Newark native/rapper Queen Latifah is set to receive Harvard’s prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois award for her contributions to black culture.
What We Know:
- USA Today reports that Dana Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, will receive the W.E.B. Du Bois medal for her taking part in making what black culture is today: proud, aware, and beautiful. Owens originally got her start in the entertainment industry when she signed a record deal with Tommy Boy Records in 1989. Her debut album, All Hail the Queen spawned the hit single, “Ladies First”.
- Thirty years later, one could say that Owens is a well-known name throughout the music, TV, and film industry, as well as in black homes. From 1993 to 1998, Owens starred as Khadijah James in the FOX sitcom, Living Single. She also wrote and performed the theme song.
- Not only has Owens had memorable hits like “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.”, but she also once had her own talk show entitled The Queen Latifah Show. Owens has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as, a Grammy award and an Emmy.
- Owens will receive the W.E.B. Du Bois medal along with six other recipients on Tuesday, October 22. The other recipients include Chairman/Chief Executive of Vista Equity Partners Robert Smith, poet/educator Elizabeth Alexander, artist Kerry James Marshall, poet Rita Dove, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television Sheila Johnson and Secretary of Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Burch III.
- The medal is named for civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois who was the first black student to receive a doctorate from Harvard in 1895. Du Bois was also an editor, writer, and scholar.
Congratulations to the Queen herself!
