The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation bestowed its coveted Phoenix Award onCathy Hughes, Chairperson and Founder of Radio One. Ms. Hughes joined Roland Martin Friday on “NewsOne Now” to talk about the honor, her origins in broadcasting and discussed some of the pitfalls African Americans fall prey to.
Nevada-based gaming giant MGM Resorts International announced Friday that it will bring Radio One founder Cathy Hughes and her son on as investors in their plans for a $925 million resort casino at National Harbor.
When Cathy Hughes got pregnant at age 16, her friends said her life was over. Her mother kicked her out of the house. Hughes said she “was in shock.”
Catherine Elizabeth Woods Hughes was born in Omaha, Nebraska where she attended Creighton University and the University of Nebraska. But before graduating, she began working at KOWH, a local black radio station where she handled assorted jobs en route to becoming well-known in the industry.
Everyone loves a hero. We love old fashioned rags to riches stories about starting at the bottom and zooming straight to the top. Cathy Hughes’ story is one of those. In the world of radio and business, she has built an empire and attained status of truly heroic proportions.
Cathy Hughes began the Radio One Network when she and her then-husband purchased WOL/Washington DC.
Cathy Hughes, founder and chairperson of Radio One/TV One, Inc., the largest African- American-owned and operated broadcast company in the United States, was honored with a Women’s Leadership Exchange Compass Award at the 2007 Southern California conference.