James Baldwin (1924 – 1987) was a novelist, playwright, and activist. His essays in Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions and of of his novels, If Beale Street Could Talk, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 2018.

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Lorraine Hansberry, 1930 – 1965 was the 1st Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway, A Raisin in the Sun in 1959.

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Jason Collins born in 1978 is a retired professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After the 2012–13 NBA season concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay becoming the first openly gay man in professional sports.

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Veronika Fimbres, born in 1952 is the first transgender Commissioner of Veteran Affairs in San Francisco, California. She was also the first openly transgender person to run for governor of California.

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Alberta Hunter (1895 – 1984) was a jazz singer and songwriter.

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André Leon Talley, born in 1949, is the former American editor-at-large of Vogue magazine.

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Kiki aka Akilah “Kiki” Monifa, and Akilah Bolden-Monifa, born in 1957, is co-founder and publisher of Arise 2.0. and founder, President and CEO of Black History Everyday. She also developed the Alexa skill, Black History Everyday.

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