Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmed to Supreme Court

Courtesy @Potus Instagram

President Joe Biden and Judge Kentanji Brown take a photo

as Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Thursday,

April 7.

Ketanji Brown Jackson made history Thursday afternoon when a historic vote by the Senate made her the first Black woman to serve on the nation's highest court.

The Senate vote was 53-47 in favor of confirming Jackson to the Supreme Court. Every member of the Democrat caucus joined just three Republicans — Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah —in making her the 116th justice to serve on the court.

Jackson, whose nomination to the court was made by President Joe Biden in February, following Associate Justice Stephen Breyer's announcement he would retire at the end of the current court term, was criticized heavily by Republicans during the seven-week nomination process.

Opponents focused on a supposed record of leniency towards child sex offenders, a criticism that was widely refuted by those in legal circles, her defenders and even some Republican lawmakers, who had supported her previous appointments.

Judge Jackson’s confirmation was a historic moment for our nation. We’ve taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America. She will be an incredible Justice, and I was honored to share this moment with her. pic.twitter.com/K8SAh25NL5

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 7, 2022

"Judge Jackson’s confirmation was a historic moment for our nation," Biden tweeted after the vote. "We’ve taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America. She will be an incredible Justice, and I was honored to share this moment with her."

It will be months before the judge formally takes her seat on the bench when Breyer officially steps down. When she does, she will be the first federal public defender to sit on the high court, and it will mark the first time the court's nine-member bench will include two Black justices.

Of the 115 justices in the Supreme Court's 233-year history, 108 have been white men. Only five have been women, and three have been people of color.

Rihanna Joins Forbes List as First Barbadian Billionaire

Danilo Lauria, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Forbes released its annual report on billionaires around the world Tuesday, and while it may come as no surprise who came out on top in the ranking of the world’s 2,688 wealthiest people, there were some interesting entries for hip-hop and R&B fans.

Joining transportation magnate and professional internet troll on the Forbes’ 36th Annual World’s Billionaires List — Elon Musk, who topped the list for the first time with an estimated net worth of $219 billion — were several musicians-turned-magnates.

The fashion mogul, recent divorcee and rapper Kanye West, 44, who recently tied frequent collaborator and former mentor Jay-Z for the most hip-hip Grammy wins (24), was the top-earning entertainer on the list at No. 1,513 with a $2 billion fortune.

The total was just enough for the artist, who first made the list in 2020 and recently changed his name officially to Ye, to edge his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, making her second appearance on the list after being first named a billionaire in 2021. The 41-year-old actress, influencer and law student was No. 1,645 on the list with a net worth of $1.8 billion.

Jay-Z, 52, once lauded as hip-hop’s first billionaire landed at No. 2,076 with a $1.3 billion net worth thanks to a portfolio that includes his Roc Nation empire and profits from the 2021 sales of TIDAL to Square and Armand de Brignac champagne to LVMH.

Up until now, Black musicians turned billionaires was strictly a boys club, but Rihanna changed that this year. The 34-year-old singer became the first billionaire from her home country of Barbados thanks to her beauty empire. Her Fenty Beauty cosmetics line and Savage X Fenty lingerie business helped her to a net worth of $1.7 billion, good enough for the No. 1,729 on this year's list.

Other returning notables to the list for fans of the culture were talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who landed at No. 1,196 with a $2.6 billion net worth; and filmmaker Tyler Perry, who was No. 2,578 with a $1 billion net worth.

For more information on the methodology or to see the entire list of the world’s richest people according to Forbes click here.

Motown Legend, Joe Messina, Dead at 93

Courtesy of Motown Museum

Joe Messina (right) helped define the "Motown Sound."

Joe Messina, a jazz-trained musician whose rhythm guitar playing helped define the "Motown Sound," died Monday at his son's home in Northville, Michigan.

The Detroit News confirmed the death of the guitarist, who lost his 12-year battle with unspecified kidney disease. He was 93.

The Motown Museum posted a lengthy tribute to the artist on its official Facebook page.

"It is with a heavy heart that Motown Museum announces the passing of one of Motown’s original Funk Brothers, Joe Messina," the post read in part.

"We remember Joe Messina for his prolific contributions to Motown Records and Motown Museum. In the museum’s first temporary exhibit called 'The Magic Behind the Magic,' a tribute to the Funk Brothers, it was Joe who donated the first instrument, his famous guitar... Motown Museum sends our sincere condolences to the Messina family, and to Joe’s friends and fans around the world."

Messina jokingly referred to himself as “the cream in the Oreo cookie,” due to his status as one of the few white musicians in the Motown house band the Funk Brothers.

He played on numerous Motown hits in the 1960s and early '70s as part of the iconic studio band, including recordings by Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Four Tops, and had was one of the sole surviving players from its original core ensemble.

Alongside regulars Robert White and Eddie Willis, inside Motown’s fabled Studio A, Black guitar virtuosos he set between — the cookies to his cream — while helping lay down the backbeat for the sound that would become synonymous with Motown on his Fender Telecaster with a modified neck, Messina and his fellow Funk Brothers operated in obscurity.

They finally got their due for their crucial role in the label's hitmaking success in 2002. The award-winning documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" exposed them to the world and led to several prominent live reunion shows and eventually an audience with President George W Bush at the White House.

RIP Funk Brother Joe Messina

Here in the studio recording with The Temptations pic.twitter.com/Wf2fzt17Mv

— Record Lovers (@recordlovers) April 5, 2022