Black Excellence: Zaytoven

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/698086054/zaytoven-tiny-desk-concert

The Lord works in mysterious ways. It might sound cliché, but there’s really no better way to describe the circumstances that led to prolific producer Zaytoven’s impromptu Tiny Desk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaytoven

Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), known professionally as Zaytoven, is an American record producer from Atlanta, Georgia.[1][2][3][non-primary source needed] He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Mane, Usher, Future, Young Dolph, Migos, Lecrae, Lil Yachty, Chief Keef, Young Scooter, B.o.B, Boosie Badazz, Waka Flocka Flame, 21 Savage, Deitrick Haddon and La Fève.[4]

Black Excellence: Booker T. Jones

https://www.npr.org/2011/05/02/135840639/booker-t-jones-tiny-desk-concert

I’m pretty sure this is the coolest thing we’ve ever done behind the Tiny Desk. There was a bit of furniture-moving and finagling, but when all the heavy lifting was done, there it was: A Hammond B3 organ and its sturdy wooden Leslie speaker cabinet sat waiting for its star performer, Booker T. Jones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Jones

Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr.[1] (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.’s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.[2]

Black Excellence: Belle da Costa Greene

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/28/nx-s1-5159998/the-true-story-of-a-famed-librarian-and-the-secret-she-guarded-closely

The true story of a famed librarian and the secret she guarded closely

The name Belle da Costa Greene might not ring a bell, but New York’s historic Morgan Library and Museum is trying to change that.

A new exhibit called “A Librarian’s Legacy” opened this month, just in time for the Morgan’s 100th anniversary. It traces Greene’s life and her lasting influence as the library’s first director.

It was an unusually prominent role for a woman at the time — a Black woman who chose to pass as white to survive in a highly segregated America.