Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali!
Happy birthday to The Greatest, Louisville native boxer Muhammad Ali!
Tomorrow marks the 72nd birthday of one of the most fascinating, charismatic, inspiring, and beloved figures in modern sports. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in Louisville on January 17, 1942.
As a boxer, Ali connected with legions of fans due not only to his amazing feats in the ring (he remains the only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion) but also his famous brand of self-promotion. He became known as The Louisville Lip due to enduring statements like "I am the Greatest" and "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Of course, his talent in the ring backed up his statements. Ali later said, "At home, I am a nice guy, but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”
Nobody ever mistook Ali for being humble. Throughout the Sixties and Seventies, he was known not only for his boxing successes and outlandish statements, but also for his political and cultural stances. His religious and social objections to the Vietnam War as well as his candor regarding race and political issues made him a counterculture icon. Ali wasn't just a boxer, he was the first true "Sports Personality", establishing the groundwork for modern sports culture. As the writer Joyce Carol Oates said in her work "On Boxing", Ali was one of the few athletes in any sport to "define the terms of his public reputation." Ali's reputation extended far beyond the realm of sports; he is a seminal figure in modern African-American culture, with popularity that has racial lines for decades.
Upon his retirement from boxing, Ali has devoted his time and resources to humanitarian causes and Parkinson's Disease research. He is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor, Amnesty International's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the National Constitution Center Liberty Medal.
Louisville's Muhammad Ali Center, established by The Champ and his wife Lonnie, is an education center and museum devoted to the six principles established by Ali:
- Confidence: Belief in oneself, one's abilities, and one's future.
- Conviction: A firm belief that gives one the courage to stand behind that belief, despite pressure to do otherwise.
- Dedication: The act of devoting all of one's energy, effort, and abilities to a certain task.
- Giving: To present voluntarily without expecting something in return.
- Respect: Esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of, oneself and others.
- Spirituality: A sense of awe, reverence, and inner peace inspired by a connection to all of creation and/or that which is greater than oneself.
The Ali Center is celebrating Muhammad Ali's 72nd birthday on Friday with a special free screening of the film "The Trials of Muhammad Ali" at 6 p.m. All day at the Center. Visitors can create birthday cards for The Champ that day, and those who can't attend the festivities are asked to use the Twitter hashtag #HBDMuhammadAli.
From all of us at HerKentucky, Happy Birthday, Muhammad! You'll always be The Greatest to us!
The HerKentucky Interview with Adrienne Jones, Founder of coveRumps
You know when you see something that is so brilliant you wonder why you didn't think of it? That's exactly what happened when I saw coveRumps by Kentuckian Adrienne Jones. They literally cover your rump when you want to layer or get extra length from your top. They're super cute and can be worn so many ways from workout to weekend. Check out our interview with Adrienne below, and then enter to win your own coveRumps!
HK: Tell us a little bit about yourself? Are you native Kentuckian?
AJ: I am a native Kentuckian, born in Pineville. I currently reside in Lexington where I moved after graduating from Eastern Kentucky University. I am a wife and mother to two beautiful daughters. As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to have a career in the fashion industry and own my own business. I still can’t believe I’m finally doing both & I couldn’t be happier.
HK: What exactly is a coveRump? What inspired you to create them?
AJ: A coveRump is a layering piece for women. I like to refer to it as an accessory, or ASS-essory! It functions in so many great ways, not only by helping women achieve a layered look without all the bulk, but also provides just the right amount of coverage to the rump area when wearing leggings or workout pants with tops that are a little too short. coveRumps complete an outfit, by adding dimension and color. They are fun, fashionable and functional! I was inspired to design coveRumps from a need of my own. I was tired of tunics and wanted to wear shirts with my leggings, but found them to be just too short, making me feel self-conscious and too exposed. I just knew there had to be a product already on the market, but found there was not. It didn’t take long to get my business plan together and turn my idea into a business.
HK: What’s the best part about being a business owner?
AJ: The best part about being a business owner is the freedom. I make all the decisions that work for me and my business; I love that! I also love having enough freedom in my day to pick my children up from school, as well as attend school parties. I absolutely love being able to surprise my kids once a week and join them for lunch… priceless.
HK: What advice would you give to Kentucky women wanting to start their own business?
