Celebrating Black Women: Powerful Equalizers

A true trailblazer in the entertainment industry, Queen Latifah has transitioned from rapper to actor to producer to entrepreneur—all while emphasizing the importance of women having a seat at the table. From her Grammy Award-winning single, “U.N.I.T.Y.” that paved the way for female rappers to her barrier-breaking work as an actor to the 2015 Emmy-winning biopic, ‘Bessie,’ which she not only starred in, but also executive produced. Pushing the boundaries of what is possible for a Black woman in this business, Queen Latifah is shattering all stereotypes by stepping into the lead role, which was originally played by a man, in ‘The Equalizer’ on CBS. Her character, Robyn McCall is a retired intelligence agent, a mom, and a Black woman, she fights to make things better, and equal, for everyone around her, just like the Queen herself. To see how she continues her reign as a great equalizer in this new role, watch ‘The Equalizer’ on CBS Sundays at 8/7c.

Forging her own path in the music industry, marked by years of hard work, perseverance and determination, Heather Lowery is the founder of #FemmeItForward. In a joint venture with Live Nation, this multi-format, female-led concert series provides platforms and opportunities for women in live music, plus artists in hip-hop and R&B with a portion of ticket sales going to charities that support women in music, education, career development, empowerment, homelessness, domestic abuse and incarceration. Heather also just launched a new program for 2021, Next Gen Femme. This mentorship program aims to accelerate career opportunities and the trajectory of young women of color by pairing promising talent with women at the forefront of their fields. And with more than 100 leading industry executives signed on as mentors, this is a pivotal moment for women everywhere.

After years of experimenting with the best-of-the-best and still seeing a void in the industry for products that performed across all skin types and tones, Rihanna (on the cover of this month’s ESSENCE!) was inspired to create Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin. She then took it a step further to create Savage X Fenty, a lingerie line that celebrates fearlessness, confidence and inclusivity. It empowers any person of all genders and body types to look good, feel good and have fun doing it. And finally, she has the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. This foundation supports and funds groundbreaking and effective education, health and emergency response programs around the world. In the last year, they have partnered with other organizations to collectively raise $36+ Million in funds to fight Covid-19 across 14+ countries. With the voices of Rihanna and her fans, CLF also engages in global advocacy with the goal of improving the quality of life for young people everywhere.

Seeing that less than 10% of all venture capital deals go to women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community, Arlan Hamilton set out to change that. So, she created a fund that invests in ” underrepresented founders,” known as, Backstage Capital. While others saw this as a pipeline problem, Backstage Capital viewed this as the biggest opportunity and has invested in more than 150 companies led by underrepresented founders. And in May 2020, Arlan took her initiative a step further by releasing her first book, It’s About Damn Time, which is based on her personal journey into entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett is an expert on the front lines of the creation of the Covid-19 vaccine. A key player in developing the science that will help end the pandemic, she is one of the National Institutes of Health’s leading scientists and part of the team working with Moderna, the pharmaceutical company that has developed one of the two vaccine that has shown to be more than 90% effective. Her interest in science started from an early age, but she never knew the difference she would make. And now, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, has credited her work saying that the vaccine you are going to be taking was developed by an African American woman and that is just a fact.