BLOOMBERG URBAN BUSINESS REPORT TO AIR HISTORY MAKERS SPECIAL
Month-Long Radio Series to Celebrate African- American History Month

(New York—February)  BLOOMBERG URBAN BUSINESS REPORT, the first nationally syndicated business radio report for the African-American audience, has produced a special five part series on African-American business and community leaders.  Entitled, “Bloomberg History Makers 2002” in celebration of African-American History Month, the series will air daily in February during the BLOOMBERG URBAN BUSINESS REPORT, broadcast to over 50 affiliate stations across the United States including WLIB-AM/WBLS-FM in New York, WOL-AM in Washington, D.C. and KJLH-FM in Los Angeles.

Bloomberg History Makers 2002 focuses on six prominent African American executives in various sectors of the nation’s business world. “The six African-Americans included in the 2002 History Makers Series offered honest and sometimes emotional views into their triumphs and challenges along the road to success,” said host Dianne Thompson, “In most cases, our guests are not readily accessible to the media, yet they were candid and openly trusting of the Urban team.  As a result, the Bloomberg Urban Report has produced what we thing is a highly provocative and stimulating six week series for Black History Month.”  Urban Business reporters conducted interviews with the following power players on overcoming obstacles, being a role model, and their education, families and careers:

As Executive Director of the UPS Foundation, Evern Cooper,  administers the foundation’s national programs focusing on family and workplace literacy, food distribution and volunteerism.

Leon Kerry is Commissioner of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, an athletic conference composed of twelve historically African-American universities and is a member of the NCAA, Division II. 

Maxine Baker is Vice President of Community Relations and President & CEO of The Freddie Mac Foundation.  Baker oversees the foundation’s initiatives to improve the lives of children and families with special emphasis on child abuse and neglect prevention, early childhood education and finding homes for children in foster care.  She also leads the Freddie Mac Corporate Giving Program.

Herman Cain is President & Co-Owner of Godfather’s Pizza which he purchased from Pillsbury.  He serves on the corporate boards of Whirlpool, Hallmark, The Morehouse School of Medicine and Reader’s Digest.

Marie Johns is President of Verizon-Washington D.C., where she created the Technology Council to attract information technology companies to the District of Columbia. Having risen  through the ranks at Verizon, Johns is an advocate for working mothers and single parenting. 

Founder and Senior Pastor of Potters House Church, Bishop T.D. Jakes preached his first sermon at 17 and had his first church by the age of 21.  Potters House has well over 28,000 members and over 48 ministries. Bishop Jakes is the author of over 30 books.

BLOOMBERG® Urban Business Report is the first nationally syndicated business radio report for the African American audience. This 60-second segment covers a variety of topics including the top business stories of the day and tips on investing your money. This report features the Bloomberg Amalgamated Index, the only index that tracks companies owned or operated by African-Americans.

BLOOMBERG® 1130 (WBBR-AM) is a 24-hour digital all-news radio station that can be heard throughout the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut tri-state area. The station broadcasts world, national and local news with an emphasis on business and the financial markets. WBBR is the flagship radio station of BLOOMBERG RADIO™, which provides syndicated reports to more than 200 radio stations around the U.S. and the world.

Note: The History Makers 2002 series will be distributed to all BLOOMBERG URBAN REPORT affiliates on CD