Black Excellence: Ayanna Pressley

July 1, 2026

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

Ayanna Soyini Pressley (born February 3, 1974) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of Cambridge, parts of Milton, as well as all of Chelsea, Everett, Randolph, and Somerville.[1]

Pressley served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council from 2010 through 2019. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2018 after she defeated the ten-term incumbent Mike Capuano in the Democratic primary election for Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district and ran unopposed in the general election.[2] Pressley was the first black woman elected to the Boston City Council and the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.[3][4] Pressley is a member of “The Squad“, an informal group of progressive Congress members.

Black Excellence: Bow Wow

July 1, 2026

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/g-s1-126163/bow-wow-tiny-desk-concert

Bow Wow built his own lane. His debut single spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, he released three successful albums and landed a string of big screen appearances, all before turning 18. His transformation from child star to well-rounded entertainer serves as a blueprint for longevity, and honoring the impact and legacy of BET without him would have been incomplete.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Wow_(rapper)

Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987), better known by his stage name Bow Wow (formerly Lil’ Bow Wow), is an American rapper and actor. His career began upon being discovered by rapper Snoop Dogg in 1993 at the age of six; five years later, he signed with record producer Jermaine Dupri‘s So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Columbia Records. As Lil’ Bow Wow, his debut studio album, Beware of Dog (2000), was released at the age of 13, and followed by his second album, Doggy Bag (2001). Both commercial successes, the albums peaked at numbers 8 and 11 on the Billboard 200, respectively.

Black Excellence: Adrian Miller

July 1, 2026

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

Adrian Miller is an American author and former attorney and policy analyst. His books have twice won the James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship: Soul Food in 2014 and Black Smoke in 2022. He is also the author of The President’s Kitchen Cabinet, which was nominated for a 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction. He also served as a White House advisor to U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Black Excellence: Arthur Gross

July 1, 2026

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/28/nx-s1-5843114/250-colonial-america-1776-food-anniversary

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Arthur Gross has been the chef at Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, Md., for 50 years. That’s a long time, even for a tavern that started serving food before the country’s inception.

Sometimes, in between preparing food in the kitchen, “I wonder to myself what would it have been like?” Gross said of the early days at the 276-year-old tavern.

https://www.insideannapolis.com/archive/reviews/MiddletonTavern.html

Undeterred, we proceeded to the dessert and selected the crème brulee with four spoons. It was cool and, upon notice, server Aaron had it appropriately warmed to room temperature. This faultless classic favorite is a specialty of Executive Chef Arthur Gross who has been with Middleton’s for 25 years. He went through the ranks from dishwasher to prep specialist, cook, to sous chef and now executive chef, somehow fitting in training with the Culinary Institute of America, the Academy of French Cuisine and other notable professional training schools. He modestly credits the Middleton team and low staff turnover for much of the restaurant’s superb fare.

Black Excellence: Hope Boykin

June 30, 2026

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

Hope Boykin is an American dancer, choreographer and former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.[1]

Boykin also works as an educator, and joined the faculty of the University of Southern California (USC)’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance as the artist in residence for the 2019-2020 academic year.[10] In 2020, she served as the artistic lead for the Kennedy Center Dance Lab (KCDL),[11] a two-week dance and leadership program for high school students.

Black Excellence: African Teams in the World Cup

June 30, 2026

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/26/nx-s1-5867404/2026-world-cup-fifa-africa-cape-verde-senegal-morocco-congo

It’s not just Cape Verde: African soccer is having a World Cup moment

HOUSTON — Cape Verde, the surprise star of the 2026 World Cup, is having a moment. A big moment. The team has advanced to the knockout round.

This is the first World Cup for the small island nation, and yet, the squad has managed to hold its own against soccer powerhouses like Spain and Uruguay. And it’s not just Cape Verde: African teams are playing big in this year’s tournament, against soccer legends that are performing unevenly.

Black Excellence: Ronald Damper and Damron Corporation

June 25, 2026

For more than 35 years, Damron Corporation on Chicago’s west side has manufactured and distributed tea products, sourced from the most famous tea-growing areas in the world. Companies that Damron supplies its products to include McDonald’s. In fact, Damron was the first African-American owned company to become a national supplier to McDonald’s. Recently, the company entered the contract packaging arena, and now specializes in packaging solutions and logistics through the Damron Packaging and Logistics Group.

In 2019, Damron was also named the “Diverse Supplier of the Year” by The Coca-Cola Company.

Damron’s success

Ask Ronald Damper, Founder and President of Damron about the company, though, and he may be equally likely to talk about the need for opportunities for young people on the west side, the company’s story as a highly successful minority-run business, and what he sees in an economy that continues to face the challenge of COVID-19.

After 15 years in the financial services industry, Damper founded Damron, which initially operated out of a west side incubator for small businesses run by the Industrial Council of Northwest Chicago. Damron moved into its current home at 4433 West Ohio Street in 1990. The company employs a base of about 25 workers and about another 20 or so workers on a seasonal basis. Damron is located in a 50,000 square foot facility in an economically disadvantaged area on the west side.

Black Excellence: Kadi Lee

June 25, 2026

https://www.behindherempire.com/episode/kadi-lee

Kadi Lee is a celebrity hair colorist and the co-founder of Highbrow Hippie, a luxury beauty and wellness brand rooted in clean ingredients, intentional rituals, and timeless beauty.

Growing up in a small town outside New York, Kadi learned to care for her own textured hair at just eleven, sparking a passion for beauty that would shape her life. That passion took her from a college side hustle to training at Aveda and working in some of New York City’s top salons. In 2019, she and her longtime friend Myka Harris brought that experience to Venice Beach, launching Highbrow Hippie — a beauty and wellness destination that embodies clean living and a laid-back California vibe, which we’re going to talk all about today. She’s become a go-to for celebrity clients from Julia Roberts to Meghan Markle to Gwyneth Paltrow.

https://highbrowhippie.com/pages/about?srsltid=AfmBOoquEWRKCyLcuH9RHPxQKPtWVQNw6Wr3qUmqzzrf_ODWJa0c7MCd

Highbrow Hippie was founded in 2011 by Kadi Lee and Myka Harris as a platform for thoughtful conversation around beauty, culture, and conscious living. In 2019, that community became physical with the opening of the Highbrow Hippie Atelier in Venice, California – a space designed to bring hair health to the forefront of the beauty conversation.

Working behind the chair, Kadi began seeing a consistent pattern: meaningful hair loss, thinning, and breakage tied to major life transitions – stress, hormonal shifts, illness, postpartum, perimenopause. Hair was rarely the isolated issue. It was often the first visible signal of internal change.