Ladies of Distinction

September January February
L.O.D. ICON For The Month of September Ms. Nikki Giovanni Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Ohio. In 1960, she entered Fisk University, where she worked with the school's Writer's Workshop and edited the literary magazine. After receiving her bachelor of arts degree, she organized the Black Arts Festival in Cincinnati and then entered graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. In her first two collections, Black Feeling, Black Talk (1968) and Black Judgement (1969), Giovanni reflects on the African-American identity. Recently, she has published Blues For All the Changes: New Poems (William Morrow & Company, 1999), Love Poems (1997) and Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni (1996). Her honors include the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998, and the Langston Hughes award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996. Several magazines have named Giovanni Woman of the Year, including Essence, Mademoiselle, and Ladies Home Journal. She is currently Professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies at Virginia Tech. Ladies of Distinction honors Ms. Giovanni for her continued support and help in our generations struggles against violence, sexuality, and abuse. She is a sensational woman truly an Icon.
L.O.D. ICON For The Month of January Ms. Condoleezza Rice CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT Born in Birmingham, Ala., a bastion of the segregated South, she is now the first woman in American history to hold the job of national security advisor to the president. She leads the White House's largest policy staff. An expert in Russian history and fluent in the language, she is no stranger to power. In the early 1990s she served as the National Security Council's senior director of Soviet and East European affairs for the elder President Bush. In 1993, she became the youngest, the first female and the first Black provost at Stanford University. She is the co-author of two books and is a sports and fitness enthusiast. Rice was able to read music before she could read words. At age 15, she enrolled in the University of Denver to prepare for a career as a concert pianist. But she abandoned her musical aspirations when she realized she would never be good enough, she says. She was a Democrat until 1982, when she became a Republican. Nicknamed Condi, her first name is derived from an Italian musical term that means to perform "with sweetness." She says her parents convinced her that despite the segregated South, she could achieve. "Our parents really did have us convinced that [even though I] couldn't have a hamburger at Woolworth's, [I] could be president of the United States," she has said.
L.O.D. ICON For The Month of February Ms. Nancy Pelosi NANCY PELOSI, DEMOCRATIC LEADER OF CALIFORNIA Nancy Pelosi Shatters Glass Ceiling in U.S. Congress: Feminists Celebrate Nationwide "As one of the House's strongest feminist leaders, Rep. Pelosi has advocated for women's issues across the board -- abortion rights, health care, economic justice, international human rights, lesbian and gay rights and stopping violence against women. And that's just mentioning a few," Gandy said. "Rep. Pelosi was one of the ten courageous House women who demanded in a Senate Hearing that Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) relinquish his hold on the passage of CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). Sen. Helms threw them out of the hearing, but they have continued their demands for justice."
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