She told us she wasn’t going anywhere!
By: Darren Williams
Gorgeous, Gifted, and Giving are three words that comes off the top of anybody’s head when discussing the powerful songstress, Jennifer Hudson. She has proven herself time and time again from her debut on American Idol to her devotion to helping those in need. Everything Jennifer has endured in her rise to fame she has overcome with grace and strength, which is an inspiration to others around her.
Jennifer Kate Hudson was born September, 12 in Chicago, Il. and from an early age participated in the church and a few of her biggest inspirations were Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle. In 2004, Jennifer Hudson appeared on the hit show American Idol and blew the judges and america away with her powerful voice. Unfortunately, she was eliminated from the show to much of america’s shock because she was a shoe in to win and most assumed it was due to her weight. Jennifer did not let that get her down and she continued to pursue her career and used her recognition from being on American Idol to help. She performed on a variety of television shows until she landed the highly favored role of ‘Effie” in Dreamgirls. Her performance blew audiences away with her rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, and will remain a rememberable role for ages. She was able to win over 29 awards, including a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2008, Jennifer had a series of high and extreme lows she had to overcome. She released her debut album, Jennifer Hudson, and it instantly climbed the billboard charts which earned her the pleasure to receive a Grammy from her idol, Whitney Houston, for Best R&B Album. With the great highs that Jennifer Hudson reached in such short amount of time, tragedy dealt a huge blow to her family. Her mother, brother, and nephew were brutally murdered by her sisters estranged ex-husband. This took a serious toll on Jennifer where she did take a moment to grieve. But in that sadness she was able to garnish strength to return to the spotlight and sing the National Anthem at the Superbowl. Since then Jennifer Hudson has become a household name through music and in acting. She has worked with multiple recording artist and starred in several films. Most recently she can be seen in Fox’s acclaimed drama “Empire”.
Jennifer Hudson is a person of true character, heart, and strength. She has shown this to be true over and over again in her life and now she is devoted to inspiring others and sharing her gifts. She has stated, “I feel like your celebrity is not about the fortune or the fame. But if you can’t help anyone then it’s in vain, it’s pointless.” Hudson is now affiliated with several charities that are focused on helping women, children, and victims of slain families. She has worked with V-Day and donated to help initiatives that work to stop violence against women. Along with V-Day Jennifer has helped the Keep A Child Alive foundation which helps children in africa with HIV/AIDS. Jennifer has recently been recognized for own foundation called, Julian D. King Foundation, which was created to, “provide stability, support and positive experiences for children of all backgrounds to help enable them to grow to be productive, confident and happy adults.” The Peoples Choice award handed Jennifer Hudson the Humanitarian Awards for her outstanding contributions in 2014.
Jennifer Hudson use to look up to people as inspiration and now people look to her with admiration. She has accomplished show much and even through the darkest times her heart of gold still shined through and touched us all.
