Contemporary Black biography. profiles from the international Black community / Volume 100
(eBook)

Octavia V.R. Albert, chronicler of slave experiences -- Richard Arrington, powerful and long-serving mayor of Birmingham, AL -- Nnamdi Asomugha, elite NFL defensive back -- Rosalind Brewer, dynamic corporate executive who leads Sam's Club -- Hallie Quinn Brown, gifted public speaker -- Blanche Calloway, talented bandleader, singer, and sister of jazz star Cab Calloway -- Robert L. Carter, legal mastermind of school desegregation case -- Jimmy Castor, funk musician often sampled by hip-hop artists -- Don Cornelius, legendary television host who created Soul Train -- Doris A. Davis, first black female city mayor -- Viola Davis, award-winning stage and screen actress know for roles in Doubt and The Help -- Samuel K. Doe, Liberia's first tribal-ethnic president -- Patricia Stephens Due, leader of Florida "jail-in" -- En Vogue, top R&B girl group of the 1990s -- Crystal Dreda Bird Fauset, first black female state legislator -- Sarah Loguen Fraser, physician to underserved black communities -- Morgan Freeman, iconic film, theater, and television actor -- The Gap Band, R&B and funk trio of the 1970s and 1980s -- Henry Highland Garnet, antislavery orator who urged slave rebellion -- Frank Grant, star of baseball's Negro Leagues -- Leonard Hamilton, winning college basketball coach --

Percy Heath, musical innovator who cofounded the Modern Jazz Quartet -- Whitney Houston, pop diva of the 1980s and 1990s -- Johnathan Lee Iverson, first black circus ringmaster -- Etta James, legendary vocalist best known for the romantic ballad "At last" -- Margaret Morgan Lawrence, medical pioneer in pediatric psychiatry -- Larena Lee, early female AME preacher who wrote important spiritual autobiography -- Peta Lindsay, political activist who leads the Party for Socialism and Liberation -- Stephen Marley, Grammy-winning reggae musician and son of Bob Marley -- E. Frederic Morrow, first black aide to hold an executive position in a presidential administration -- Edgar Daniel Nixon, foundational figure in the civil rights movement in Montgomery, AL -- Noble Drew Ali, religious leader who founded the Moorish Science Temple of America -- Frank Ocean, innovative R&B singer-songwriter -- The Orioles, influential vocal group that created a new sound blending gospel and blues -- Chris Paul, league-leading point guard with the LA Clippers -- Dee Rees, breakout director known for the coming-of-age film Pariah -- Bass Reeves, escaped slave who became the West's first black lawman -- Ira De A. Reid, sociologist who studied the black experience in the 20th century --

Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, organizer of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56

Kelly Rowland, international singing star and judge on Britain's X Factor

John Brown Russwurm, American journalist and educator who became a member of the Liberian government

O.J. Simpson, disgraced former football star

Portia Simpson Miller, prime minister of Jamaica

Sister Souljah, "raptivist" and author of hip-hop fiction

Ming Smith, photographer know for capturing jazz-like glimpses into black life

Sonja Sohn, wire actress who founded youth organization in Baltimore

Octavia Spencer, acclaimed actress best known for Academy Award-winning role in The Help

Jack E. Tanner, first African-American federal judge in the Northwest

William R. Tolbert, president of Liberia from 1971 to 1980

Glynn Turman, Emmy-winning veteran actor and rodeo champion

Tyler, the Creator, controversial rapper named MTV's best new artist of 2011

Denmark Vesey, former slave executed for planning an uprising in Charleston, SC

Augustus White III, pioneering orthopedic surgeon and spine specialist

Richard Robert Wright Sr., created opportunities for blacks in education and banking

Perry H. Young, Tuskegee flight instructor who became the first black pilot hired by a major U.S. airline.