The People Who Paved the Way

Trailblazers

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

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Pat McGrath

Dame Pat McGrath is the most influential makeup artist in the world — a self-taught artist from Northampton, England, whose work has defined the look of fashion for three decades. Vogue called her “the most influential makeup artist in the world.” Her cosmetics company, Pat McGrath Labs, launched in 2015 and was valued at over […]

Patrisse Cullors

Civil Rights & Activism

Patrisse Khan-Cullors co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement in 2013, creating the hashtag and organizational framework that would become the largest social movement in American history. What began as a Facebook post in response to George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the killing of Trayvon Martin grew into a global network of chapters, a rallying cry for […]

Paul Robeson

Arts & Culture

Renaissance man, radical voice — Paul Robeson was an All-American athlete, acclaimed actor, concert singer, and fearless activist who sacrificed his career rather than stay silent about racism and injustice.

Pauli Murray

Politics & Law

A legal theorist whose arguments laid the groundwork for both Brown v. Board of Education and the fight against sex discrimination — Pauli Murray was decades ahead of every movement they touched.

Percy Julian

Science & Technology

A brilliant chemist who synthesized life-saving drugs from plants — Percy Julian overcame segregation to become one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.

Pharrell Williams

Music

A genre-defying producer, musician, and creative director whose fingerprints are on some of the biggest songs of the 21st century — Pharrell Williams has shaped the sound of modern pop, R&B, and hip-hop while expanding into fashion and philanthropy.

Phillis Wheatley

Literature

Phillis Wheatley was the first Black person to publish a book in America — Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773 — and only the third American woman to do so. She accomplished this while enslaved, in a language she had only begun learning at age seven when she was […]

Phylicia Rashad

Media & Entertainment

Phylicia Rashad is an actress, singer, and stage director who became one of the most beloved figures in American television as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Her portrayal of a strong, intelligent, loving Black mother and successful attorney changed the way Black families were represented on television, offering millions of viewers an image of […]

Prince

Music

Prince Rogers Nelson was a once-in-a-generation force who played 27 instruments, wrote thousands of songs, and defied every category the music industry tried to place him in. From Purple Rain to Sign o’ the Times to the vault of unreleased recordings that may never be fully catalogued, Prince produced a body of work so vast […]

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