Musicians
This musician is one of the most famous musicians of all time, but he lost his sight as a newborn.
Stevie Wonder
This American actor played Black Panther in the Marvel movie.
Chadwick Boseman
his living American artist is famous for his portraits. His most famous portrait is of the former President, Barack Obama.
Kehinde Wiley
This American poet not only wrote extensively, he also fought for civil rights and was a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.
Langston Hughes
This individual athlete revolutionized the sneaker industry after winning six national championships with the Chicago Bulls.
Michael Jordan
This Jamaican artist sang "Three Little Birds," with the lyric "Don't Worry About a Thing."
Bob Marley
This British actress recently rose to extreme fame by playing Elphaba in the film production of the Broadway Show Wicked.
Cynthia Ervivo
This American Artist is known for his neo-expressionism, including graffiti works. He tragically died when he was only 27.
Basquiat
This American Author won the Pulitzer Prize for her book Beloved. She also won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Toni Morrison
This professional dancer is considered a prodigy because she did not start dancing until she was 13. She has been on “So you Think you can Dance” and is sponsored by Under Armour.
Misty Copeland
This is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, television personality and actor. He co-composed the score for the Pixar movie Soul and played the National Anthem at this year's Superbowl.
Jon Batiste
This person started his career as a rapper in Philadelphia before starring in the 90s hit TV show “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”
Will Smith
This American sculptor was the first African-American member of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in 1934 and taught famous painter, Jacob Lawrence.
Augusta Savage
This Civil-Rights activist and author spoke six different languages and was the first female inaugural poet in U.S. history.
This woman was of African-American and Native-American descent who was the first black woman to earn an international pilot’s license in 1921.
Bessie Coleman
This singer and songwriter was crowned “Queen of Soul” and sang “Respect”.
Aretha Franklin
This actor served as an Army Ranger in the Korean War before being the voice of Darth Vadar in Star Wars.
James Earl Jones
This famous artist was the first Fine Arts graduate of Howard University and worked as a teacher in Washington D.C. before starting her art career.
Alma Thomas
This renowned American author, who had dyslexia, was a pioneer in her field who won the Nebula, Locus, Hugo awards and became the first science-fiction author to receive the MacArthur Fellowship in 1995.
Octavia Butler
This chef was the first African-American woman to create and film her own TV show of her freshly preparing foods in 1949.
Lena Richard
This singer was an influential jazz pianist who started playing piano at just at 4 years old and was the first African American to host a nationally broadcasted television show.
Nat King Cole
This producer is a film and television animator and character designer who is best known for his creation of Disney Channel’s “The Proud Family”
Bruce Wayne Smith
This American fashion designer was the first African American to own a couture salon on Madison Avenue in New York City who is most famous for her creation of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding dress.
Ann Lowe
This author was Barnard University’s first black graduate, best known for her novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, and was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
Zora Neale Hurston
This living world-renowned chef and restaurateur has won 8 James Beard Foundation awards, was a longstanding judge on the show Chopped, and Iron Chef.
Marcus Samuelson