AJ: My advice to all women is to go for it! You only live once. Believe in yourself and have passion about what you’re doing. The passion will drive you through the struggles, and there will be struggles in starting a new business. Keep a positive attitude, even when facing obstacles… tomorrow is another day.
HK: What can we look forward to in 2014 for coveRumps?
AJ: 2014 is going to be a great year for coveRumps! I’ve been testing out a new avenue: in-home trunk shows. Our test markets have proven successful and we are very excited to add this fun way to shop. We are also attending more retail shows in 2014; check our website, www.coverumps.com and our coveRumps Facebook & Twitter accounts for event information. I’ve been sourcing new fabrics also, we want to focus on some fun prints to add into the line. I’m excited about the potential 2014 holds for us.
Quickfire Round:
- Bourbon, martinis, or beer? Martinis
- One bucket list item: Visit Paris, France
- Favorite way to spend a Friday night: My favorite way to spend Friday night is at home eating pizza and watching a great Disney movie with my little family. We do this every Friday night and it never gets old.
- Celebrity/Personality you’d most love to see wearing coveRumps? Well, I’m not going to be picky… I would LOVE for any celeb/personality to be seen wearing coveRumps. But if I did have to choose one, I would say I would love to see it on Bethenny Frankel or Kelly Ripa. Both are strong working mothers with talk shows that reach millions.
Giveaway:
Want some coveRumps of your own? Enter below to win 1 of 2 coveRumps. Winners can choose their preferred style. Enter before midnight, 12/21/13.
The HerKentucky Interview with Kijsa Housman
Kijsa Housman has been taking Etsy by storm with her burlap pillows, chalkboards, and Verses of the Week. Of course, everyone here at HerKentucky first noticed all the My Old Kentucky home pieces that now grace every single one of our Christmas lists!
Best part? She lives in Paducah and we are totally friends! So, I sat down (actually we stood because that's how crazy busy she is!) with the incredibly talented Kijsa for a quick chat about art, Kentucky, and dual citizenship.
HK: How long have you been doing this?
KH: This art thing? 20 years! I started with large scale murals and a lot of theatrical design. My first studio was in Lexington and I was there for eight years. Some notable projects I did were The State Theater - that was a 10,000 square foot mural I did by myself on 30 feet of scaffolding and it took several months. That was a state commission. I did a painting for The Children’s Theater, The Children’s Hospital, the PBS affiliates, and PBS products.
That morphed in to doing residential murals as well. I did a combination of that. We moved to Paducah about 10 years ago.
HK: Are you from here?
KH: I’m originally from Dallas. I’m a Texas girl. My husband is from here and my children are from all over! One was born in Lexington. One was born in Paducah. One was born in Seoul.
HK: We’ll give you a pass! Did you study art or are you self-taught?
KH: I'm classically trained. Undergraduate BFA in painting then graduate degree in art history then moved to Kentucky. I supported my husband through school on art! That’s pretty much all I’ve done professionally is paint.
HK: When did you start doing the Kentucky pillows and Old Kentucky Home signs?
KH: I moved into the decorative aspects here and there just as filler in between. When you’re the sole income, you get real creative as an artist. I really started emphasizing a lot of the Kentucky stuff in the last few years.
My motto is accessible art and I think the decorative arts is great for that.
HK: Do consider yourself a Kentuckian after 20 years?
KH: You’re asking a Texan that! I will claim dual citizenship.
HK: I know the Verses of the Week are a huge project for you right now. Tell us about that.
KH: The Verse of the Week I started doing a little over two years ago and that has become a very signature thing. It started with a gift for a friend - coming up with something that would be useful and beautiful and inspiring all at the same time. It’s really turned into something that I consider more than work. It’s a ministry.
I’ve had so many people tell me that the simple act of putting the verse on the board made it intentional. I even offer my signature writing on a decal so if you already had a chalkboard you can put it on there. It’s the simple act of making it intentional.
HK: Any advice to aspiring artists?
KH: Lots of caffeine. No sleep. And work 28 hours a day!
Kijsa is giving away a Verses of the Week vinyl so you can create intentional art in your own home!
Enter to win using the Rafflecopter widget below. The contest runs through midnight on Wednesday, December 18th.
Raising Ms. President: My Chat with Kiley Parker
Turning political dreams into actionable goals.
I have always planned on running for public office. I grew up with fantastic role models of female leadership and was incredibly blessed to work for Hillary Clinton's first presidential campaign. Running for office always seemed like something I could and should do.
