison was a part of one human spaceflight mission, STS-47.

9. STS-47 was a Space Shuttle mission to conduct life and material science experiments via the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

10. The STS-47 Space Shuttle mission occurred between September 12th and 20th in 1992.

11. Mae Jemison spent a total of 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes and 23 seconds in space.

12. Mae Jemison resigned from NASA in 1993 to start her own company.

13. Between 1983 and 1985 Mae Jemison was a doctor in the Peace Corps, serving in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

14. In 1993, Mae Jemison appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Second Chances, the 150th episode.

15. In 1993, Mae Jemison was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

16. In 2017, Mae Jemison received the Buzz Aldrin Space Pioneer Award.

17. Mae Jemison holds 10 honorary doctorates at 10 different colleges.

A photo of Mae Jemison sutting up for the STS-47 Space Shuttle mission. Credit: NASA

A photo of Mae Jemison aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-47. Credit: NASA

A photo of Mae Jemison speaking with a second grader at an event. Credit: Anne Rayner / Vanderbilt

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mae Jemison Facts for Kids - Facts Just for Parents, Teachers and Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mae Jemison was an American astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Mae Jemison was 1 of 15 people selected to join NASA in the 1987 NASA Astronaut Group 12. Mae Jemison was born on Wednesday, October 17th, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama, USA.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kamala Harris is an American lawyer and politician. In 2016 she was elected to the United States Senate. Harris was the first Indian American to serve as a U.S. senator. She…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Kamala Harris is the 49th vice president of the United States and is the first female ever to serve in this position. She also makes history by being the first African American and the first Asian American to be vice president. She serves under President Joe Biden.
Fun Facts

Before becoming vice president, Kamala Harris served two terms as attorney general of California and also as a United States Senator.

Kamala Harris is the daughter of two immigrants. Her mother is originally from India, and her father is originally from Jamaica.

Harris chose to run for president of the United States in 2020. She lost to Joe Biden as the Democrat candidate, but then he chose her as his running mate.

The name "Kamala" comes from the Sanskrit word for lotus and also is the name for a Hindu deity. She was given this name to help her remember her cultural identity.

Harris is the oldest of two children. Her parents were divorced when she was seven years old. She spent most of her time with her mother and visited her father during vacations and summers.

She lived in Montreal Canada during junior high and high school where her mother worked on research at a hospital and taught at a university.

Kamala Harris was the first woman and person of color to be the district attorney in San Franscisco. She was the first woman and black person to be the attorney general of California, and the first black senator from California.

Harris is married to an attorney named Doug Emhoff and is a step mother to his two children.

She loves to cook and is an avid reader.

Kamala Harris has written a children's book called "Superheros are Everywhere."

Vocabulary

1. Immigrant: A person who comes to live permanently in a different country.

2. Sanskrit: A classical language of South Asia.

3. State Attorney General: The top legal officer for the sate and a lawyer for its citizens.

Questions and Answers
Question: How does a politician become the vice president.

Answer: Candidates for president are nominated by the major political parties. These nominees choose the person they want to run with them in the position of vice president. They are called running mates.
Learn More
Listen to Kamala Harris reading the book she wrote for children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kamala Harris is the 49th vice president of the United States and is the first female ever to serve in this position. She also makes history by being the first African American and the first Asian American to be vice president. She serves under President Joe Biden.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The British scientist Jane Goodall is known for her research on chimpanzees. She studied the animals for many years in the East African country of Tanzania. Her discoveries changed the way chimpanzees are studied and understood.

Jane Goodall was born on April 3, 1934, in London, England. At a young age she became interested in animals. By age 11 she dreamed of living among Africa's wildlife.

To earn money to travel to Africa, Goodall left school at age 18 and began working. At age 23 she arrived by boat in Kenya. She soon became an assistant to Louis Leakey, a famous scientist.

In 1960 Goodall set up camp on the shores of Tanzania's Lake Tanganyika. She studied chimpanzees close-up in their natural setting. It took months for Goodall to gain the chimps' trust, but her patience paid off.

Through her observations, Goodall changed many ideas about chimpanzees. She saw a chimpanzee make a tool, which it used to get food. Scientists had believed only humans were toolmakers. She also found that chimpanzees eat both meat and plants. Finally, Goodall observed that each chimpanzee had a distinct personality and emotions.

Except for short absences, Goodall remained in Tanzania until 1975. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The British scientist Jane Goodall is known for her research on chimpanzees. She studied the animals for many years in the East African country of Tanzania. Her discoveries changed the way chimpanzees are studied and understood. Jane Goodall was born on April 3, 1934, in London, England.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Biography for Kids: Scientist - Jane Goodall

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about Jane Goodall’s biography. She was a scientist who studied chimpanzees in the wild for many years discovering that they used tools and ate meat.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dr Jane Goodall interview! - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out more about this primatologist who changed how we see our closest animal cousins and reminded us how important their conservation is!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820-March 13, 1906) was a pioneer × pioneer NASA a person who does something first (noun) Mae Jemison is considered to be a pioneer because she was the first African-American woman to travel in space. in the movement for women's voting rights in the United States. She paved the way for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave American women the right to vote.

Susan B. Anthony was raised in a Quaker family that believed in equality. When she was 6 years old, her family moved from Massachusetts to a farm in New York. By age 19, she was teaching at a school in New Rochelle, New York. Six years later, she went to live with her parents and siblings at their family home in Rochester, New York, where they were active in the fight to end slavery. In 1851, Anthony went to an abolitionist × abolitionist SHIRONOSOV/GETTY IMAGES a person who wants to stop or abolish slavery (noun) Abolitionists hoped to convince people to oppose slavery. meeting in Seneca Falls, New York. There, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an advocate for equal rights. Anthony and Stanton formed an immediate bond. They began working together to abolish slavery. They also fought to extend rights to African Americans and women.

A Push for Equality

During the Civil War, Anthony and Stanton formed the Women's National Loyal League (WNLL). It was the first national women's political organization. The WNLL gathered 400,000 signatures to persuade Congress to ratify the 13th Amendment. This amendment outlawed slavery. It was finally ratified in December 1865. After the war, Anthony campaigned for the 14th and 15th Amendments. The 14th Amendment granted "equal protection of the laws" to all Americans. It also guaranteed citizenship to all people born in the United States. As a result, citizenship was extended to former slaves. The 15th Amendment gave African-American men the right to vote. Anthony was deeply disappointed, however, that neither amendment extended voting rights to women. Anthony and Stanton faced opposition in their fight for women's . But they still felt inspired to continue fighting for equality. In 1869, they formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). The organization was dedicated to passing a constitutional amendment that would guarantee voting rights for women.

UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/UIG/GETTY IMAGES

Challenging the Law

In November 1872, Anthony made national headlines. She was arrested for illegally voting in the presidential election. Anthony was found guilty. The judge imposed a $100 fine. While in the courtroom, Anthony told the judge that she would "never pay a dollar of [the] unjust penalty." She added, "And I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women" to follow a revolutionary idea, "that resistance to tyranny tyranny a government that treats people in a cruel and unfair way (noun) The refugees left their country to escape tyranny. is obedience to God." Anthony never paid the fine. After her arrest, Anthony continued to raise awareness awareness knowledge of a situation or fact (noun) The protesters tried to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking. about women's rights. On July 4, 1876, the NWSA adopted a Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States. It said, "We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever." Anthony also campaigned for women to be able to own property, earn equal pay, and hold public office.

The Fight Must Not Cease

Throughout her adulthood, Anthony was a passionate advocate for women's rights. In February 1906, she made her last speech. "I am here for a little time only, and then my place will be filled," she said. "The fight must not cease. You must see that it does not stop. Failure is impossible." Anthony died a month later. She was 86 years old. But her tireless efforts inspired others to carry on the struggle for women's rights. It would take another 14 years for Congress to ratify the 19th Amendment, which granted women voting rights. In 1979, Anthony's contributions to the equal-rights movement were honored. She became the first woman to appear on a circulating U.S. coin. Though the U.S. Treasury stopped producing the Susan B. Anthony $1 coin in 1991, it is still in use today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820-March 13, 1906) was a pioneer in the movement for women's voting rights in the United States. She paved the way for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave American women the right...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Susan B. Anthony was called terrible names, had things thrown at her, even had her picture dragged through the streets. But still she didn't back down. She thought fighting for women's rights-and the rights of everyone-was too important.

Born in Adams, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1820, she grew up as a Quaker, which is a religion that teaches that everyone is equal. She knew it wasn't fair that she didn't have a say in electing political leaders or couldn't own property just because she was a woman. She also thought that it wasn't right that male teachers made more money than she did. In the early 1850s, Anthony starting voicing her opinion to anyone who would listen, stopping people on the streets or giving speeches around the country. She'd stand for hours to get signatures on petitions asking for women's rights.

