It’s always a wonderful time to celebrate great women who have achieved great things in life and who help inspire other ladies to continue to excel and live out their potential. Long before supermodels, Marilyn Monroe and even Kim Kardashian, there was a woman with talent, class and skills to pay the bills.

The women to be loved, honored and adored is Dorothy Dandridge.

In early and mid 1900 it was not common to have African Americans in the entertainment industry. Dorothy made history when she was nominated as the first African- American woman to receive a nomination for best actress in the Academy Award for her performance in the film Carmen Jones in 1954.

Born in Cleveland Ohio on 9th November 1922 she was an avid actor, singer and dancer and performed at the Apollo theater and Cotton club as a vocalist.

While growing up, Dorothy faced many challenges such as being raised by a single mother since the parents separated before Dorothy was born.

Dorothy’s career began at a quite tender age and it was her mother who pushed her into the entertainment industry. In 1930 Dorothy moved to Los Angles, California and it is here that they started with a music trio made up of Dorothy, Etta Jones and her sister Vivian.

As we celebrate women’s history month let us not forget to celebrate this hero who opened up opportunities for many African- American women and women of color in general in the entertainment industry.