Lilette jenkins biography of barack
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The “Queen of Keys,” Lillette Jenkins-Wisner was a child prodigy who performed and taught music right up until her death at age 94, including here in Florida.
She helped revolutionize what Black women could do and own in America's entertainment industry.
At age 11, she performed at Carnegie Hall. It was the 1930s, and as she later said, "Black people didn’t perform there."
She and her husband moved to Nevada, becoming the first Black people to own a nightclub/casino there: Lillette’s Rhythm Club.
She performed on the road for soldiers during World II, and toured worldwide.
In her older age, she reinvented herself as the “Silver Fox” and continued performing and directing, in addition to raising millions for charity work.
Over the course of her career, she played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Billy Joel, and more.
Nat King Cole
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Influential Florida African-American Figures
Emmitt Smith (b. 1969)
The Pensacola native is respected as one of the Southeastern Conference’s greatest running backs for his college career with the University of Florida Gators. In 1990, the Dallas Cowboys selected Smith as a first-round draft pick, and he was named the NFL’s Rookie of the Year. Three years later, he was crowned the NFL’s MVP. The College and Pro Football Hall of Famer also has moves off the field, winning season 3 of Dancing with the Stars. In 2006, Smith was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. Much of the hall’s memorabilia is on display at the Central Florida Visitors & Convention Bureau in Davenport.
Maya Rudolph (b.1972)
The SNL alum was born in Gainesville to singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph. Although Rudolph moved to California at a young age, you can check out Gainesville’s up-and-com
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Photo Flash: Jazz Legend, Lillette Jenkins-Wisner Honored in Rehoboth Beach with Concert
Lillette Jenkins-Wisner was born on February 6, 1924 and passed away on August 25, 2020. Jenkins-Wisner, an internationally renowned concert pianist and vocalist, began to play piano at the age of four. While she was initially trained at a classical musician, she developed an affinity for gospel and jazz while a student at the Manhattan School of Music. Her career took her around the world performing with the Special Services Unit of the United States Army during WWII, at Carnegie Hall in concert for the United Negro College Fund Choir, in the Lorraine Hansberry Concert Series, at europeisk Jazz Festivals and for touring engagements with the Around the World Concert Cruise Series and Floating Jazz Festival. She was the Music Director for the Off-Broadway musical hit, "One Mo' Time" and Music Director and performer in the production "The Life Story of Thomas A. Dorsey," the