But Anthony wanted everyone to have equal rights, so in 1856 she joined the anti-slavery movement as an abolitionist, which were people who argued against slavery. She gave speeches, organized meetings, put up posters, and handed out leaflets, even though she faced angry crowds of people who disagreed with her-and thought that women shouldn't even be speaking in public.

But her fight for equal rights for women never stopped. Anthony had met fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851, and after years of talking to people about women's rights, they started a newspaper, The Revolution, in 1868 to help spread ideas of rights for women. The next year, they cofounded the National Woman Suffrage Association to focus on women's right to vote. ( Suffrage means the right to vote; people who support that are called suffragists)

African-Americans were recognized as U.S. citizens in 1870, and black men were given the right to vote with the 15th amendment. But African-American women, like all women, still did not have the right to vote. This made Anthony angry, especially since she had fought so hard to help free the slaves. So she cast her ballot in the presidential election anyway. She was arrested for the crime and fined a hundred dollars. She never paid.

Though she worked for more than 50 years for women's rights, Anthony never got to legally vote. She died on March 13, 1906, 14 years before the 19th amendment gave all women the right to vote. But the representatives of Congress-almost all men-who approved the amendment understood who was responsible for this historic moment, and the legislation was known as the "Anthony Amendment." And in 1979, Anthony became the first woman to be on a U.S. coin, the silver dollar.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The woman who helped fight for women's right to vote

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about Susan B. Anthony's biography. Woman's rights activist for suffrage.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Malala Yousafzai is a young Pakistani activist. In 2008 she began protesting the closing of girls’ schools in her area. In 2012 she was shot as a result of her protests.…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai including her early life in Pakistan, work as an activist for the education of women, being shot by the Taliban, and interesting facts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Malala Yousafzai History for Kids | Bedtime History | Homework Help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Who was Malala Yousafzai? Imagine you live in a country far away. It is a poor country with war and where girls are not allowed to go to school. But your parents are kind and smart.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Clara Lemlich, Courtesy: Cornell Kheel Center

Clara Lemlich, a 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, rose to a position of power in the women's labor movement, becoming the voice that incited the famous Uprising of the Twenty Thousand in 1909. Born in 1886 in the Ukrainian town of Gorodok, Lemlich grew up in a Jewish family that experienced the social upheaval and hardships defined by the declining Russian monarchy. Facing poverty and an increase in anti-Jewish violence, Lemlich's family fled Ukraine in 1903 and found a new home and new work in the United States.

Like many Jewish and Italian immigrant laborers, Lemlich joined the textile-manufacturing workforce only two weeks after arriving in New York. At the Gotham shirtwaist factory, women worked 11 hours a day, six days a week, for starting wages of $3 a week -- conditions that reduced workers "to the status of machines," wrote 17-year-old Lemlich. Appalled by these circumstances, Lemlich joined the executive board of a local chapter of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), a relatively new organization gaining momentum in the fight for workers' rights. In that role, Lemlich led picket lines, wrote opinion pieces, and organized strikes to improve factory conditions. Lemlich and her supporters were often physically harmed by policemen and thugs hired by factory owners. In one case Lemlich was hospitalized after a beating she received while standing in the picket line.

On November 22nd, 1909, Lemlich helped incite a strike that ultimately proved instrumental to industrial labor reform. As she stood in front of thousands of her fellow female workers at the Cooper Union in New York City, speaking in her native Yiddish language, she demanded swift action. "I am a working girl," proclaimed Lemlich. "One of those who are on strike against intolerable conditions. I am tired of listening to speakers who talk in general terms. What we are here for is to decide whether we shall strike or shall not strike. I offer a resolution that a general strike be declared now." After a prolonged roar of approval, Lemlich and the thousands in attendance took a Yiddish oath to strike the following day, pledging, "If I turn traitor to the cause I now pledge, may this hand wither from the arm I now raise."

The next morning, Lemlich and 15,000 factory workers stood in the streets of New York to protest wages and working conditions. This strike, later dubbed the Uprising of the Twenty Thousand, lasted for over two months and transformed the culture of the industrial worker. Protestors won concessions from several factories for fair wages and shorter hours. Lemlich had not only started a protest, but she had also instigated a worker's revolution.

The progress towards workers' rights, however, was overshadowed by the disastrous Triangle Fire that claimed the lives of 146 factory workers in March of 1911. In response to the tragedy, Lemlich, who at the time was organizing unions throughout New York City, attributed the high number of casualties from the fire to the absence of union standards at the factory, which would have prohibited locked doors and required accessible fire escapes.

In the years following the Triangle Fire, Lemlich continued to fight for workers' rights. She became an active member of the Communist party and petitioned for women's suffrage. Because of her political leanings Lemlich eventually broke ties with the ILGWU and many of her colleagues, including activist Pauline Newman, who stated, "Her politics [were] not my cup of tea... We no longer had anything in common except the memory of the strike and our participation in it."

In 1913, Lemlich married Joe Shavelson, a printer's union activist, and together they had three children. She continued to speak on behalf of several causes, and she lead a nationwide food strike in response to inflated prices during World War I. Throughout the 1940's Lemlich served on the American Committee to Survey Trade Union Conditions in Europe, and became an organizer for the American League against War and Fascism. Due to her earlier involvement in the Communist Party, Lemlich and her family were monitored by the House of Un-American Activities Committee throughout the 1950s. Lemlich officially retired from the ILGWU in 1954. She died on July 12, 1982.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Clara Lemlich and the Uprising of the 20,000 | American Experience | PBS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant was the voice that helped incite the famous 1909 women's labor strike.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Life Story: Clara Lemlich Shavelson (1886-1982) Organizing Young Immigrant Women Workers The story of a young Jewish immigrant who inspired thousands of women to fight for improved working conditions in the garment industry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Girl Power: How Clara Lemlich Changed the World - Kid On The Town

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn what life was like for young garment workers on the Lower East Side in 1909 through the eyes of Clara Lemlich, who worked 11-hour days making dresses. A costumed actor portraying Clara will provide a first-person perspective about working in sweatshops and why, in November 1909, she gave a fie…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While in college, Winfrey worked as a television news anchor. In 1976 she moved to Baltimore, Maryland. The next year she began cohosting a morning talk show. She attracted viewers with her friendliness and honesty.

In 1984 Winfrey became the host of a talk show in Chicago, Illinois. The show became so popular so fast that it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Winfrey hosted the show until 2011. Fans loved her on-air book club and giveaways of her favorite products.

Winfrey did not limit herself to her talk show. She starred in the movies The Color Purple (1985) and Beloved (1998). She launched O, the Oprah Magazine, in 2000. She also cofounded two television networks and a radio channel. In addition, Winfrey gave time and money to many causes. For example, she spoke out against child abuse, and she opened a school for girls in South Africa.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Oprah Winfrey is an American media star and businesswoman. Her lively, open personality made her one of the most-watched women on television. Many people also admired her for...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of Oprah Winfrey including her childhood, early career as a news anchor, becoming famous as a talk show host, and her work as an actress.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Oprah Gail Winfrey ( born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century. She was once the world's only black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world.

Orpah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to an unmarried teenage mother. Her mother, Vernita Lee (1935-2018), was a housemaid.

Winfrey's biological father is usually noted as Vernon Winfrey (c. 1933-2022), a coal miner turned barber turned city councilman who was in the Armed Forces when she was born. However, Mississippi farmer and World War II Veteran Noah Robinson Sr. (born c. 1925) has claimed to be her biological father.

After Winfrey's birth, her mother traveled north, and Winfrey spent her first six years living in rural poverty with her maternal grandmother, Hattie Mae (Presley) Lee (April 15, 1900 - February 27, 1963). Her grandmother was so poor that Winfrey often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which other children made fun of her.

At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her mother. At the age of eight, she was baptized in a Baptist church. In 1962, Winfrey was temporarily sent to live with her father Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee, as her mother had to work a lot and could not care of Oprah and her other kids well enough.

Winfrey attended Lincoln High School in Milwaukee. When she got successful in the Upward Bound program, she was transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School. At this time, Winfrey was continually reminded of her poverty as she rode the bus to school with fellow African-Americans, some of whom were servants of her classmates' families.

She began to rebel and steal money from her mother in an effort to keep up with her free-spending peers. As a result, her mother once again sent her to live with Vernon in Nashville, although this time she did not take her back. Vernon was strict but encouraging, and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, and joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, placing second in the nation in dramatic interpretation.

She had won an oratory contest and got a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution. She studied communication. However, she did not deliver her final paper and receive her degree until 1987, by which time she was a successful television personality.

