Gabby Thomas, Beverly Johnson, Laura Coates & Karine Jean-Pierre Prettily Pose For Pics After Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Honorary Membership
During the seminar titled 'Pathways to Soar: Unlocking Impactful Leadership,' held in Anaheim, California, the storied organization welcomed four powerhouse women as honorary members: Olympic track star Gabby Thomas, and supermodel trailblazer Beverly Johnson, CNN anchor and legal analyst Laura Coates, and former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. With more than 9,000 members gathered from around the globe, the ceremony marked a moment of inspiration, excellence, and Black girl magic.
According to a post shared on the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Instagram page on July 14, all four of the extraordinary women selected for the honorary member award were chosen for being FIRST in their excellence in leadership, groundbreaking achievements, and transformative service that uplift communities around the world.
'Welcoming these phenomenal women into our Sisterhood is a powerful testament to our legacy of distinction,' International President & CEO Danette Anthony Reed told Watch the Yard . 'Their voices and vision will further strengthen our mission of impactful service to all mankind.'
In an Instagram post, the ewly inducted honorary members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. expressed heartfelt gratitude and excitement following their induction.
Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shared her disbelief and joy, saying, 'I can't believe it. You all won't believe it. I am now officially a member of the beautiful sorority, AKA. Thank you, thank you, thank you!'
CNN anchor and legal analyst Laura Coates echoed the sentiment, saying, 'Hey everyone, I'm Laura Coates. Can you believe it? I'm officially a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.'
Olympian Gabby Thomas also celebrated the honor, stating, 'I'm so thrilled to be a member of the beautiful Alpha Kappa Alpha! I'm so excited to start my new journey of Sisterhood!'
Supermodel and trailblazer Beverly Johnson shared a deeply emotional message: 'I'm so honored to be a sorority sister. I cannot tell you how proud I am. I cannot tell you, my heart is so full. I can barely speak, but thank you God!'
Not only that, but Tuesday, the newest honorary memebers were featuredd in a social media post posing for pics with their heads held high and their ivies up.
'Heads held high, and Ivies up.. Because this is a Serious Matter!' the official Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Instagram captioned a post. 'Our newest Honorary Members, @gabbythomas, @k_jeanpierre, @thelauracoates, and @iambeverlyjohnson are already giving Pretty Girl style in full formation! We look forward to seeing them all Soar in Sisterhood.🩷💚 #AKAHonoraryMembers #SoaringWithAKA #AKA1908
Let's meet the latest honorary AKAs.
Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
Laura Coates, CNN's Chief Legal Analyst and Anchor, is the first and only Black woman to hold the title. Before joining CNN, Coates served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, focusing on voting rights enforcement, and later as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where she prosecuted serious felony cases including drug trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault, according to her website.
In 2016, she authored the bestselling book You Have the Right: A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police , demystifying citizens' Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, and advocating for greater police accountability.
Now the host of Laura Coates Live on CNN, she continues to bring clarity to pressing legal and political issues. Notably, Coates delivered extensive coverage of last year's presidential race, hitting the ground in places like Michigan to talk with voters and hear their reactions. She has also had a pulse on the intense sex trafficking trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, delivering updates along every step of the case, a testament to her commitment.
Source: Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos / Getty
Gabby Thomas has solidified her status as one of the world's elite sprinters, excelling in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events. Her breakout moment came in 2021 when she ran 21.61 seconds in the 200m at the U.S. Olympic Trials, making her the second-fastest woman in history at the time, according to Team USA. She improved that mark to 21.60 seconds at the 2023 USATF Championships, cementing her legacy in the sport.
Thomas made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, where she earned a bronze medal in the 200m and a silver medal as the anchor of the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team. She followed up with a dominant performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, capturing gold in the 200m with a time of 21.83 seconds and another gold in the 4x100m relay alongside Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, and Sha'Carri Richardson.
Her accomplishments extend beyond the Olympics. Thomas has claimed multiple Diamond League titles (2018, 2019, 2024) and won gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the 4x100m relay, setting a championship record of 41.03 seconds. In 2023, she took silver in the 200m at the World Championships with a blazing 21.81 finish.
A standout both on and off the track, Thomas graduated from Harvard University in 2019 with a degree in neurobiology and global health. She later earned a master's degree in epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center. Throughout her journey, she has been a passionate advocate for increasing diversity in STEM fields and uses her platform to inspire young women of color to pursue careers in science and technology.
Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Karine Jean-Pierre made history as the first Black person and the longest-serving woman to hold the position of White House Press Secretary. With a distinguished career in political strategy and public service, she has been a leading voice in American politics and advocacy.
Prior to her historic White House role, Jean-Pierre served as a Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn.org and worked as a political analyst for NBC and MSNBC, the McSilver Institute notes. During the Obama-Biden administration, she held several key leadership positions, including Regional Political Director for the White House Office of Political Affairs and Deputy Battleground States Director for President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.
She also served as Southeast Regional Political Director during Obama's 2008 presidential run. Her career spans across advocacy and legislative work as well—she was Campaign Manager for the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Initiative and held roles as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative and Budget Affairs for two members of the New York City Council. Born in Martinique and raised in New York, Jean-Pierre is a graduate of Columbia University.