And yet, I am the exception to the rule.
As Heather wrote last week, the lack of female representation is a huge problem in the United States. Documentary filmmaker Kiley Lane Parker is hoping to address that problem with her new film Raising Ms. President.
I sat down with Kiley to talk about female leadership, running for office, and her film.
If you're interested in supporting the production of this important project, please visit the film's Kickstarter campaign. For as little $15 you can see your name in the credits! You'll be seeing my name in the credits.
And who knows? Thanks to Kiley's inspiration maybe you'll see my name on a campaign poster sooner rather than later...
~ Sarah Stewart Holland
Aunt Alice
Yesterday, Sarah continued HerKentucky's
celebration of Women's History Month
with
a tribute to her great-great-grandmother
. As I read that post, I was struck by the poignant beauty of Sarah's family's attempts to reconstruct Ruby Lovelace's history from the handful of details they have about her life. I've started and scrapped and re-written today's post at least a dozen times because I have the opposite problem. One of the most influential women in my life is my great-great-aunt Alice, whose story has been told many times. There's even
about about her life. The funny thing about legends, though, is that they tend to leave out the most important details of all.
Alice Hall Slone was born May 4, 1904 in Caney Creek, KY, the fifth of eight children born to
and
[Thornsberry] Slone. I can remember, as a kid, thinking how bizarre Ike and Leanner's kids' names seemed -- there were their older girls, Frankie Jane, Lou Hettie, and Rilda (my great-grandmother), their son Commodore, and the baby, Bertha. In comparison, I remember thinking while listening to family stories, Alice and her younger brothers Bob and Jim Courtney lucked out.
Rilda and Leanor with my great-aunt Marie, 1930s
Aunt Alice's story truly is amazing. As a bright female student in a poor, rural corner of Eastern Kentucky, it became clear that her opportunities were limited. Alice Lloyd, the Boston "society lady" who founded
, arranged for Alice Slone to travel all the way to Cleveland to attend school -- while Alice studied there, her guardian and hostess was Susan B. Anthony's niece. Alice went on to study at Ohio State. As
, our family -- like so many other Knott County families -- owe so much to Mrs. Lloyd for the incredible educational and cultural opportunities she helped young people attain. It must have been terrifying for a young girl -- her father recently deceased and with no real exposure to life outside the holler -- to travel all that way to learn. It's a 6 hour, 400-mile drive from Caney to Cleveland now; I can't imagine how arduous the journey was in the late nineteen-teens.
Rilda and Alice, early 1980s
The official story always goes that, while Alice's sisters chose the traditional roles of wife, mother, and homemaker, Alice's path led her straight toward education. My grandfather, however, sometimes laughingly spoke of Alice's short-lived marriage to a know-it-all East Coast newspaper reporter whom he and his siblings nicknamed "Uncle New York Times." Regardless, Alice went on to found the
(
) in Knott County. The school was her life's work -- it was fueled mainly on donations, working on a unique public-private hybrid model. Many of Mrs. Lloyd's Northeastern "society contacts" were called upon to maintain the school. I can remember, as a high school student interviewing Aunt Alice for a school project, being most impressed that her donor list included the Eastmans (of both Kodak Film and "Paul McCartney's in-laws" fame.)
Alice Slone, Rilda Watson, Bertha Whitaker, 1980s.
Aunt Alice was an amazing lady. She founded a school -- who even knew you could do that? -- and championed educational and environmental causes. (Did I mention she was an early opponent of mountaintop removal?) What I remember about her, though, is that she was kind and smart and funny. I remember her rustic, log cabin-style living room with an oddly bohemian beaded curtain concealing a closet. I remember her milky-white skin and bright blue eyes -- common traits among the Slone family. I don't remember an educational trailblazer; I remember a lovely lady whom we were always glad to visit.
Ruby Lovelace Childress
March is Women's History Month.
As Heather posted on Friday, there are a lot of famous women from Kentucky making history every day.
However, I believe Women's History Month shouldn't be just about the women making history but also the history of women who have shaped our lives in other ways.
One woman whose history I think about quite a lot is my great-great-grandmother Ruby Lovelace Childress. Born on July 21, 1884 (a week before my own birthday), Ruby was the ninth child of Virgil and Mary Lovelace. By this point, her mother had already buried five of the nine children born to her.
