Anna Maria Weems is best known as an enslaved person who gained her freedom with a daring escape from slavery. Weems was born into slavery about 1840 in Maryland to John and Arabella Talbot Weems. Her father was a free man of color, but her … Read MoreAnna Maria Weems (1840-?)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Ta-Nehisi Coates is a writer, journalist, educator, and a national correspondent for The Atlantic. His articles, regarding such topics as social, political, and cultural issues, have been featured in national publications, including the Washington Post, Time, and The New Yorker. Coates’s … Read MoreTa-Nehisi Coates (1975– )
Ali Al’amin Mazrui was a Kenyan intellectual in the fields of political science, African studies, and Islamic studies. The father of the African Liberalism ideology (an economic perspective on Africa critical of western powers and Marxism/Socialism) was an often controversial figure due largely to his … Read MoreAli Al’amin Mazrui (1933-2014)
Dr. Carolyn L. Robertson Payton was the first African American and the first woman to become the director of the U.S. Peace Corps. She was appointed in 1977 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Carolyn L. Robertson Payton was born on May 13, 1925, in Norfolk, … Read MoreCarolyn L. Robertson Payton (1925-2001)
Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, a columnist, and member of the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal, a Fox News commentator, and a frequent contributor to National Review. Riley has authored two very popular books on the … Read MoreJason Riley (1971- )
William E. Kennard is a telecommunications expert, attorney, and American diplomat. He was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 19, 1957, to his father, Robert Kennard, an architect, and his mother, Helen King, an elementary school teacher. William attended Stanford University, receiving his bachelor’s … Read MoreWilliam Earl Kennard (1957– )
Robert A. Wood is a diplomat who has spent his career in public affairs, helping to shape the image of the United States, and in roles that guide the country’s relations with multilateral organizations. Wood received his bachelor’s degree from the City University of New … Read MoreRobert A. Wood (ca. 1966- )
Bonnie Jenkins is a retired U.S. Naval Reserve officer, diplomat, and expert in international security, arms control, treaty laws, and nonproliferation and disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. Born in Queens, New York, and growing up in the Bronx, New York, Jenkins was the child … Read MoreBonnie Denise Jenkins (ca.1960– )
A musical pioneer who was among America’s first wave of jazz and blues recording artists in the 1920s, Lucille Hegamin was born Lucille Nelson in Macon, Georgia, on November 29, 1894. She grew up singing in church and at the age of fifteen joined a … Read MoreLucille Hegamin (1894-1970)
Robert Frederick Smith is best known as the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a multi-billion-dollar private equity and wealth management company that employs over thirty thousand people around the world and focuses on the growth of firms that develop enterprise software. Forbes … Read MoreRobert F. Smith (1962- )