Source: Courtesy / WeTV
Beverly Johnson is a trailblazing supermodel, actress, entrepreneur, and author who made history as the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue in 1974 and later on Elle . Her groundbreaking achievements opened doors for generations of models of color and reshaped the fashion industry's standards of beauty and inclusion.
Beyond modeling, Johnson has built a diverse career as an actress and businesswoman. She has made appearances in films such as Crossroads and Tyler Perry's Good Deeds . The icon is also the founder of The Beverly Johnson Luxurious Lifestyle Brand, which reflects her passion for beauty, wellness, and empowerment.
Congrats to these honorable sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
The post Gabby Thomas, Beverly Johnson, Laura Coates & Karine Jean-Pierre Prettily Pose For Pics After Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Honorary Membership appeared first on Bossip.
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Lesser known than some other beloved tales of larger-than-life heroes such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf and King Arthur, the Song of Wade is a case study in what happens when stories aren't written down. The epic was once widely known throughout medieval and Renaissance England — so popular that it was mentioned twice by Chaucer — but today it is mostly forgotten. Only a few phrases survive, and new research is showing how, when so little of a story is preserved, changes in a word or two can alter the entire tale. The Song of Wade originated in the 12th century, and its hero battled monsters — or so scholars once thought. The only known text was found nearly 130 years ago in a 13th- century Latin sermon, which quoted a bit of the saga in Middle English. In the excerpt, the word 'ylues' was originally translated as 'elves,' suggesting that Wade's long-lost saga was teeming with supernatural creatures. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have challenged that interpretation. They proposed that the word's meaning was mangled by a scribe's transcription error, which changed a 'w' to a 'y.' 'Elves' is actually 'wolves,' and the term was allegorical, referring to dangerous men, according to the analysis. Another word in the excerpt, translated as 'sprites,' should instead be 'sea snakes,' moving the story even farther away from the realm of the supernatural, the researchers reported July 15 in The Review of English Studies. This new reading revises not only the phrases quoted in the sermon, but also the entire Song of Wade, centering the hero amid worldly dangers rather than mythical beasts. It overturns the picture of Wade as a literary twin to Beowulf, legendary slayer of the warrior-eating monster Grendel, said study coauthor Dr. Seb Falk, a researcher of science history and a fellow at Cambridge's Girton College. 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'We realised that taking the fragment together with its context would allow us not only to completely reinterpret the Wade legend, but also to reshape our understanding of how stories were told and retold in different cultural contexts, including religious contexts,' Wade said. The long-standing difficulties in interpreting the excerpt are a reminder that paleography — the study of handwritten documents — 'is not always an exact or precise science,' said Dr. Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Melbourne in Australia, 'especially in the transmission of English and other vernacular texts without the standardised spelling and abbreviations of Latin.' Focusing on the sermon is also important because this type of allusion to a popular epic was highly unusual, Trigg, who was not involved in the research, told CNN in an email. 'The authors are right to draw attention to the way the sermon seems to be quoting medieval popular culture: this is not all that common,' Trigg said. 'It helps disturb some traditional views about medieval piety.' When the preacher used the Song of Wade in his sermon, it was clear that he expected his audience to accept the reference 'as a recognisable element of popular culture: a meme,' Falk said. 'By studying this sermon in depth we get a wonderful insight into the resonances that such popular literature had across culture.' This new perspective on Wade's saga doesn't mean that it was based exclusively in realism. While there are no other known excerpts of the Song of Wade, references to Wade in texts spanning centuries offer details fantastic enough to delight fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic 'Lord of the Rings.' 'In one romance text, it's said that (Wade) slays a dragon,' Falk said. 'There is local folklore in Yorkshire, recorded by John Leland in the 1530s, that he was of gigantic stature.' Other texts stated that Wade's father was a giant and that his mother was a mermaid, he added. In fact, chivalric romance from this period frequently incorporated elements of fantasy, Trigg said. In the chivalric literary tradition, 'romances often draw on mythological creatures and the supernatural,' and the distinction between chivalric romances and mythology 'is not always rigorously made in medieval literature,' she added. Still, aligning the Song of Wade more closely with medieval romances clears up long-standing confusion over allusions to Wade by Geoffrey Chaucer, during scenes of courtly intrigue in 'Merchant's Tale' and 'Troilus and Criseyde.' Discover your world Go beyond the headlines and explore the latest scientific achievements and fascinating discoveries. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. 'Chaucer referring to a Beowulf-like 'dark-age' warrior in these moments is weird and confusing,' Falk said. 'The idea that Chaucer is referring to a hero of medieval romance makes a lot more sense.' While the Song of Wade has faded into obscurity, its appearance in the medieval sermon and in Chaucer's work hints that for centuries the legend was a staple of popular culture in medieval England, even though there was no definitive text preserving the entire tale. As its popularity waned, much of it vanished for good. 'By the eighteenth century there were no known surviving texts and nobody seemed to know the story,' Wade said. 'Part of the enduring allure is the idea of something that was once part of common knowledge suddenly becoming 'lost.''
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