The first episode The Oprah Winfrey Show was broadcast nationwide on September 8, 1986 and displaced Donahue as the number-one daytime talk show in America.

In the early years of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the program was classified as a tabloid talk show. In the mid-1990s, Winfrey began to host shows on broader topics such as heart disease, geopolitics, spirituality, and meditation. She interviewed celebrities on social issues they were directly involved with, such as cancer, charity work, or personal struggles, and hosted televised giveaways.

The viewership for The Oprah Winfrey Show was highest during the 1991-92 season, when about 13.1 million U.S. viewers were watching each day. By 2003, ratings declined to 7.4 million daily viewers. Ratings briefly rebounded to approximately 9 million in 2005 and then declined again to around 7.3 million viewers in 2008, though it remained the highest rated talk show.

In 2008, Winfrey's show was airing in 140 countries internationally and seen by an estimated 46 million people in the US weekly. According to the Harris poll, Winfrey was America's favorite television personality in 1998, 2000, 2002-06, and 2009. Winfrey was especially popular among women, Democrats, political moderates, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Southern Americans, and East Coast Americans.

The series finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired on May 25, 2011.

Other ventures

In addition to her talk show, Winfrey also produced and co-starred in the drama miniseries The Women of Brewster Place (1989) and its short-lived spin-off, Brewster Place. As well as hosting and appearing on television shows, Winfrey co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen which was the initial network for her Oprah After the Show program from 2002 to 2006 before moving to Oprah.com when Winfrey sold her stake in the network. She is also the president of Harpo Productions ( Oprah spelled backwards), a film and TV production company behind The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, The Dr. Oz Show and many others. She also moderated three ABC Afterschool Special s from 1992 to 1994.

On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It was scheduled to launch in 2009 but was delayed, and actually launched on January 1, 2011.

In January 2017, CBS announced that Winfrey would join as a special contributor on the Sunday evening news magazine program starting in September 2017. Winfrey left 60 Minutes by the end of 2018.

In June 2018, Apple announced a multi-year content partnership with Winfrey, in which it was agreed that Winfrey would create new original programs exclusively for Apple's streaming service, Apple TV+. The first show under the deal, Oprah's Book Club, premiered on November 1, 2019. Oprah's Book Club is based on the segment of the same name from The Oprah Winfrey Show. The second show under the deal, Oprah Talks COVID-19, debuted on March 21, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A third show, The Oprah Conversation debuted on July 30, 2020, with Winfrey "[continuing] to explore impactful and relevant topics with fascinating thought leaders from all over the world".

"The Oprah Effect"

The power of Winfrey's opinions and endorsement to influence public opinion, especially consumer purchasing choices, has been dubbed "the Oprah Effect". The effect has been documented or alleged in domains as diverse as book sales, beef markets, and election voting. Late in 1996, Winfrey introduced the Oprah's Book Club segment to her television show. The segment focused on new books and classics and often brought obscure novels to popular attention. The book club became such a powerful force that whenever Winfrey introduced a new book as her book-club selection, it instantly became a best-seller; for example, when she selected the classic John Steinbeck novel East of Eden, it soared to the top of the book charts. Being recognized by Winfrey often means a million additional book sales for an author.

Personal life

At 13, Winfrey ran away from home. When she was 14, she became pregnant, but her son was born prematurely and died shortly after birth.

In the 1970s, Winfrey had a romantic relationship with John Tesh. In the mid-1980s, Winfrey briefly dated movie critic Roger Ebert.

Winfrey and her partner Stedman Graham have been together since 1986. They were engaged to be married in November 1992, but the ceremony never took place.

Close friends

Winfrey's best friend since their early twenties is Gayle King. King was formerly the host of The Gayle King Show and is currently an editor of O, the Oprah Magazine.

Winfrey has also had a long friendship with Maria Shriver, after they met in Baltimore. Winfrey considered Maya Angelou, author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, her mentor and close friend; she called Angelou her "mother-sister-friend". Winfrey hosted a week-long Caribbean cruise for Angelou and 150 guests for Angelou's 70th birthday in 1998, and in 2008, threw her "an extravagant 80th birthday celebration" at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Personal wealth

Winfrey became a millionaire at the age of 32 when her talk show received national syndication. Winfrey negotiated ownership rights to the television program and started her own production company.

At the age of 41, Winfrey had a net worth of $340 million and replaced Bill Cosby as the only African American on the Forbes 400. By 2000, with a net worth of $800 million, Winfrey is believed to have been the richest African American of the 20th century. By 2008, her yearly income had increased to $275 million.

Forbes' list of The World's Billionaires has listed Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire from 2004 to 2006 and as the first black woman billionaire in the world that was achieved in 2003. As of 2014, Winfrey had a net worth in excess of 2.9 billion dollars and had overtaken former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as the richest self-made woman in America.

Religious views

Oprah was raised a Baptist. Oprah has stated that she is a Christian and her favorite Bible verse is Acts 17:28. Oprah attends The Potter's House Church, Dallas service, an Evangelical church.

Philanthropy

In 2004, Winfrey became the first black person to rank among the 50 most generous Americans and she remained among the top 50 until 2010. By 2012, she had given away about $400 million to educational causes.

As of 2012, Winfrey had also given over 400 scholarships to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film. To celebrate two decades on national TV, and to thank her employees for their hard work, Winfrey took her staff and their families (1,065 people in total) on vacation to Hawaii in the summer of 2006.

In 2013, Winfrey donated $12 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom later that same year.

In 1998, Winfrey created the Oprah's Angel Network, a charity that supported charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations around the world. Oprah's Angel Network raised more than $80 million ($1 million of which was donated by Jon Bon Jovi). Winfrey personally covered all administrative costs associated with the charity, so 100% of all funds raised went to charity programs. In May 2010, with Oprah's show ending, the charity stopped accepting donations and was shut down.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Oprah created the Oprah Angel Network Katrina registry which raised more than $11 million for relief efforts. Winfrey personally gave $10 million to the cause. Homes were built in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama before the one-year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Interesting facts about Oprah Winfrey

Her first name was spelled Orpah on her birth certificate after the biblical figure in the Book of Ruth, but people mispronounced it regularly and "Oprah" stuck.

Winfrey's grandmother, Hattie Mae, taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses.

Winfrey acknowledged her grandmother's influence, saying it was Hattie Mae who had encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself".

As a child, she played games interviewing her corncob doll and the crows on the fence of her family's property.

A genetic test in 2006 determined that her matrilineal line originated among the Kpelle ethnic group, in the area that today is Liberia. Her genetic makeup was determined to be 89% Sub-Saharan African, 8% Native American, and 3% East Asian.

Winfrey had three younger half-siblings: half-sister Patricia (died in February 2003 at age 43), another half-sister named Patricia (she was put up for adoption) and half-brother Jeffrey, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1989.

Winfrey's first job as a teenager was working at a local grocery store.

At the age of 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.

Winfrey started her career in media as a newscaster at a local black radio station, WVOL, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985), as distraught housewife Sofia. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

In 1989, she was accepted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.

In the 2008 presidential race, Winfrey endorsed Barack Obama.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2018 opened a special exhibit on Winfrey's cultural influence through television.

Her 1993 interview with Michael Jackson became the fourth most-watched event in American television history as well as the most watched interview ever, with an audience of 36.5 million.

In 2021, she conducted an interview with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and her husband Prince Harry, which was broadcast globally and received international media attention.

Winfrey has co-authored five books.

She publishes the magazine: O, The Oprah Magazine and from 2004 to 2008 also published a magazine called O At Home.

Winfrey's company created the Oprah.com website to provide resources and interactive content related to her shows, magazines, book club, and public charity. Oprah.com averages more than 70 million page views and more than six million users per month, and receives approximately 20,000 e-mails each week.

Oprah is often listed among the most influential and powerful people in the world.

The Wall Street Journal coined the term "Oprahfication", meaning public confession as a form of therapy.

Oprah Winfrey quotes

"Turn your wounds into wisdom."

"You can have it all. Just not all at once."

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams."

"Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher."

"You get in life what you have the courage to ask for."

"You don't become what you want, you become what you believe."

