10 Great moments in African-American history 2009 (special series): Part 3

Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage. (AP photo)

To enjoy part 1 of Aberjhani’s 10 Great Moments in African-American History 2009 please click here . Part three of the countdown starts below:

NUMBER 6: Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Playwright Lynn Nottage became only the second African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama when she received it May 28, 2009, for her play Ruined. The first African-American woman to win the prize was Suzan-Lori Parks for Topdog/Underdog in 2002.

The official Columbia University announcement of the Pulitzer described Ruined as, “a searing drama set in chaotic Congo that compels audiences to face the horror of wartime rape and brutality while still finding affirmation of life and hope amid hopelessness.”

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Nottage received her B.A. degree from Brown University in 1986 and an M.F.A. in playwriting at the Yale School of Drama in 1989. She spent almost half a decade as a press officer for Amnesty International before beginning to emerge in the 1990s as a full-time playwright. Her early titles included Poof! and Crumbs from the Table of Joy, which was produced by the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.

Her 2003 drama, Intimate Apparel, which examined the life of an African-African seamstress in the early 1900s, picked up awards for New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, the Francesca Primus Prize and the Steinberg Award. Actress Viola Davis, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2009, won a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Intimate Apparel.

Speaking with the History Makers about Ruined, Nottage said, "I wanted to tell the story of these women and the war in the Congo and I couldn't find anything about them in the newspapers or in the library, so I felt I had to get on a plane and go to Africa and find the story myself. I felt there was a complete absence in the media of their narrative. It's very different now, but when I went in 2004 that was definitely the case."

NUMBER 5: Oprah Winfrey Announces End of an Era

When renowned CBS anchorman and television news pioneer Walter Cronkite died July 17, those commenting on his life often noted that he had once been known as “the most trusted man in America.” For millions across the globe in the early twenty-first century, media empress Oprah Winfrey is one of the most trusted women in the United States. It was for that reason that reason that the world’s collective attention focused on her November 20, 2009, when she announced that The Oprah Winfrey Show would end at the close of its twenty-fifth year, September 9, 2011.

“These years with you have enriched my life beyond all measure,” Winfrey told her audience. She added: “I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it’s time to say good-bye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and it feels right in my sprit. It’s the perfect number––the exact right time.”

An estimated 42 million viewers watch Winfrey’s show every week in the United States alone; it is syndicated to 145 countries. Since launching her first live show September 8, 1986, Winfrey’s enterprises have expanded to include The Oprah Winfrey Network, a Sirius XM Radio channel, Oprah.com, Oprah’s Angel Network, a magazine, play productions on Broadway, the production of individual films and specials for multiple networks, and the production of major movies for worldwide theatrical release. Her endeavors reportedly have earned her a net worth of $2.5 billion, making Winfrey one of two acknowledged African-American billionaires. (The other is Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Televison, whom Forbes Magazine acknowledged in 2001 as the first African-American to attain billionaire status.)

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey. (AP photo)

Winfrey’s influence has reached beyond television and film to create a major impact on the American tradition of charitable philanthropy and, with her brand name book club, on the publishing industry in particular. She is currently enjoying a wave of success as the executive director of the movie Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. It was co-produced with fellow media tycoon Perry Tyler.

Peers and fans have acknowledged Winfrey’s exceptional accomplishments over the years with 48 Daytime Emmy Awards, 4 Peoples’ Choice Awards, 2 PGA Awards, and numerous other honors.

NUMBER 4: Appointment of Attorney General Eric Holder

New York City native Eric Holder became the first African-American U.S. Attorney General after he was appointed to the office by President Barack Obama and sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on February 3, 2009.

Attorney General Eric Holder. (AP photo by Andrieski)

Among the concerns addressed by Attorney General Holder since taking office have been issues of health care fraud, the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, and prison reform. During a recent Town Hall at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, he addressed both the impact of incarceration on children and better ways that the U.S. criminal justice system might better assist fathers going back into communities. After pointing out that more than 500,000 African-American children have fathers who are in prison, he noted the following:

“…Children of incarcerated parents often struggle with anxiety, depression, learning problems, and aggression, undermining their own chances of future success. We know that in many cases maintaining relationships with their parents during incarceration can improve the lives of children, and yet too often our policies have failed to support these relationships.”

He further pointed out that in 2009, “The Department of Justice awarded $28 million under the Second Chance Act for reentry programs. These programs include grants to fifteen states that will help formerly incarcerated people successfully transition back into their communities.”

Holder graduated from Columbia Law School in 1976. He then moved to Washington and joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program and President William Clinton named him as the Deputy Attorney General in 1997. Prior to assuming the office of Attorney General, he was a litigation partner in Washington, D.C., with Covington & Burling LLP.

NEXT: 10 Great Moments in African-American History 2009 concludes with the top 3 in the final part 4.

by Aberjhani
National African-American Art Examiner
author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

More Great Moments and People of 2009: