1969— Graphic novelist Artists at work in the comics medium became more and more ambitious in the 1990s, expanding their range from traditional superhero themes to tackle serious fiction and nonfiction subjects. Nowhere was this trend more apparent than in the work of African-Canadian artist Ho Che Anderson, whose three-volume biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was, in the words…
1898(?)-1997 Politician President Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the sole source of Malawi's political power between 1958 and 1994. Ambitious and goal-oriented in his youth, he matured into a political sophisticate who spearheaded his country's vehement struggle against forced federation with Northern and Southern Rhodesia and negotiated the former Nyasaland's independence from Bri…
1952— Author, martial artist The author of more than 20 books of speculative fiction, as well as screenplays, teleplays, and short stories, Steven Barnes also has been a lecturer and creative consultant, a martial artist, and a self-declared expert on human performance. One of only a handful of successful black science-fiction writers, Barnes jump-started his career by collaborating with sc…
1820-18771815-1854 Abolitionist leaders Mary and Henry Bibb were partners in marriage who worked together at the height of the abolitionist movement, moving to Canada after the passage of the American Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 and setting up a crucial endpoint of the Underground Railroad near Windsor, just across the Detroit River from Detroit, Michigan. They are often remembered for their work t…
1964(?)— Opera singer Brown, Angela M., photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. Shimmering, mesmerizing, soaring—these are just a few of the adjectives lavished on the voice of Angela M. Brown. An operatic sensation who has commanded standing ovations from the world's most famous stages, Brown came to opera almost as an afterthought. "I never wanted to be what I would …
1970— Country-rap vocalist Cowboy Troy, photograph. CBS/Landov. "I think of myself as a pretty unique dude," self-styled "hick-hop" rapper Cowboy Troy told Josh Tyrangiel of Time. And he was right to think so–except for superstar Charley Pride, blacks have been rare in country music. But Cowboy Troy set out to change that with his major-label debut,…
1947– Professional football coach Crennel, Romeo, photograph. Ron Kuntz/Reuters/Landov. With a lifetime of football experience and a spirit of persistence forged during a pioneering coaching career in the Deep South, Romeo Crennel seemed a promising choice to lead the faltering Cleveland Browns National Football League franchise when he was named head coach in 2005. Crennel had alrea…
1916-2005 Author, educator, social critic When The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual was first released, it was hailed as a revolutionary work, and its author, Harold Cruse, as one of the great philosophers of the Black Arts Movement (BAM). Cruse, however, felt little connection with the various artists, philosophers, and writers of BAM. The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, in fact, blasted the ma…
1938-2005 Singer Davis, Tyrone, photograph. © Jack Vartoogian/Front Row Photos. In a career spanning more than four decades, singer Tyrone Davis sold over 25 million records. One of the fathers of what music history has labeled "Chicago Soul," Davis became famous for his bedroom voice, intimate lyrics, and flashy suits. Women loved him, musicians imitated him, and soul af…
1962— Corporate executive Trevor Edwards is corporate vice president of global brand management for Nike, Inc., a leading athletic footwear, equipment, and apparel designer, marketer, and distributor, known as much for its popular athletic shoes as it sporty celebrity ads. With a one billion dollar budget, Edwards develops and executes Nike's global strategy; he is in charge of the b…
1969(?)— Journalist With over 15 years of print and broadcast reporting on her resume, Sharon Epperson has become one of the country's most recognizable financial reporters. As an on-air correspondent for CNBC, and a contributor to several magazines and newspapers, she regularly gives financial advice to thousands of Americans. Surprisingly, she has little background in finance. �…
1966— Journalist, novelist Farley, Christopher John, photograph. Ted Thai/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images. Christopher John Farley holds one of American journalism's most sought-after jobs as Time magazine's pop-music critic. Farley's post gives him ready access to some of the biggest celebrities in the entertainment industry, and he has used that influence to pe…
1952— Banking executive Linda D. Forte is senior vice president of business affairs and a member of the Management Council of Comerica Bank, one of the world's leading financial companies with $53.3 billion in assets and one of the top ten banks in commercial loan volume. Forte is at the head of Comerica's internal and external diversity strategies, guiding the company in its …
1955— Artist Green, Jonathan, photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. The first individual of Gullah ancestry to train at a professional art school, Jonathan Green has created an acclaimed body of work that documents this rural culture, which emerged among West African slaves who lived on the Sea Islands or along the adjacent coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Descendants of these people…
1932— Comedian, Activist, Advocate Dick Gregory has made a name for himself in many areas: as an athlete, comedian, civil rights activist, author, nutritionist, outspoken defender of peaceful solutions to overseas conflicts, and, in the 2000s, elder statesman of every issue he has ever taken on. Perhaps his greatest success, however, was simply in overcoming the extreme poverty into which h…
1980(?)— Pageant winner Harold, Erika, photograph. Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images. Erika Harold won the Miss America crown in 2003, becoming one of just a handful of African-American women to win the honor in its eight-decade history. But Harold became embroiled in a minor controversy during her first month as Miss America, when she asserted that pageant officials had tried to stop her…
1941-2005 Writer, college teacher, teacher For writers of children's books, celebrity is frequently elusive, and most often it is children's fiction that dominates the news. Nonfiction earns far less public acclaim. Author James Haskins managed to defy these conventions by publishing nearly 150 nonfiction works that chronicled and celebrated the black experience. For many years, his …
1960— Businessman, restaurateur Few people have risen so far—or fallen so fast—as businessman and restaurant owner La-Van Hawkins. In 2003, Hawkins was on top of the world: born in the ghettos of Chicago, he had become the owner of more than 100 Pizza Hut franchises in Michigan and the owner-operator of one of Detroit's swankiest new eateries, Sweet Georgia Brown, and t…
1951— Attorney Hayes, Dennis, photograph. Kevin Winter/Getty Images. Think of civil rights and several names pop instantly to mind—Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Emmett Till. These are people who have transcended their own humble humanity to become cultural, social, and historical icons. We know their stories and live with their legacies. But for each …
1950— Artist Well-known as an artist and illustrator, Varnette P. Honeywood is highly regarded for her use of color and light, patterns and textures. Her work—primarily paintings, collages, and prints—has received wide exposure in galleries and individual and group shows, as well as in books and on television. Honeywood is famous for her upbeat depictions of black family life.…
1955— Obstetrician-gynecologist, educator, author Hutcherson, Hilda, photograph. Photo courtesy of Hilda Hutcherson, M.D. Dr. Hilda Hutcherson is professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, director of Gynecologic Teaching Associates, associate dean of minority affairs and diversity, and sits on the admissions committee at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York …
1918-2005 Publisher, entrepreneur, writer John H. Johnson was without question the most important force in African-American publishing in the twentieth century and has been credited with almost single-handedly opening the commercial magazine marketplace to people of color. Beginning with a five-hundred-dollar loan, he created a multi-million dollar business empire and became one of the richest men…
1957— President, military commander Paul Kagame emerged as an internationally renowned figure during his leadership of the military resistance that cut short the Rwandan genocide in July 1994. The genocide had marked the horrifying culmination of decades of ethnically framed massacres in post-independence Rwanda between the majority ethnic group of Hutu, who totalled roughly 85 percent of t…
1953— Journalist, lecturer The 14th of 19 children born into a sharecropping family in the delta region of southeastern Arkansas, Janis F. Kearney and her siblings were taught by their parents to dream and to work toward fulfilling their dreams. Kearney published the historic Arkansas State Press for a number of years before joining President Bill Clinton's administration as his pers…
1942-2004 Musician In the 1960s and 1970s, Robin Kenyatta was one of the more original players in the new sound of jazz. Unafraid to put his alto sax through unexpected twists, Kenyatta became famous for his free jazz performances. During a career spanning four decades, he released 12 albums and appeared on dozens more. He held his own against the greatest jazz men of the twentieth century and, ac…
1967-1987 Writer The social-protest novels of John O. Killens were widely reviewed in mainstream American publications at a time when few black writers achieved such recognition outside of African-American-oriented publications. Two of Killens' novels earned Pulitzer Prize nominations in 1962 and 1971, and the college writing teacher and workshop leader was a mentor to an entire generation …
1952— Health care administrator The rising cost of health care just might have met its match in Cleve Killingsworth Jr. As chief executive of the Detroit health maintenance organization Health Alliance Plan (HAP) and later as president and chief operating officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Killingsworth became noted for his innovative emphasis on containing costs throug…
1938— Politician, lawyer Kufuor, John Agyekum, photograph. Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images. John Agyekum Kufuor—often dubbed the "gentle giant" because of his imposing height of six feet, three inches—was elected president of Ghana in 2000 and re-elected in 2004. His 2000 election victory as leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ended almost two decades o…
1934-2005 Blues musician, guitarist Little Milton Campbell was a consummate blues musician. A performer known for his extraordinary technique, soulful voice, and unique blend of musical styles, Milton was also admired for his staying power. A talented musician and shrewd businessman, he recorded and performed consistently for over 50 years. While Milton may not have developed the clearly identifia…
1940— Scientist, physician, educator Trained as a microbiologist and immunologist, as well as a medical doctor, Dr. Floyd J. Malveaux's research led him from the mechanisms of bacterial infection to the biological and public health aspects of allergies and asthma. As the incidence of asthma and asthma deaths began to rise in the 1980s, Malveaux recognized that minorities in inner-cit…
1911-1995 Actress Known to generations of movie viewers as Prissy, the frantic, squeaky-voiced servant who is harshly upbraided by Scarlett O'Hara in the 1939 Civil War epic Gone With the Wind, actress Butterfly McQueen was first a successful Broadway dancer; she then went on to win critical acclaim for her quirky portrayal of seemingly scatterbrained maids in a handful of popular films in …
1952— Journalist, novelist Many journalists dream of working for the Washington Post, one of the nation's largest and most prestigious newspapers. For Jill Nelson, that dream came true—and gradually turned into a nightmare. A freelance reporter for national magazines prior to becoming a staff writer with the Washington Post, Nelson found her style incompatible with the corpora…
1961— Sports reporter and anchorwoman For a young African American woman to succeed in the male-dominated field of sports journalism, it takes an exceptional blend of hard work, expertise, confidence, and tact. Throughout her rapidly advancing career, Pam Oliver has demonstrated all these qualities, earning the respect of athletes and fellow journalists alike. She has met the challenges of …
1974— Environmental scientist, activist Atlanta-based activist Na'Taki Osborne is a one-woman phenomenon, a dynamo who devotes both career and spare time to improving the environment in the neighborhoods where she lives and works. Osborne has been active in organizing children's environmental groups, created green space out of industrial wastelands, studied environmental scien…
1840-1894 Educator Born into slavery, Mary Jane Patterson is thought to be the first black woman to graduate from an established four-year college in the United States. She spent her career creating new educational opportunities for nineteenth-century black Americans. Born in 1840 in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mary Jane Patterson was the daughter of Henry Irving Patterson and Emmeline Eliza (Taylor)…
1969— Playwright, actor, screenwriter, producer Perry, Tyler, photograph. Francis Specker/UPI/Landov. When the film Diary of a Mad Black Woman shot past the romantic comedy Hitch to become the top-grossing film in the United States in mid-March of 2005, Hollywood forecasters didn't know what had hit them. The film, a careening blend of self-help, romance, Christianity, and out…
1957— Columnist The syndicated commentaries of Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts are among the most widely read in the United States, appearing in about 150 newspapers. Pitts's columns offer insightful commentary on the American experience, particularly the African-American experience. Perhaps his most famous column was a stirring call to American unity penned the day after the te…
1970 & 1971— Musical group P.M. Dawn enjoyed some impressive pop-music success in the 1990s with the hippie-style, radio-friendly, peace-and-love rap songs of Prince Be and D. J. Minutemix. The unusual samples and gliding melodies from these two young New Jersey musician-brothers were showcased in their 1991 hit "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss," from their platinum-selling …
1941— Executive In his distinguished career, Hugh Price worked in public television and journalism, including a stretch on the editorial board of the New York Times; he worked in philanthropy, as the vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation; and he served for nine years as the head of the National Urban League (NUL), helping to revitalize one of America's most important organizat…
1964— Designer Reese, Tracy, photograph. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images. Tracy Reese ranks as one of the fashion industry's most successful African-American women whose realm is not relegated to the runway. In a business where few designer labels seem to make it past their fifth anniversary, Reese has two clothing lines, TR and Plenty, which have been sold at Nordstrom, Saks Fif…
1941— Educator, community leader Like many young black women attending college, Louise Rice joined a sorority for social and academic support. She chose Delta Sigma Theta because she felt that the organization's goals and ideals reflected the principals that she thought were important. As she later told reporter Faith Johnson in an article for the Augusta Chronicle, "I observe…