Images for kids

Winfrey speaking at Moore's inauguration, 2023

Winfrey filming in Denmark in 2009

Filmography

1985
The Color Purple
Sofia

Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Nominated - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

There Are No Children Here
LaJoe Rivers

TV movie (ABC)

1998
Beloved
Sethe

Producer;
Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

1999
Our Friend, Martin Coretta Scott King
Voice role; Direct-to-video film

2013
The Butler
Gloria Gaines

African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress;
Santa Barbara International Film Festival - Montecito Award;
Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role;
Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress;
Nominated - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress;
Nominated - Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress;
Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture;
Nominated - Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress;
Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture;
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role;
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

2014
Selma Annie Lee Cooper
Producer;
Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Female Action Star;
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture;
Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Film;
Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

2017
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Deborah Lacks
TV movie; Executive producer;
Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special;
Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie

Crow: The Legend
The One Who Creates Everything by Thinking

Voice role

As producer only

1989 - The Oprah Winfrey Show (supervising producer - 8 episodes, 1989-2011)

1989 - The Women of Brewster Place (TV miniseries) (executive producer)

1992 - Nine (TV documentary) (executive producer)

1992 - Overexposed (TV movie) (executive producer)

1993 - ABC Afterschool Special (TV series) (producer - 1 episode "Shades of a Single Protein") (producer)

1993 - Michael Jackson Talks to... Oprah Live (TV special) (executive producer)

1997 - Before Women Had Wings (TV movie) (producer)

1998 - The Wedding (TV miniseries) (executive producer)

1998 - Beloved (producer)

1998 - David and Lisa (TV movie) (executive producer)

1999 - Tuesdays with Morrie (TV movie) (executive producer)

2001 - Amy & Isabelle (TV movie) (executive producer, producer)

2002 - Oprah After the Show (TV series) (executive producer)

2005 - Their Eyes Were Watching God (TV movie) (executive producer)

2006 - Legends Ball (TV documentary) (executive producer)

2007 - Oprah's Big Give (TV series) (executive producer)

2007 - The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special (TV movie) (executive producer)

2007 - Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy (TV documentary) (executive producer)

2007 - Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day (TV movie) (executive producer)

2007 - The Great Debaters (producer)

2009 - The Dr. Oz Show (TV series) (executive producer)

2009 - Precious (executive producer)

2009 - Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special (TV special) (executive producer)

2010 - The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special (TV movie) (executive producer)

2011 - Your OWN Show (TV series) (executive producer)

2011 - Extraordinary Mom (TV documentary) (executive producer)

2011 - Serving Life (TV documentary) (executive producer)

2014 - The Hundred-Foot Journey (producer)

2014 - Selma (producer)

2016-present - Queen Sugar (co-creator and executive producer)

2016-2020 - Greenleaf (executive producer)

2017 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (TV movie) (executive producer)

2018 - Love Is (executive producer)

2019 - When They See Us (executive producer)

2019 - Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland (executive producer)

2019 - David Makes Man (executive producer)

2020 - The Water Man (executive producer)

2023 - The Color Purple (producer)

In Spanish: Oprah Winfrey para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction
Feminism is the belief in the social, economic, and political equality of women and men. Feminists are committed to activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.

The term feminism also suggests seeking broader vistas for women. It suggests the removal of false and constraining gender requirements-in a word the pursuit of "freedom" for women. The term comes from a French word invented in the 19th century. But the attitudes, behaviors, and aspirations encompassed by the word feminism have a much longer history. Throughout recorded history there have been women who have broken through the limits placed on their sex. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the learned and outspoken 17th-century Mexican nun, was one of these women. Christine de Pisan, medieval Italian-born scholar and author, was another.

© DeA Picture Library/age fotostock

But the meaning of feminism points beyond isolated, individual female acts of bravery and assertiveness. It extends to the creation of an ongoing historical tradition. In such a tradition, the challenges of one generation inspire and lay the basis for those of another. In this sense, feminist ideas first began to appear in Europe in the late 18th century. These ideas appeared under the term women's rights and in connection with general revolutionary aspirations for human rights. The bold and self-educated writer Olympe de Gouges challenged the leaders of the French Revolution to include women in their struggle for the Rights of Man. At the same time in England, Mary Wollstonecraft advocated equality for women in A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

Wollstonecraft's writings were read in the United States in the aftermath of its own revolution. The American Revolution produced its own spokeswomen for women's rights, such as Judith Sargent Murray and Abigail Adams.

Women's Rights Beginning
The mid-19th century offered another starting point. Feminism as a collective effort to improve women's legal, political, educational, and economic position began during another period of revolutionary activism. The so-called Revolutions of 1848 advocated democratic political changes throughout Europe. However, it was in the United States where the feminist tradition first emerged as a consistent social reform movement.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-42559)

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC USZ 62 37938)

In the upstate New York town of Seneca Falls, a hundred women and men met in 1848 to issue a Declaration of Sentiments on behalf of women's rights. Their meeting was known as the Seneca Falls Convention. It was led by Lucretia Mott, an antislavery leader, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a mother and legal expert. The audience debated and passed a list of complaints about educational, economic, and religious inequality. The Declaration of Sentiments was patterned closely after the Declaration of Independence. In order to realize "the equality of human rights" between women and men, the participants in the Seneca Falls Convention called for changes in the law and culture. Most controversially, they called for changes in American political democracy. They dedicated themselves to securing for women "their sacred right to the elective franchise"- suffrage, or the right to vote. This right took another 72 years to achieve.

The Seneca Falls Convention launched a women's rights movement that continued well into the 20th century. Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone led the campaign for U.S. women's suffrage. Women's rights advocates traveled all around the northeast and Midwestern United States. They urged changes in state laws, especially those that deprived women of economic rights upon marriage.

By their very example, these activists challenged popular attitudes about the proper sphere for and conduct of women. Stone was one of the first American women to graduate from a four-year college (Oberlin). She made history when she refused to take the last name of her husband, Henry Blackwell, a practice that she kept up for the rest of her long life. When the American Civil War broke out, women were ready to undertake major public responsibilities. Some even slipped into military regiments disguised in male clothing.

Women's Rights and the Antislavery Movement
Most early feminists were also opponents of slavery. In the United States the feminist tradition has always developed in complex interaction with efforts for racial equality. With the end of the Civil War and the defeat of the South in 1865, slavery was abolished throughout the country. The enslaved Africans were freed. Many feminists expected to join with champions of racial equality to see that the U.S. Constitution was rewritten to include all persons, regardless of race or gender, in the rights of citizenship. Notably, they expected the right to vote to be extended to both women and men of all races. But the Congressional authors of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments did not extend suffrage to any women. For the first time, Black men were given the right to vote. However, the Congressmen wrote these amendments to limit the protection of voting rights to all male persons over the age of 21. They explicitly mention protection only against discrimination on account of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Women's rights advocates were divided over what to do. Some thought that they should defer to the more dire needs of the formerly enslaved people. Others thought that they should push for equality for women while radical change was still in the air. The so-called Reconstruction years passed without securing constitutional guarantees of woman suffrage to accompany those promising Black male suffrage. The controversy produced a legacy of suspicion between activists working for racial equality and those working for gender equality.

After Reconstruction, American society retreated from the traumas of the Civil War into a post-slavery era of renewed racial discrimination. Black and white women formed separate movements for greater opportunities and improved political, economic, and civil rights. They did not really begin to come together again for another century. Ida B. Wells, whose parents had been enslaved, challenged Southern violence against newly freed African Americans. She eventually fled to Chicago, where she led in the creation of a feminist movement among Black Americans.

Education and Paid Labor
Feminism in the late 19th century was more successful in broadening its base in other ways. Women began to enter higher education and the learned professions. In the United States the numbers of women receiving college education, in both women's and coeducational institutions, rapidly rose. By 1900 nearly half of the students enrolled in such institutions were women. M. Carey Thomas was one of the first women to receive a B.A. from Cornell University. She went on to head Bryn Mawr College and to champion higher education for women in general.

Building on their traditional caregiving functions, women made a notable impact as physicians. Elizabeth Blackwell was one of many women physicians who established flourishing medical practices. Blackwell and others also founded medical colleges to educate other women in major American cities.

Other professions, including in law and religion, proved more resistant to women. Attorney Belva Lockwood finally succeeded in arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1880. Some Protestant denominations permitted some women ministers. However, Roman Catholic and Jewish institutions remained absolutely closed to them.

Even more than in higher education and professional achievement, the entry of women into the wage labor force had a major impact on the future of feminism. This was true not only in the United States but all over the industrializing world, in such different countries as Japan and Russia. Through the 19th century, the female labor force grew primarily among young, unmarried women. They went to work outside their homes in the years before they married and had children. Married women working outside their own homes remained a rare occurrence. Young women workers were especially important in the so-called "needle trades" of textile and clothing manufacture. In the United States the growing numbers of European immigrants provided the bulk of this emerging female working class.

The question of equality for female and male workers remained far in the future. Few Americans thought it wrong that women made so much less money (usually a third to a half) than men. Few thought it wrong that women workers were kept out of many job categories, especially the more skilled. Women went into the labor force, most believed, for brief periods of time and because of extraordinary economic pressures on their families. Most people thought that, eventually, these women belonged in their homes, raising their children and performing crucial unpaid labor for their families.