Ruby was born in to a family with options and resources. You see the Lovelace's were upperclass people, as evidenced by this photograph.
I'm guessing most girls her age couldn't afford fancy white dresses and parasols - much less photographers to take pictures of them in such finery.
The family lore goes Ruby married "down" when she married my great-great-grandfather Dellon Gold Childress. He was a "dirt farmer" where she was used to music lessons and fine china.
Despite the different economic situations her mother and Ruby found themselves in upon marriage, one thing was the same thing. There lives were immediately taken over with the task of reproduction. Beginning in 1903, Ruby began having basically a baby a year until 1907. She had a small respite (and I'm assuming a miscarriage) before picking back up in 1911. Two years later, she had my great-grandmother Gertrude.
By the next year - ten days before her 30th birthday - she was dead. She died of ectopic pregnancy.
There are so many women in my family. Long-living women who raised children, ran businesses,
even some who pursued a passion for writing.
However, Ruby and the absence her death left has also fascinated me.
The women on my mother's side of the family are not particularly nurturing women. Kind? Yes. Involved? Yes. Quick with the hugs and kisses? No. The theory goes that my great-grandmother was only a baby when her mother died and although the stepmother who came soon after loved her, she was never nurturing in the way Ruby would have been. Therefore, my great-grandmother was the same to her children and so on and so forth.
I think about what her death meant and if the impact was so far-reaching. I think about what I might have shared with Ruby - a passion for learning or a love for music. I wonder how my life would have been different had I had no choice in my reproductive future. I wonder if Ruby was frustrated or scared.
I wonder so much I even once wrote a short story about her.
Mainly, I wish she'd had a chance to write her own history and that there had been more of it.
~ Sarah Stewart Holland
Everybody's Got a George Clooney Story.
Stories of George Clooney are all over the Commonwealth.
It's George Clooney. With a pug. Cue swooning.
We talk a lot about George Clooney here at HerKentucky. He's one of our Favorite Things. He
isn't the only famous person from Kentucky, but he sure is famous.
Why shouldn't we talk about George Clooney a lot? He's handsome and charming. (Or, as the
Kentucky for Kentucky guys would say, "George Clooney is a beautiful man." He's one of the most recognizable actors in the world. He's nominated for Best Actor in this weekend's
Academy Awards. And, he's from Augusta, Kentucky, a charming river town located just a stone's throw away from Maysville.
Dreamy.
The HerKentucky girls aren't the only ones who talk about George Clooney a lot. It's been my experience that anyone with ties -- even the most tenuous -- to the Maysville area has a George Clooney story for you. I once had a co-worker who'd grown up in Cincinnati; she never failed to tell you that George was the clerk who sold her shoes at Dillard's. (I strongly doubt that she'll make it into the final draft of George's acceptance speech, but stranger things have happened...) A secretary at one of the law firms in my old office building had been George's high school prom date; she was always extremely gracious when this fact was dredged up.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival with some friends who are Augusta natives. A charming, tuxedoed George was the master of ceremonies at the festival which honored his late aunt. Even though I was never closer than 100 yards from the stage, I finally got why George Clooney leaves such an impression on everyone he meets. He is just as charming and charismatic as Danny Ocean, , Doug Ross , or
Everett McGill. Even if he weren't George Clooney, Serious Movie Star, you'd always know that this guy was in the room. He just has a presence. It wouldn't matter if he were a prosecutor, a football coach, or a TV anchorman, you'd always pay attention to him.
Over the weekend of the Clooney Festival, I got a mini-tour of George Clooney's Augusta. I saw where his parents lived, and where George himself keeps a small home. I also realized why it is that everybody from that part of the state has a George Clooney story. The Clooneys are Maysville royalty. George's aunt, the singer and actress Rosemary Clooney, was Maysville's most famous daughter. His father, Nick, is a beloved regional anchorman. It seems that the entire town was devoted to George's success. Stories still circulate about viewing parties for his Facts of Life and Golden Girls episodes. It's as though the entire town was invested in George's future success. There's a really sweet sense of hometown pride that emerges along with everyone's George Clooney Story.
Here at HerKentucky, we wish George the best of luck on Sunday. (Even if The Descendants led to an unintentional yet inspired revelation for Sarah.) And, we'd love to hear some George Clooney Stories from y'all.