The People Who Paved the Way

Trailblazers

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

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Robin Roberts

Robin René Roberts is co-anchor of Good Morning America — the most-watched morning news program in America — and one of the most trusted journalists in the country. She has anchored the show through some of the most significant news events of the twenty-first century while also publicly battling two life-threatening illnesses: breast cancer in […]

Ruby Dee

Media & Entertainment

Ruby Dee was an actress, poet, playwright, and civil rights activist whose career spanned eight decades and whose talent was matched only by her courage. She appeared in the original Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun, the landmark film adaptation alongside Sidney Poitier, and continued working until she was 91, earning an Academy […]

Ryan Coogler

Media & Entertainment

Ryan Kyle Coogler directed Black Panther — the highest-grossing film by a Black director in history and a cultural event that transcended cinema. The 2018 Marvel film grossed $1.35 billion worldwide and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three. It proved that a film centered on Black characters, Black culture, and African aesthetics could […]

Sammy Davis Jr.

Media & Entertainment

Samuel George Davis Jr. was the greatest entertainer of the twentieth century — a singer, dancer, actor, comedian, and impressionist whose talent was so transcendent that he broke through racial barriers in nightclubs, on Broadway, in Hollywood, and on television at a time when Black performers were expected to entertain white audiences and then leave […]

Shonda Rhimes

Media & Entertainment

Shonda Lynn Rhimes is the most powerful showrunner in television history — a writer and producer whose shows have dominated prime-time television for two decades and who single-handedly changed what mainstream American audiences would watch, accept, and celebrate. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Bridgerton, and Inventing Anna represent a body of […]

Spike Lee

Media & Entertainment

Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee has spent four decades forcing American cinema to reckon with race, class, and identity — on his own terms, with his own money when necessary. His 1989 masterpiece Do the Right Thing remains one of the most important American films ever made, a searing portrait of racial tension in Brooklyn that […]

Tabitha Brown

Media & Entertainment

Tabitha Bonita Brown became the most beloved figure on the internet during the pandemic — a warm, joyful, vegan-cooking content creator whose catchphrase “That’s your business” and maternal energy resonated with millions of people who were isolated, anxious, and hungry for genuine human connection. She went from a struggling actress to a multimedia empire seemingly […]

Tamron Hall

Media & Entertainment

A trailblazing journalist and daytime television host who turned personal tragedy into advocacy — Tamron Hall has used her platform to spotlight domestic violence, true crime, and the stories that mainstream media overlooks.

Tyler Perry

Media & Entertainment

From homelessness to Hollywood mogul — Tyler Perry built the largest movie studio in America, owned by a single person, on a former Confederate army base in Atlanta.

Whoopi Goldberg

Media & Entertainment

Caryn Elaine Johnson — Whoopi Goldberg — is one of only 19 people in history to achieve EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), and she is the first Black woman to do so. From her one-woman Broadway show to The Color Purple to Ghost to The View, Goldberg has remained one of the most recognizable […]

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Trailblazers

Robin Roberts

Ruby Dee

Ryan Coogler

Sammy Davis Jr.

Shonda Rhimes

Spike Lee

Tabitha Brown

Tamron Hall

Tyler Perry

Whoopi Goldberg

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