What then made the growth of the female labor force significant for the future of feminism? This was a long-term process that was gradually introducing large numbers of women into labor outside their homes and beyond their families. These women were entering the public sphere as individuals. They were beginning to glimpse the possibilities of greater personal independence.

Young women workers fought for better wages and working conditions. They also fought for legal rights-in the workplace, in male-dominated unions, and in laws to protect labor. In the 1890s Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, an Irish-American bookbinder, became one of the first American women to try to organize women into labor unions. Gradually these early working-class women activists added economic equality to political rights as part of the feminist program for female freedom.

Reproductive Rights
In the early 20th century one other element began to appear as part of feminism: reproductive and sexual freedom. In France and England late 19th-century radical reformers and physicians began to talk about how to aid women in preventing sexual intercourse from leading to unwanted childbearing. Emma Goldman, a Russian immigrant and notorious anarchist, was one of the first to bring these new ideas to the United States.

Goldman was followed in the 1910s by Irish-American socialist Margaret Sanger. Sanger sought to relieve the suffering of poor women with unwanted pregnancies whom she saw in her practice as a public-health nurse. She began to write about the importance of what she was the first to call " birth control." For these efforts, she was arrested in 1914 and had to flee the country for a time to avoid trial. Birth control began as a way to help women to avoid unwanted pregnancies. However, Sanger soon began to see and write about another dimension: greater freedom of sexual expression for women.

20th Century: Modern Feminism
Together, expanded opportunities in higher education and the workplace and the general spread of "modern" art and culture led to the introduction of the word feminism. First used in France, the term feminism traveled to the United States and other countries by 1910. Young women who prided themselves in their modernism were the most likely to describe themselves that way. They were individualists and radicals, impatient with their mothers' exclusively domestic lives and their fathers' assumptions of male supremacy. When they married-which many did not-they sought equal partnerships. They had few or no children, and they expected to continue to work outside the home once they did. Some lived in openly lesbian partnerships with other women. To this generation of early 20th-century women, feminism was not just a social reform movement but a radical new way of life.

Winning Woman Suffrage
Now it is time to return to an issue that first appeared in the mid-19th century: political rights and equality for women. All of these developments-educational, professional, and economic opportunities, the new energies of feminism-contributed to dramatic growth in the woman suffrage movement. By the early 20th century, especially in the United States and Great Britain, the movement had grown greatly. In a few countries-New Zealand, Australia, and Finland-women had even won full voting rights. In the streets of New York and London, every year saw larger public demonstrations of women of all classes (though not of all races) demanding the right to vote.

Most of these women demanding suffrage either did not know about or did not claim the new identity of "feminist." In other words, all feminists were suffragists but not all suffragists were feminists. Many suffragists were more conventional women, relatively content with their family-based lifestyles. They objected only to their lack of citizenship rights and political power.

A minority of suffrage advocates were more radical. In England some women were frustrated at the refusal of the ruling Liberal Party to advocate political equality for women. They began committing acts of civil disobedience, including window breaking. These so-called "militants" or "suffragettes" were arrested for their activities. When they went on hunger strikes in prison, they were force-fed. They remained defiant, however, and won support from outraged public opinion. Suffrage advocates elsewhere followed their model. In Nanjing, China, in 1912 suffrage militants stormed the provisional parliament of the Chinese republic.

The model of militant suffragettism was particularly influential in the United States. The young Americans Alice Paul and Lucy Burns learned of the new style of activism in England. They came back to the United States determined to invigorate the American suffrage movement. Unlike their British sisters, they had the advantage of some political leverage from women themselves. There were already female voters in a handful of western states-Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Utah, and California. Women there had gained their voting rights through changes to their state constitutions.

Starting in 1912, American suffragettes urged western women who could vote to put pressure on President Woodrow Wilson 's Democratic Party. The party then controlled both houses of Congress. The suffragettes wanted the party to support a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. Older suffragists continued to practice more conventional sorts of political pressure. They were not always happy with the dramatic tactics of the militants.

The outbreak of World War I initially interrupted and eventually advanced the cause of woman suffrage. Women took over many of the jobs of men who went to war. Their war work allowed these women to make a strong case for deserving full citizenship. In addition, the collapse of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman empires created a whole raft of new countries, and these countries included women along with men in their political systems. By 1919, about a dozen European countries, including the United Kingdom, had granted some measure of national voting rights to women.

National Archives

In the United States, which entered the war late, militant suffragettes increased their pressure on the federal government. The United States followed the British example by arresting and force-feeding the militant suffragettes starting in 1917. Finally, in 1918, President Wilson agreed to support an amendment to the federal constitution to give women the right to vote. First the House of Representatives and then, in 1919, the Senate passed the measure. It still needed to be ratified (or officially approved) by three-fourths of the states. Over 14 hard-fought months, the legislatures of the required 36 states ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. Finally, on August 26, 1920, after 72 years of women's activism, the right to vote was extended to women in the U.S. Constitution.

There is a mistaken tendency to end the story of woman suffrage movements at this point, after the United States and most European countries had achieved victory. But in truth, during the 1920s women's demands for the vote increased elsewhere, from Mexico to Turkey, Italy to Japan, and Egypt to France. Starting in 1929 with Ecuador and 1932 with Uruguay, Latin American countries especially began to revise their political systems to include women as voters.

Even in the United States, African American women had to begin a long battle against obstacles to exercise their right to vote. Women in the U.S. colonies of Puerto Rico and the Philippines were barred by the courts from taking advantage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Even U.S. women who could vote found it difficult to make their way up the ranks of the two major political parties. By 1930 there were only nine women in the U.S. Congress (all in the House, none in the Senate). Seven of them were widows or other relatives of former Congressmen.

When women won the right to vote

Feminism After Voting Rights Were Won
After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, a small group of feminists in the United States, organized as the National Woman's Party, began to press for another constitutional measure. This measure was called the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA was intended as a blanket measure to prohibit all forms of legal discrimination against women.

In general, however, the progress of feminism was slowed and even reversed after 1920. Movies and advertisements took up the image of the modern, "liberated" woman minus the message of female freedom and dignity. Young women were happy to style themselves as flappers but not as feminists. They used the term feminist with scorn to conjure up images of lonely spinsters in sturdy shoes and unattractive clothes. By 1930, young women were forgetting how much effort had gone into winning them the right to vote.

With the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s, many people lost their jobs. Women's right to work and to earn was seriously challenged. Women workers, especially the growing number of married women workers, frequently took the blame when men could not find work. The women were blamed even though the sexes tended to work in different kinds of jobs. As a sign of the times, in the 1930s many cities and states throughout the United States formally barred married women from public employment, including as teachers.

Yet despite this suspicion of the woman worker, the female labor force continued to grow. When war broke out again, women stepped into the breach and took up the jobs that men had left in order to go fight. In the United States the government encouraged women to carry out their patriotic duty and participate in war production. It promoted the now-famous image of "Rosie the Riveter." Illustrator Norman Rockwell famously portrayed "Rosie" on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post as both sweetly feminine and powerfully masculine. In industries such as steel, aircraft, and automobile production, women performed jobs that they had never done before. However, it was understood that women held these jobs only "for the duration" of the war. When peace came and men returned from overseas, the women were expected to graciously return these jobs to the men who "deserved" them.

Contrary to what many people think, the era of World War II was not the beginning of the woman worker. However, it certainly led to a new level of public awareness about how many women worked outside the home and the wide range of work they could and did do.

In the two decades after World War II ended, there were contradictory developments with respect to U.S. women working outside the home. On the one hand, psychologists and educators, television shows and magazine pages, declared the return of women to home and family. They proclaimed a new era of revived domesticity and femininity. Author Betty Friedan later termed this "the Feminine Mystique." In these years, the word feminism was rarely mentioned and then only to condemn women who led unconventional lives as abnormal, bitter, and neurotic.

But at the same time, the female labor force in the United States continued to grow. It grew so much that by 1950, the average woman worker was no longer a young girl marking time before marriage. Now she was a married woman, working before-and after-she raised her children.

The position of women workers still left much to be desired. The female labor force was in effect segregated (or separated) from the male. Women who worked at full-time jobs earned on average about half of what men did. Many women worked only part-time. Discrimination against women, including sexual harassment, was commonplace in the workforce. Nonetheless, women had come to stay in the labor force, and wage work had come to stay in women's lives and expectations.

The prospects for feminism after World War II were at a low point in the United States. They were more promising, however, when looked at from an international viewpoint. In Europe the heroic participation of women alongside of men in the wartime underground resistance to fascism was much honored. Partly as a result, France and Italy finally gave women voting rights immediately after the war.

