The Bitch in Black: Ladies...Firsts

Nancy Drew-loving Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is joined this month by two other recent notable First…Ladies.

Ursula Burns (left) has become the first black female CEO of a major U. S. corporation.  According to Business Week:

Within days of being named chief executive of Xerox (XRX) [Burns] was on a plane to Europe. The mission: a 30-day tour to meet with staff outside the U.S., where Xerox has almost half its sales, and discuss ways to get customers buying again…

Burns, 50, has a war to fight. Xerox, a brand so synonymous with copying that its name long ago became a verb, faces a brutal business outlook. Customers are buying less equipment. Prices keep dropping. Managers are curbing paper use for cost-saving and environmental reasons…Burns will find herself battling competitors with stronger balance sheets and more heft as the industry consolidates.

This is a double-history-making move as Burns is also the first female CEO to take the reins from another female CEO (the outgoing Anne M. Mulcahy who helped bring the company back from the brink of bankruptcy).

Alysa Stanton is on track to make history as the “world’s first African-American female rabbi” when she is ordained on June 6th.  “I represent the new face of Judaism, a new era of inclusiveness,” Stanton has said. “I’m honored to have this opportunity, and I’m thankful to my God for making it happen.”

Congratulations!!