In another historic moment

In another historic moment at the Oscars on Sunday, a woman won the Best Director category for the first time; Katherine Bigelow won for her Iraq War movie, The Hurt Locker, over her ex-husband James Cameron. Now, many critics had pegged Cameron to win, but you know there was a contingent of viewers who were hoping the award would go to Lee Daniels for Precious. Besides, you know the Academy voted for Hillary. The studio has not yet announced the DVD release date.

M'onique's Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress was the highlight of the evening

Let's take a look at how she got to where she is today:

Attendees at the Essence luncheon reflect on the significance of the Oscars for women of color

Washington D.C. legalizes same-sex marriage

Same-sex couples can start applying for marriage licenses today in the District of Columbia.  The marriage bureau expects as many as 200 additional couples to line up for marriage applications today; there is already a line forming outside the building, which does not open for another five minutes. The same-sex marriage law was introduced in the 13-member D.C. Council in October and had almost unanimous support from the beginning. The bill passed and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed it in December.  The law had to undergo a congressional review period that expired Tuesday paving the way for the District to begin accepting applications this morning.  Couples who apply today will have to wait until March 9th to have their ceremony due to a mandatory waiting period.  D.C. is only the sixth place in the country where same-sex marriages can be legally performed; the other are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

source

NAACP elects younges leader ever

This brother won a gold medal

In a repeat of his gold medal-winning performance in Turin four years ago, Olympic speed skater, Shani Davis, won gold again in the 1000 meter race yesterday in Vancouver with a time of 1 minute 8.94 seconds.  He edged out the competition by 0.18 seconds by pumping his arms and summoning his last reserves of energy to cross the finish line. 
“It doesn’t matter what it looks like, just as long as you get across the line as quick as you could,” he said with a laugh.

Davis is the first skater to win that event twice at the Olympic Winter Games.  He is was the first African American to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games when he won his first gold four years ago at the games in Turin, Italy; he is also only the third American male to win more than one speed skating gold medal.

Source

Costa Rica elected it's first female president

Costa Rica elected its first female president last night, with the ruling National Liberation Party claimed a historic victory.  Laura Chinchilla garnered 46.8% of the vote with 84% of the polling locations reporting.
"I want to thank the pioneering women who years ago opened the doors of politics in Costa Rica," Laura Chinchilla said Sunday to flag-waving supporters in the capital, San Jose. "My government will be open to all Costa Ricans of good faith."

Source

100 Black History Makers of Today

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I know this is late, but it is Black History Month.

Darius Rucker has unprecedented win at CMA awards

Hootie and the Blowfish front man Darius Rucker celebrated a historic win at the Country Music Association Awards show in Nashville, Tennessee Wednesday night. Rucker became the first African-American ever to win the best new artist of the year award; he joins Charley Pride as the only African-Americans ever to win major individual awards at the awards show.

Rucker took the stage while the audience cheered and roared, “What a year! First of all, to the fans, thank y’all for accepting me,” the crowed. “And I think most importantly, to country radio, you took a chance on a pop singer from Charleston, S.C. Thank you so much for that!”

Wise Latina Over Here...

Sonia Sotomayor started her first day as Supreme Court Judge on Tuesday.

Jay-Z's Rocawear-Limited Edition Arthur Ashe T-Shirt

...for the US OPEN.... if you don't know who Arthur Ashe is then shame on you. Arthur Ashe was the first African-American male (we were Black back then) to win a Grand Slam tennis title. He was a civil rights activist and an urban health care advocate. The stadium in NYC where the US Open is held is named after him. For more information click here

WMS/ws