In 1945-46, following the founding of the United Nations, a group of women from countries as diverse as India, the Dominican Republic, and Denmark made sure that there was a UN division devoted to women's rights. Even they did not use the term feminism. They preferred instead the more harmless sounding and ambiguous phrase status of women.

In Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, women played important roles in independence movements to free their countries from the status of imperial colony. When India and Israel declared their independence, women joined men as national leaders. In both countries women eventually assumed the role of prime minister- Indira Gandhi in India in 1966 and Golda Meir in Israel in 1969.

First 20 Women Presidents and Prime Ministers

Feminism's Second Wave
The world was changing, however, in the mid-1960s. It changed in numerous ways that encouraged the return of a larger, broader, and more confident feminist movement. A second wave of sexual liberation further spread the use of birth control practices, including "the pill." Young people became more daring and assertive in their personal lives, rejecting conformity to the hard-working suburban lives of their parents. In their colleges and universities, they mounted radical political protests. They protested against concerns ranging from university control over their private lives to the conduct of the U.S. war against Vietnam. In a thriving economy, more and more women, including adult married women, entered the labor force to pursue individual goals and to improve the economic status of their families.

Civil rights and women's rights
Of all the forces for change coming together in the mid-1960s, however, none was more central to the revival of feminist fortunes in the United States than the civil rights movement. A decade earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that public school systems had to allow Black students to attend the same schools as white students. This ruling came in its famous Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. The decision encouraged challenges to other forms of segregation by race in public accommodations and transportation.

Black civil rights demonstrators stood up for their rights. Many were arrested and beaten by local elites, and they began to receive the sympathy of national media and public opinion. The heroic refusal of Rosa Parks to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, began an important protest campaign. It vaulted a young minister, Martin Luther King, Jr., to national prominence ( see Montgomery bus boycott). Another civil rights heroine, Mississippi farmworker Fannie Lou Hamer, risked her life to challenge the practices that prevented the great majority of Southern Black people from voting. College students, white as well as Black, female as well as male, flocked to the South to help with the dangerous work of restoring voting rights to Black people, who had been deprived of them since the late 19th century.

Women's liberation
In this context, feminism came back into the American public eye. Women were inspired by the model of African Americans who had banded together to question long-standing discrimination and widespread racist beliefs. Women activists mounted organized protests against their own subordination as women. They invented a new word, sexism, to signify the similarities between discrimination against people of color (racism) and discrimination against women. They began to insist that legal and social discriminations between men and women must be undone. They protested private clubs that barred women, for example, and newspaper practices that separated job listings as "men's jobs" and "women's jobs."

The first important piece of modern federal legislation against gender discrimination was passed, almost inadvertently, as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This legislation was taken through Congress by President Lyndon Johnson to commemorate slain president John F. Kennedy. Title VII of this law listed, for the first time, "sex" along with "race," "national origin," and "religion" as illegal grounds for employment discrimination.

Historians have named this feminist revival "the second wave." It attracted women of different generations who approached the problems of sexism with various political styles and protest methods. Many professional and working women had long-if quietly-worked against gender discrimination from within existing women's organizations. Such groups included the League of Women Voters, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Council of Negro Women, and the Young Women's Christian Association.

These and other women concentrated on challenging discriminatory laws and pressing the major political parties to respond to their demands. They built on the 1963 federal Equal Pay Act. This act ordered that women and men receive "equal pay for equal work." Woman activists pressed for additional legislation to ban the persisting gender discrimination in job access and pay. They helped to pass a wide range of state laws, which ranged from insuring the right to independent credit records for married women to revising rape laws.

In 1966 a group of veteran women activists and legislators came together out of frustration at the federal government's slow pursuit of progress. Led by author Betty Friedan, they formed the National Organization for Women (NOW). They envisioned NOW as a small activist and lobbying organization modeled on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Contrary to the claims of some people that NOW was limited to middle-class white women, its members included women of color and union activists. One of the organization's founding members was Pauli Murray, an African American lawyer and minister. She devised a legal approach to women's rights based on reinvigorating the Fourteenth Amendment. Starting in 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court began to issue a series of decisions that incorporated this argument to rule that discrimination against women violated constitutional assurances of equal protection before the law. The female lawyer who argued many of these cases, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, went on to become, in 1993, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice herself.

At the same time that NOW was established, another kind of modern American feminist movement emerged, especially among college-age women. Knowing little of the history of feminism, these activists named their movement "women's liberation." Their ambitions were revolutionary. Instead of focusing on legislation, their target was consciousness and culture. Unlike NOW, women's liberation did not have a single organization but emerged about the same time in cities all over the United States in the late 1960s.

This new kind of feminism vaulted into public awareness in 1968. That summer women held a dramatic protest at one of America's most hallowed rituals, the Miss America Pageant. The women's "libbers" (as they were scornfully called) gathered together on the Atlantic City, New Jersey, boardwalk. Showing impressive media savvy before newspaper reporters and photographers, they disposed of girdles, bras, offensive advertisements, and dangerous cosmetics in a large, symbolic trash can. They did not burn anything, despite later legend to the contrary.

While NOW paid special attention to women's work lives, women's liberation gave its greatest attention to issues of sexuality, the family, and reproduction. The slogan of women's liberation was "the personal is political." This meant that women's concerns that had been private, individual, and shameful were better understood and addressed as social, collective, and worthy of public attention. An excellent example is the issue of rape. Women's liberation brought the discussion of rape, previously a subject of embarrassment and shame, out into the public. Some female victims were willing to tell their stories openly and to call for more attention to these crimes among the police and before the courts.

Health issues were also important to women's liberation. A collectively written handbook entitled Our Bodies, Ourselves was first published in 1970. It urged women to learn about their bodies and to advocate for themselves in the medical system. The book became a runaway best seller and was eventually translated from English into dozens of other languages.

Dramatic gender changes
It is difficult to capture for later generations how fast the second wave of feminism came onto the public scene and the range of changes that resulted. This second wave affected American society and culture in many ways in the 1970s and 1980s. Television shows and movies now featured independent women characters-for example, Mary Tyler Moore as a television newswoman. These characters did not always marry or have children. Colleges and universities began to hire women professors where there had been few before. Entirely new departments of "women's studies" sprang up in colleges and universities around the country.

Women in traditionally female jobs such as airline attendant and nurse banded together into labor unions and demanded respect-and better pay-for their work. Women also began to take jobs they had never performed before. These jobs included police officer, firefighter, telephone lineman, airplane pilot, and even rabbi. The numbers of women in medical, law, dental, and veterinary schools rose quickly, sometimes even exceeding those of men. Women came together to object to sexual harassment in their workplaces. Women's athletics received new levels of attention and resources.

Inequality between men and women by no means disappeared. But sexism in all its forms was now a matter for public discussion. Numerous changes, small and large, marked these years as women's standards for respect and recognition rose dramatically.

Two political controversies were particularly important for bringing feminism into the mainstream of American society starting in the 1970s. One was the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. It had been first introduced in 1923 and was now moved forward off the constitutional back burner. The second was making abortion legal. This issue crystallized many of the sexual, reproductive, and familial changes taking place in women's lives.

Ever since the 1920s, organized labor had opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. It argued that equal treatment before the law would deny women workers special legal protections that they had won. However, with the growth and maturation of the female labor force (literally, as the average age of women workers rose), this opposition weakened. Starting in the 1970s, women in the American labor movement urged support for the passage and ratification of a constitutional Equal Rights Amendment. The proposed amendment ordered that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged...on account of sex." NOW also became very involved in this cause.

In response, an aggressive and openly antifeminist campaign was led astutely by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. This campaign stopped the process in 15 state legislatures, two more than the 13 required to defeat constitutional ratification. The battle over the ERA, which lasted into the 1980s, took place along increasingly sharp party lines, with Republicans against the amendment and Democrats for it.

Abortion rights controversies
The issue of abortion also had a major effect on mainstream American politics. In 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case involving a Texas woman who could not end an unwanted pregnancy because state law made abortion a crime. The case was named . In a seven-to-two decision, the Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, named "Jane Roe" for the purposes of protecting her privacy. It ruled against the district attorney of Dallas county, Henry Wade. (In order to take the case to court, the plaintiff, whose real name was Norma McCorvey, had to go through with the pregnancy. She then gave her child up for adoption.)

After the Roe v. Wade decision, many forces gathered to try to undo it. They named their cause "pro-life." The defenders of women's rights to end pregnancies as they wished renamed themselves "pro-choice." The battle between them was not only over a particular reproductive practice, but at a deeper level, over the future development of women's priorities and values. These might be oversimplified as "family" versus "individualism."

