Category: Black Excellence

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

Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986) was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist. She was a largely behind-the-scenes organizer whose career spanned more than five decades. In New York City and the South, she worked alongside some of the most noted civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph, and Martin Luther King Jr. She also mentored many emerging activists, such as Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, and Bob Moses, as leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).^[1][2]

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

Richard Bowie Spikes (October 2, 1878 – January 22, 1963) was an African-American inventor. The holder of a number of United States patents, his improvements on existing inventions include a beer tap, automobile directional signals, an automatic gear shift device based on automatic transmission for automobiles and other motor vehicles and a safety braking system for trucks and buses.

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

Mati Diop (born 22 June 1982) is a French film director and actress. She won the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for her feature film debut, the supernatural romantic drama Atlantics, and the Golden Bear at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival for her second feature film, the documentary Dahomey. As an actress, she is known for the drama film 35 Shots of Rum (2008).

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5177334/nyc-marathon-2024-results

After 4 attempts, Abdi Nageeye wins the NYC marathon

Abdi Nageeye, 35, from the Netherlands, claimed victory in the men’s race of the New York City Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2:07:39. It was his fourth appearance in the Big Apple run, and his first win in the event.

https://lonnieshields.com/biography

Lonnie Shields is truly one of the finest of the next generation of the blues. He cut his blues teeth performing with The Jelly Roll Kings. His recording career has led him through a number of studios from Memphis and Clarksdale to tours all over the world. This Delta born guitarist, singer and songwriter’s style is just the opposite of his demeanor. Lonnie comes across as a mild mannered southern gentleman with a laid back nature. On stage he is transformed into an extraordinary entertainer moving to his music and feeding off the energy of the audience. His music is deeply rooted in gospel, soul and R&B while his sound, like his soul is never too far from the home of the blues.

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/10/530876080/ella-jenkins-dead-at-100

Ella Jenkins, the first lady of children’s music, has died at 100

You may have grown up hearing one of Ella Jenkins’ signature tunes, like “You’ll Sing A Song and I’ll Sing A Song.” And you may have then played her music for your own children. Jenkins, who was known as “the first lady of children’s music,” died on Saturday at her residence in Chicago. She was 100.

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/10/803620275/baby-rose-tiny-desk-concert

“This is what real love sounds like.”

From any other new artist, a Tiny Desk declaration like that might sound a tad bit presumptuous if not altogether premature. But when the voice behind those words is as seasoned and vintage as Baby Rose’s, everything it utters reverberates like the gospel truth.

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

Jasmine Rose Wilson (born August 5, 1994), known professionally as Baby Rose, is an American singer.^[2][3] As of 2024, she is signed with the record label Secretly Canadian.^[4]

Bio

Amadi Azikiwe, violist, violinist and conductor, has been heard in recital in major cities throughout the United States, such as New York, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Houston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., including an appearance at the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Azikiwe has also been a guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the Alice Tully Hall in New York, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He has appeared in recital at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, the “Discovery” recital series in La Jolla, the International Viola Congress, and at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since then, he has performed throughout Israel, Canada, South America, Central America, Switzerland, India, Japan, Nigeria, Hong Kong, and throughout the Caribbean.

https://harlemchamberplayers.org/amadi-azikiwe

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

Armenta Adams (Hummings) Dumisani (born 1936) is an American concert pianist and music educator who since 1960 has performed in the United States and, thanks to an international relations award from the U.S. State Department, in 27 other countries. In 1993, she founded the Gateways Music Festival which promotes the achievements of young African-American classical musicians. A former associate professor of music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, in 1994 she was appointed Eastman’s Distinguished Community Mentor.^[1][2][3]

https://www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org/new-page-1miss-armentas-story-in-her-own-words

Miss Armenta’s story in her own words

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/04/834546599/quincy-jones-pop-mastermind-thriller-producer-dies

Quincy Jones, whose decorated music career ran from the early 1950s through the best-known works of Michael Jackson and beyond, died Sunday. He was 91.