1960— Television personality One of the most successful female news personalities on television, Robin Roberts hosts Good Morning America for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The poised and well-spoken Roberts made a name for herself as a commentator for ESPN's SportsCenter and ABC's long-running Wide World of Sports. She was ESPN's first on-air black anchorwoma…
1805-1881 Crimean war nurse, writer Seacole, Mary, photograph. National Portrait Gallery/Getty Images. Jamaican-born Mary Seacole served as a nurse in the Crimean War (1853-56), establishing the "British Hotel" for soldiers recovering from injuries and illness in the Crimean port city of Balaclava. Because of her color, Seacole was refused by the British war office when she as…
1951— Human rights and environmental activist Damu Smith is founder and co-chair of Black Voices for Peace (BVFP), an organization of peace activists galvanized in response to the September 11th attacks in the United States. BVFP has goals to eliminate war and injustice in the world through a coalition of community groups and others who seek social, human, and economic equality and a peacef…
1971— Gospel singer, songwriter Micah Stampley's multi-octave singing range has taken him to the brink of stardom, with a flurry of appearances in the United States, London, and Paris. He is finding fans around the world and earning steady sales in places like Kuwait and Australia. In March of 2005, his first gospel album, The Songbook of Micah, debuted at number three of Billboard&#…
1978(?)— Gospel singer, songwriter, producer Tonex, photograph. Vince Bucci/Getty Images. Among the most exciting figures to emerge in contemporary gospel music in the early 2000s was Tonex, pronounced, as the title of his first nationally distributed album announced, Toe-Nay. Tonex's music was compared to that of Prince and Michael Jackson, and even to that of the imaginative…
1925-1975 Professional football player Tunnell, Emlen, photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. Emlen Tunnell was, as he himself pointed out to Maury White of the Des Moines Register, the "first black everything" with the New York Giants of the National Football League—"player, scout, talent scout, assistant coach, and first full-time black assistant in the whole league…
1974— Professional basketball player Wallace, Ben, photograph. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters/Landov. The linchpin of the consistently successful Detroit Pistons teams of the early and middle 2000s, center Ben Wallace was an unusual star in the annals of the National Basketball Association. His forte was defense, not the flashy point-scoring that usually grabbed sports-section headlines. His…
1959— Vocalist Watley, Jody, photograph. Manny Hernandez/Getty Images. Vocalist Jody Watley has had a long-lasting presence in the R&B and dance music genres, beginning with her membership in the disco group Shalamar in the late 1970s and continuing into a solo career that saw her rise to the top of the pop scene in the late 1980s. More than most other African-American female …
1907-1998 Novelist Dorothy West's career has been as anomalous as her life. She had once described herself as "the best-known unknown writer of the time," as quoted in American Visions. Born to a freed slave, she lived in one of the very few well-to-do black families in Boston, almost a contradiction in terms. As a teenager she won short story prizes and was widely published; …
1951— Lawyer, writer, essayist, educator Patricia J. Williams is "one of the most provocative intellectuals in American law," as noted in the Columbia University News upon her receipt of the MacArthur "genius" Fellowship in 2000. In her writings and teachings Patricia J. Williams always begins with the notion that experience counts. Society should not let case la…
1956-2005 Gospel vocalist and choir leader As a member of the award-winning contemporary gospel family quartet the Winans, Ronald Winans was a pioneer in the incorporation of modern pop sounds into the language of gospel music. As the leader of his own group, Ronald Winans Family & Friends, he brought contemporary sounds to a choral format and helped launch the careers of younger musicians.…
1966— Actor Wright, Jeffrey, photograph. Brad Barket/Getty Images. Jeffrey Wright has established himself as one of the most respected and versatile character actors of his generation. Equally at home on the stage or on screen, he has performed in roles ranging from mobster to artist to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Born in Washington, D.C., on December 7, 1965, Wright was raised t…
1948-2005 Boxer Young, Jimmy, photograph. © Corbis. The 1970s have gone down in boxing history as the golden age of the heavyweights. Muhammad Ali was in the midst of his lock on the heavyweight championship title. George Foreman was a force to be feared. Boxing matches were glamorous, primetime events grabbing the adoration of fans, celebrities, and the general public. Smack in the mi…
1977— Activist Though Princess Kasune Zulu is not technically a member of Zambian royalty, she has emerged as one of Africa's most prominent activists in combating the scourge of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Both of Zulu's parents and two of her siblings were felled by the deadly pandemic, which has swept swiftly through sub-Saharan Africa since it was first d…