The battle over abortion was fought at many levels. Laws limiting the right to abortion were passed by many state legislatures. Medical clinics where abortions were performed were picketed and even firebombed. Women who sought abortions were prayed over and pleaded with to complete their pregnancies. Decades after the decision, U.S. presidential candidates were still evaluated with respect to whether their likely nominees to the Supreme Court would vote to maintain or overturn Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, abortion in the early stages of pregnancy remained legal-though not always available-throughout the United States for nearly 50 years.

In 2022, however, the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision. It did so in its ruling on another case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In the 2022 Dobbs ruling, the Court decided that ending an unwanted pregnancy was not a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Once Roe v. Wade was overturned, many states severely restricted or even banned abortion. At the same time, abortion remained legal in other states. Some people felt strongly that abortion should not be permitted. Around the time of the Dobbs decision, however, polls showed that most Americans thought that abortion should be legal, at least in most cases. The battle over this controversial issue thus continued.

International feminism
The second wave revival of feminism was most pronounced in the United States. However, it was really an international phenomenon. German, French, British, Dutch, Italian, and other women experienced the women's liberation movement of the late 1960s. The international spread of modern feminism was greatly aided by developments at the United Nations. In 1975 a long-hoped-for UN World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City. Representatives of 133 countries came to the conference. Over the next two decades, three more such international conferences were held, in Copenhagen, Denmark (1980), Nairobi, Kenya (1985), and Beijing, China (1995). These last two in particular highlighted the appearance of women's rights activists from Africa and Asia on a world feminist stage that had previously been dominated by Europeans and Americans. In 2004 Kenyan ecofeminist Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work mobilizing African women against the deforestation of their continent.

Late 20th Century and Beyond: Contemporary Feminism
After 1980 feminism did not suffer the kind of interruption and reversals that it had in the years after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. However, enough victories and new challenges had occurred that young women in the late 20th century felt it necessary to declare themselves representatives of a new feminist generation. The so-called "third wave" of feminism was more racially diverse than earlier generations, with much inspiration taken from African American, Asian American, and Latina feminists. In addition, these younger women felt the need to correct the reputation their feminist foremothers had gotten, rightly or wrongly, for being fearful of or against greater sexual freedom.

Feminism also moved more forcefully into the political sphere in the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. By 2008, women accounted for 17 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress. While still quite small, this number represented an almost ninefold increase since 1970. One of the women in Congress, Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York, made an unprecedented, nearly successful run for the presidential nomination of a major party in 2008. In that year women were also governors of eight states, and one of them, Sarah Palin of Alaska, became the second woman (after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984) to receive a major party nomination for vice president. The presidential election of 2008 brought certain feminist issues into vigorous, open public debate, almost nine decades after the achievement of woman suffrage. These issues included sexism in the media, women's struggle to balance private lives and public achievement, and the capacities of women for the nation's highest office.

Feminist issues were again brought to the foreground in the , U.S. presidential election of 2016. In that election, Clinton became the first woman to receive the presidential nomination of a major party. She lost the election, however, to an opponent- Donald Trump -whose frequent controversial remarks included a series of offensive comments about women.

Also in 2016, one hundred years after Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, voters elected the first Latina senator, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. That year voters also elected the second Black woman senator, Kamala Harris of California. She was the first Indian American elected to that office as well. In 2021 Harris became the first woman vice president of the United States.

There is every reason to expect that in the future the feminist reform tradition will continue to strengthen and fail, appear and fade. Feminist activists will likely make achievements and lose ground, as new aspects of women's freedom emerge and become the subject of major social debate and conflict. (For links to biographies of prominent women in a variety of fields, see women's history at a glance.)

Ellen Carol DuBois

Ed.

Additional Reading
DuBois, E.C. Woman Suffrage and Women's Rights (New York Univ. Press, 1998).Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, 15th anniversary ed. (Three Rivers, 2006).Flexner, Eleanor, and Fitzpatrick, Ellen. Century of Struggle: The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States, enlarged ed. (Belknap, 1996).Freedman, E.B. No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women (Ballantine, 2003).Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Feminist Consciousness from the Middle Ages to 1870 (Oxford Univ. Press, 1994).Rosen, Ruth. The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America, rev. and updated ed. (Penguin, 2007).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Introduction Feminism is the belief in the social, economic, and political equality of women and men. Feminists are committed to activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. The term feminism also suggests seeking broader vistas for women. It suggests the removal of false and constraining gender requirements-in a word the pursuit of "freedom" for women.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Feminism is a social and political movement. Feminism is about changing the way that people see male and female rights, and campaigning for equal ones. Somebody who follows feminism is called a feminist.

There are many different types of feminism:

Some feminists believe that all genders should always be treated in exactly the same way. They think that people should not think that a person's gender is important. Often these feminists believe that the traditional idea that women stay at home and look after children is wrong and that men and women should share this job equally.

Some feminists believe that there are important differences between men and women. However, they believe that these differences should not lead to any unfair treatment of women by men. For example, they might say that some women do want to stay at home and look after children; however, they must not be forced to do this and must be paid to do this, either by a husband or by the government, as child caring is a full time job.

There are also many other types of feminism.

History of feminism

Women in politics

There have been women who have been involved in politics throughout history.

Historical

Esther, Lady Godiva, Queen Elizabeth, Catherine the Great, and Joan of Arc.

Modern times

Starting in 1960, there have been many women elected to high positions of power, such as prime minister. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first, followed by Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Elisabeth Domitien and Margaret Thatcher. Dame Eugenia Charles lasted nearly 15 years in the post, a record.

General history

Feminism started with the idea that human rights should be given to women. This idea was put forward by some philosophers in the 18th and 19th centuries such as Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill. Later feminists in the early 20th century also said that women should be allowed to vote in a democracy. Many women felt very strongly that they should be allowed to vote and there were many protests. These women were called Suffragettes. This is because they were fighting for Universal suffrage which means everybody is able to vote. The Suffragettes staged many protests for their rights. After women received the vote, feminism worked to make all of society more equal for women.

Not all female politicians have been welcomed by feminists, with Margaret Thatcher, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann being clear examples.

There are reasons why some people do not like feminism:

Some people do not like feminism because they think that women are already equal or more important in the law. Anti-feminists often say that society is also not equal for men and that women have more rights in child custody and divorce.

Some say that feminism wants women to be more important than men.

Some argue that women and men have simple biological differences, and thus cannot be treated in the same way. Some examples are: the treatment and role of women in the military and pregnancy only happens to women.

Some people do not like feminism because it wants to change society and it could make men have less power.

Feminism could give women special rights that would then hurt other groups and their rights. An example would be a fear that women would take away jobs normally done by men.

Images for kids

International Women's Strike, Paraná, Argentina, 2019

Octavia Butler, award-winning feminist science fiction author

Cmdr. Adrienne Simmons speaking at the 2008 ceremony for the only women's mosque in Khost City, a symbol of progress for growing women's rights in the Pashtun belt

Feminist suffrage parade, New York City, 1912

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Feminism is a social and political movement. Feminism is about changing the way that people see male and female rights, and campaigning for equal ones. Somebody who follows feminism is called a feminist. There are many different types of feminism: Some feminists believe that all genders should always be treated in exactly the same way.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The word "feminist" gets thrown around a lot, but do you really understand what it means to be one? And do you have an idea of why and how you'd want your kids-of all genders-to be raised with feminist ideals?

Check out the explainer below for the true meaning of feminism, kid-friendly ways to introduce it, and ideas for fitting feminism into your busy family routine. Because feminism is for everyone!

What does it mean to be a feminist?

There are lots of myths and inaccurate stereotypes attached to feminism. Like, have you ever read or heard someone say that feminists hate men? Or that feminism means discriminating against men? That's just not true! But it's something most of us have heard, and if your kids haven't been exposed to those false ideas yet, they will be eventually.

But you can help them understand what feminism really means and how important it is-for people of all genders. Here's how to start...
You can tell your kids:

"A feminist is anyone who's committed to equal rights for all genders. A feminist can be a man or a woman, a political activist advocating for women's rights, or someone who's simply choosing to uplift women and girls in their everyday life."

"The reason that feminism is usually associated with women's rights and 'girl power' is that women and girls have historically had much less social, political, and economic power than men and boys."

There are still a lot of unfair gender norms everywhere around us-talk about them with your kids so they can learn to recognize them. Just a few examples:

Girls and women usually get praised or criticized for their appearance more than boys and men do.

Women often do more unpaid childcare and housework, even in cases where their male partners have more free time for it.

Most victims of gender-based violence are women and trans people.

All 46 U.S. presidents have been men, and 48 of the 49 vice presidents have been men.

Why raise feminist kids?

Anyone who wants more opportunities and a more just society for future generations should be trying to raise feminist kids.

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote that "to dream about and plan for a different world...this is how we start: We must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently."

