Laverne Cox
A prominent actress and the first openly transgender person nominated for an Emmy, Laverne Cox has promoted visibility and awareness on behalf of the transgender community.
Tag Archives: African Descent
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Tarana Burke
As an activist, community organizer, and executive, Burke has been widely recognized for her work, and was named Person of the Year by TIME Magazine in 2017.
Lisa Leslie
An early star of the WNBA and a four-time Olympic gold medalist, Lisa Leslie is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. The first player to dunk in the WNBA, Leslie continues to make an impact in the sports world as a coach, team owner, commentator, and role model.
Janet Mock
New York Times bestselling author Janet Mock continues to make history as a writer, director, and advocate. In 2018, Mock became the first transgender woman of color to write and direct an episode of television. Most recently, she signed a three-year multimillion-dollar contract with Netflix, making her the first openly transgender woman of color to sign a deal with a major content company.
Ibtihaj Muhammad
A world-class fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad made history as the first American to wear a hijab in Olympic competition at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. An entrepreneur and advocate for Muslim and African American women in sports, Muhammad inspires others to defy the limits society places on them.
Suzan-Lori Parks
One of the most successful playwrights in the United States. The first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2002) and a pioneer of historically conscious and linguistically complex theater, her work is now taught at drama schools across the country.
Liya Kebede
Advocate for maternal, newborn, and child health around the world. A social entrepreneur, Kebede uses her clothing company lemlem to promote both economic opportunities and access to reproductive healthcare for women in Ethiopia.
Catherine Coleman Flowers
Environmental health advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers is determined to battle “America’s Dirty Secret”: unequal sewage and sanitation access for rural communities and people of color. A MacArthur Genius, she works on multiple fronts to improve public health, economic development, and access to water and sanitation amidst the growing threat of climate change.
Andrea Jenkins
Andrea Jenkins made history in 2017 when she became the first African American, openly transgender woman elected to public office in the United States. As a politician, poet, activist, and community historian, Jenkins strives to bring “the notion of love into the public discourse.”
Dr Vanessa Northington Gamble
Dr. Vanessa Northington Gamble is a physician and historian of medicine.