The People Who Paved the Way

Trailblazers

Pioneers, barrier-breakers, and history-makers who changed what's possible.

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Debbie Allen

Deborrah Kaye Allen is a choreographer, dancer, actress, director, and producer who has shaped American entertainment for five decades — from her iconic role as Lydia Grant on Fame (“You want fame? Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying — in sweat.”) to her work as a director and executive producer […]

Delroy Lindo

Media & Entertainment

Delroy Lindo is a British-American actor of Jamaican descent whose commanding presence and extraordinary range have made him one of the most respected performers of his generation. From his Shakespearean stage work to his iconic film roles in Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Get Shorty, and Da 5 Bloods, Lindo brings intelligence, intensity, and deep humanity […]

Denzel Washington

Media & Entertainment

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is the most acclaimed Black actor in the history of cinema — a performer of such depth, range, and charisma that he has been the number-one box office draw in America multiple times over a career spanning four decades. He has won two Academy Awards (Glory, 2001’s Training Day), been nominated […]

Diahann Carroll

Media & Entertainment

Diahann Carroll was the first Black woman to star in her own network television series in a non-stereotypical role when Julia premiered on NBC in 1968. She played a nurse and single mother — a portrayal so radical for its time that it generated both celebration and controversy. For the first time, American television showed […]

Donald Glover

Media & Entertainment

Donald McKinley Glover operates at the intersection of comedy, music, acting, writing, and directing with a creative restlessness that refuses to let any single medium contain him. As Childish Gambino, he won Grammy Awards for “This Is America,” a song and music video that became a cultural earthquake — a searing commentary on gun violence […]

Dorothy Dandridge

Media & Entertainment

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was the first Black woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress — for her role in Carmen Jones (1954) — and one of the most beautiful and talented performers of her generation. Hollywood wanted her face but not her full humanity: she was offered only roles that traded on her […]

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Trailblazers

Debbie Allen

Delroy Lindo

Denzel Washington

Diahann Carroll

Donald Glover

Dorothy Dandridge

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