No matter your child's gender, you probably want them to grow up with feminist values, to be someone who:

Respects, empathizes, and listens to people of any gender

Doesn't (consciously or unconsciously) perpetuate harmful trends like violence against women and trans people

Knows how to stand up for someone (including themselves) who is being treated unfairly

Tips for raising feminist kids:

Acknowledge invisible and emotional labor: When someone (often female) does a task that's easy to take for granted-like organizing a playdate, making lunch, or restocking the toiletries-point that out to your child and discuss ways to thank or support that person.

Don't ignore sexist comments: If you or your child sees or hears something that is disrespectful to women or trans people, don't brush it off-discuss it! Ask questions like, "Do you think they would have said that to a boy?" and "How should we respond if that happens again?"

Consciously listen and learn from women and trans people: Actively seek out books, shows, videos, movies, and social media accounts that are not written by cisgender men, since their voices already dominate much of society. Kids absorb important values through the media you consume as a family.

Find ways to support people who have less social power: Lift up voices of marginalized folks by making sure they get heard at meetings and in classrooms. If you witness someone being ignored or pushed aside, you can speak up and say: "Hold on, I want to hear more about X's idea."

See what you can change in your own household: Is there a male family member who could take more responsibility for childcare or household tasks? Do you need to show more support for a boy's interest in baking or a girl's interest in building? Have you taken to calling all of the stuffed animals and inanimate objects in the house "he"?

Get involved in the community: Look for local organizations and campaigns that support the rights and needs of low-income women and/or LGBTQ folks, and see how your family can participate through fundraisers, events, volunteering, donations, and more.

Joanna Eng is a freelance writer and editor, Lambda Literary Fellow, and co-founder of Dandelions, a parenting and social justice newsletter. She lives with her wife and child in the New York City area, where she is constantly seeking out slivers of nature. You can find her on Twitter @joannamengland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What does it mean to be a feminist? An explainer for kids - ParentsTogether

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The word "feminist" gets thrown around a lot, but do you really understand what it means to be one? And do you have an idea of why and how you'd want your kids-of all genders-to be raised with feminist ideals?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(born 1979). American actress, comedian, and writer Mindy Kaling was known for her offbeat humor. She became popular for the television show The Mindy Project (2012–17),…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Actress, writer and comedian Mindy Kaling has her hands full as a mother of two kids.

Since the surprise announcement of her first pregnancy in 2017, Kaling, who has never revealed the identity of the father of her children, has been busy keeping up with her little ones. However, she does have help raising daughter Katherine Swati, 5, and son Spencer Avu, 2, telling PEOPLE in 2021 that "it absolutely takes a village." That village includes her nanny, her father Avu, and none other than Reese Witherspoon, whom Kaling has lauded as "a great source of parenting advice."

In her 2020 essay collection, Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes), Kaling noted how her relationship with her mother, who passed away in 2012, influenced how she chose to raise Katherine and Spencer. "I think that it finally dawned on me that I have a child who will never know her grandmother, the person who was the closest to me in the world," she wrote. "I realized the one thing that would bridge all three of our lives was our faith, this intangible thing that had been passed on to me and that I would now pass on to my daughter."

For more on Mindy Kaling, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

Since their births, Kaling has kept both Katherine and Spencer's faces out of the spotlight. "I feel like I might as well wait until they get old enough so they can tell me if they want to be part of my social media or not," Kaling told PEOPLE exclusively. However, that doesn't mean that actually sticking to her plan is easy. "I'm like any parent where I'm proud of the things they do," she explained. "I think they're so cute, and of course, I want other people to see it."

In October 2022, just ahead of Halloween, Kaling introduced her two kiddos to Michael Jackson's iconic "Thriller" music video. Katherine and Spencer weren't scared of the zombies but rather intrigued by the choreography. Kaling captured the siblings dancing in front of the TV and shared the video on Instagram for her followers to gush over.

There's one show that Kaling's kids won't be watching anytime soon: The Office.

" That show is so inappropriate now," she said with a laugh on Good Morning America. "I think when they're teenagers they'll probably want to. Seems like a 15-year-old boy is the biggest fan of The Office now."

Learn all about Katherine and Spencer below.

Katherine Swati Kaling, 5

Kaling welcomed daughter Katherine Swati on Dec. 15, 2017, in Los Angeles. Katherine, who goes by the nickname Kit, was named after American actress Katherine Hepburn and Kaling's late mother, Swati, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2012.

Though Kaling likes to keep details of her children's lives private, she has shared some details about Kit's playful personality. "I didn't know how much bribery there was to being a parent," she joked in a 2019 appearance on The Ellen Show. "Everytime I see her, she's like Tony Soprano. She's like in the mob, she's smart."

Later, the actress noted that she hasn't seen much of herself in her daughter's personality. "I was a very shy, diffident kid who was really suspicious of people and new situations," she told PEOPLE. "And she is not at all. She's very chatty," adding that Kit had no problem trick-or-treating at strangers' houses on Halloween.

Kaling also shared that Kit "loves physical activity," and is "a real tomboy." In one adorable Instagram post, Kaling shared that Kit refused to take off her Kobe Bryant jersey for ballet class, leading her to rock the jersey over her tutu and tights. "I couldn't be happier with her being into Kobe and the Lakers as a big Lakers fan myself," Kaling told PEOPLE exclusively.

Kit has also taken to the role of big sis to her younger brother Spencer, but Kaling admitted it took some time for her to adjust.

"The 4-year-old is a little bit of a tattle tale," the actress said during an appearance on Today. "I'm excited because she was a little indifferent to her younger brother and now he's really useful to her because she can be like, 'Mom, he ate a pretzel off the floor. Get him in trouble!' "

"I'm like, 'It's okay. We don't have to narc on our little brother. He's not hurting anyone that he's eating the pretzel off the floor,' " Kaling joked.

Aside from her funny mom, Kit has the coolest godfather ever in Kaling's costar and best friend B.J. Novak, who helps create family traditions for Kaling and her children by dressing up as Santa Claus every Christmas.

And while fans have long speculated that Novak could be the father of Kaling's children, the actress told Marie Claire in August 2022 that the speculation "doesn't bother" her.

"He's the godparent to both my kids - and they have such a great relationship - and so far [the rumors haven't] affected my happiness at all, it hasn't affected my kids or BJ," she shared.

Novak has shown that he's a dedicated godfather. On Aug. 28, 2022, he joined Kaling and Kit on a visit to the Griffith Observatory in L.A. Kit, who wore black pajama pants adorned with yellow stars and crescent moons, came dressed for the occasion.

Kaling posted a few photos on Instagram of the trio's late-night outing. One photo showed Novak holding his goddaughter as she pointed to something in the sky.

"My four year old had the best night of her life at our star party + Saturn spotting," The Mindy Project star captioned the image carousel. "Thank you @bjnovak for sharing your passion for astronomy."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaling was able to hide her entire second pregnancy. In an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in October 2020, she made the surprise announcement that she had given birth to a boy, Spencer Avu, in Los Angeles a month earlier on Sept. 3. Spencer, who occasionally goes by the nickname Spike, was named after actor Spencer Tracy and Kaling's father, Avu, whom the actress has called "the hero of my family."

"I had Spencer during Covid and it was a strange isolated time, but the instant I saw him I knew he would make everything better," Kaling shared in a sweet Instagram post for Spencer's first birthday. "If you happen to make eye contact with Spencer, he lights up like you are old war buddies and he makes a beeline to you."

In PEOPLE's 2022 Beautiful Issue, Kaling opened up about Spencer's budding personality. "He's so full of joy and he's not neurotic," she said. "He's not anxious at all. He's just a boy who loves trucks and tires."

Kaling added that a classic childhood game often intentionally crashes his toy cars and trucks. "My son will take one of his trucks and he'll just like throw it across the room or hit someone in the head with it," she explained. "It doesn't hurt and he'll go, 'Uh oh,' like it was a mistake and not something he did on purpose."

In September 2022, Kaling celebrated her son Spencer's second birthday with a sweet video on Instagram in which the toddler stands up in his crib and waves and says "Hi" to his shadow on the wall.

"Happy 2nd birthday to my son Spencer, who is the human personification of a hug," Kaling wrote next to the video. "I can't describe the intense joy it is to be your mom. You remind this old cynical lady that the world is full of wonder, and fun can be found in the most mundane places. Here Spencer is greeting his friend, the morning shadow in his crib."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mindy Kaling's 2 Kids: Everything She's Said About Parenting

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Actress, writer and comedian Mindy Kaling has her hands full as a mother of two kids. Since the surprise announcement of her first pregnancy in 2017, Kaling, who has never revealed the identity of the father of her children, has been busy keeping up with her little ones.