Influential People: Lena Horne and Salma Hayek
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an African American woman famous as an actress, singer, dancer, and civil rights activist. Starting her career as a nightclub performer, Horne moved to Hollywood where she obtained small roles in numerous movies. As a result of her political activism, Horne was blacklisted and therefore she could not work in Hollywood further. Subsequently, she performed in nightclubs and on television before starring in a one-woman show, ‘Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music’.
Horne was also prominent for her active involvement in the Civil Rights movement. She worked actively against racial segregation demanding the enforcement of equal rights in the country. The black troops were greatly discriminated during the time of the World War II and they were not allowed to sit in front White servicemen. According to Horne’s Kennedy Centre biography, she refused to perform “for segregated audiences or for groups in which German POWs were seated in front of African American servicemen” (cited in Michael & C, 2013, p.179).In many occasions during her performance, Horne walked off the stage and performed near African Americans who had not been allowed to sit in the front seats (Lindop, 2009, p.104).Throughout her life, Horne fought against the evil of racial discrimination in the entertainment industry. In late 1940s, Horne filed lawsuits against many theatres and restaurants for racial segregation (Eggenberger, 1995, p.180). During the same period, she started working in the liberal organization called Progressive Citizens of America with Paul Robeson. Horne performed in many rallies for civil rights in the 1960s and participated in the March On Washington organized in 1963. In addition, she strongly backed the activities of the National Council for Negro Women. I chose Lena Horne for this paper because she is one of a few persons who fought against racial discrimination in the entertainment industry. Since Horne was a person who proved her excellence in various fields such as dancing, singing, and acting, and civil rights activism, there are ample reasons to believe that she has been an influential personality.
Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek is a Mexican-American (Hispanic American) film actress who is also famous in the fields of production and modelling. She began her career by starring in the telenovela Teresa, and later in 1991 Hayek moved to Hollywood where she could work for a number of popular movies. During her lifetime, Hayek won a number of awards including daytime Emmy Award for outstanding direction.
Salma Hayek is a female activist fighting for the rights of women. According to Hayek, women is abused and disrespected in many parts of the world and hence an organized movement is vital to change the current gender scenario. She has taken intense efforts to achieve equal pay for women as she believes that gender inequality reaches its peak when it comes to salaries. She has delivered a number of inspirational speeches that foster women to come to the mainstream of the society and to attain their rights. Together with Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Salma Hayek is a co-founder of the global women empowerment project ‘Chime for Change’, which aims to unite and strengthen the voices speaking in favour of women and girls around the globe (Chime for Change website).This global campaign has been successful in promoting projects that focus specifically on education, health, and justice of females (‘Chime for Change 2015’).She responds strongly to incidents where women are abused and victimized by their men counterparts. The greatness of Hayek is that she devotes a significant percent of her time and money for women empowerment efforts when she has all favourable situations to lead a luxury life enjoying the security of a stunning profession. When most of the celebrities simply work for their financial and professional gains today, Hayek finds pleasure in speaking out for disadvantaged girls and women. It makes Hayek different from other celebrities, and the same reason persuaded me to choose her for this particular study.
References
Chime for Change. Official Website. Retrieved from http://www.chimeforchange.org/about-us/
‘Chime for Change 2015’. YouTube Video. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBjigpKaGEk
Eggenberger, D. (1995). Encyclopedia of world biography: 20th century supplement. US: J. Heraty.
Lindop, E. (2009). America in the 1940s. US: Twenty-First Century Books.
