Top Caribbean Power Women: Leaders in Politics, Music, and More

In honor of Caribbean Heritage Month, BlackEnterprise.com highlights top leaders of Caribbean descent in sports, politics, entertainment and more.

RIHANNA
Country: Barbados
Claim to Fame: Award-winning singer; holder of the most BillBoard No. 1 singles

The Bajan beauty hit the music scene in 2005 with her single “Pon de Replay.” Since then Rihanna has amassed 21 Grammy Award nominations, with six wins. In April Billboard announced that she has become “the first artist in the 20-year history of Billboard’s Nielsen BDS-based Pop Songs radio airplay chart to tally 10 No. 1s.”

NICKI MINAJ
Country: Trinidad
Claim to Fame: Award-winning hip-hop artist, TV personality, entrepreneur

Nicki Minaj released her debut album Pink Friday to widespread success, certified platinum just a month after its release. Under the tutelage of Lil Wayne, Minaj set off in her career as one of the most successful female rappers to ever do it. After a short stint on American Idol, she also acted alongside Cameron Diaz in the new comedy film The Other Woman. Add to that recently becoming the face of Mona Scott-Young’s Moscato beverage, getting her own comic book character, MAC lipstick, and Barbie, and designing an upcoming K-mart clothing line, and you’ve got a global boss.

CICELY TYSON
Country: Nevis and St. Kitts
Claim to Fame: Tony-award winning actress

Cicely Tyson has a career that has spanned five decades. In 2013, the accomplished became the oldest recipient of the Tony Award for Best Performance by An Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. She has played in several pivotal films such as Roots, Sounder and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

VASHTIE KOLA
Country: Trinidad
Claim to Fame: Videographer, artist, and designer

Vashtie Kola was born in Albany, N.Y., and educated at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. In 2006, she was asked to re-vamp the company of Island Def Jam as Director of Creative Services, but she left in 2007. After leaving she went on to direct video for Kanye West, Solange Knowles, Kid Cudi and Big K.R.I.T. She also started her own clothing line named VIOLETTE, which is currently carried at specialty boutiques across the globe.

SHERYL LEE RALPH
Country: Jamaica
Claim to Fame: Award-winning ARTivist

Sheryl Lee Ralph was one of the original cast members of the 1982 Broadway production of Dreamgirls. She has gone on to become “Dee Mitchell” in the 1990s sitcom Moesha, in which she was voted one of TV’s favorite moms. A strong supporter of education, she is the youngest woman to graduate of Rutgers University at age 19. An activist Ralph started The DIVA Foundation, is an international non-profit organization, in 1990 as a memorial to the many friends she lost to AIDS. The organization focuses on generating resources and producing events that raise awareness and educate people globally that are affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.

YVETTE CLARKE
Country: Jamaica
Claim to Fame: U.S. Congresswoman for New York’s 9^th

District

United States Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a Brooklyn native and a product of the New York City Public School System. Clarke Rep. graduated was a recipient of the prestigious APPAM/Sloan Fellowship in Public Policy and Policy Analysis. She was first elected to Congress in November 2006. Before being elected in the U.S. House of Representatives, she served on the New York City Council. She succeeded her mother, former City Council Member Una S. T. Clarke, making them the first mother-daughter succession in the history of the Council. Currently, Rep. Clarke sits on the Committees of Homeland Security, Ethics, and Small Business.

DONNA CHRISTIAN-CHRISTENSEN
Country: U.S. Virgin Islands
Claim to Fame: U.S. Delegate

Delegate Christensen is currently in her ninth term in the position of Delegate. She is the first female physician to serve as a member in the history of the U.S. Congress, the first woman to represent an offshore territory, and the first woman delegate from the United States Virgin Islands. She serves as an assistant minority whip in the democratic caucus. She now serves on the committee on energy and commerce and its subcommittees on health, energy and power and commerce, manufacturing and trade. She is the first Delegate to Congress to serve on this exclusive committee.

FREDERICA WILSON
Country: Bahamas
Claim to Fame: U.S Congresswoman — Florida

Congresswoman Wilson earned a BS in elementary education

from Fisk University in 1963 and a Masters from the University of Miami in 1972.  After graduating, she served as a teacher and as assistant educational coordinator for Head Start in Miami and later, as Assistant Principal and Principal of Skyway Elementary School. As a member of the Miami-Dade County School Board, she acted to positively intervene in the lives of at-risk male youth. In 1993, she founded the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project. Since its inception, 5000 Role Models has awarded more than $5 million in scholarships to minority boys and helped thousands of young men.

In 1998, Congresswoman Wilson successfully ran for the 104th District in the Florida House of Representatives, where she served as Minority Whip until 2002. While serving in the Florida legislature, she succeeded in working with Republican Governor Jeb Bush to remove the Confederate flag from the State Capitol; mandating HIV/AIDS testing for newly-released prisoners; opposing high-stakes standardized testing; pushing for a ban of the term “illegal alien” in state public records; and partnering with Republican Governor Charlie Crist to restore voting rights for ex-felons.

CHRISTINA MILLIAN
Country: Cuba
Claim to Fame: Singer, TV host, songwriter and actress

Christina Milian, born Christine Flores in Cuba, is a singer and actress is currently a judge on NBC’s The Voice. Milian was born in New Jersey and raised in Waldorf, Md. At a young age, she became a junior journalist on the Disney

Channel’s “Movie Surfers.” Before her music career, she appeared as a guest on several TV shows, such as “Clueless,” “Sister, Sister,” “Smart Guy,” “Charmed” and “The Steve Harvey Show,” and as a recurring character on “Get Real.”

Most recently, Milian signed with Lil Wayne’s Young Money/Cash Money/Universal label and is currently in the studio recording her fourth album. Milian’s “It’s About Time,” released on Island/Def Jam Recordings, featured the mega-hit “Dip It Low” and combined her unique mix of urban, Latin and pop sounds. By incorporating a myriad of influences from her background, Milian’s sound reflects the pop arena and much more. Her self-titled debut, “Christina Milian,” produced the hit “AM to PM.”

NAOMI CAMPBELL
Country: Jamaica
Claim to Fame: World renowned supermodel

The Britain born supermodel, with Jamaican roots, Naomi Campbell began her modeling journey at 17. Naomi Campbell was the first black woman to appear on the covers of French and British Vogue and the first black model to appear on the cover of Time.

In addition to modeling, Campbell has pursued acting and music careers, the latter of which has been particularly successful in Japan. Her singing career peaked with the hit “Love and Tears.” Her debut album Baby Woman sold over 1 million copies. She is active in promoting the welfare of children in Africa and has worked with Nelson Mandela since 1997.