Category: Black Excellence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Gaines_(artist)

Charles Gaines (born 1944) is an American visual artist, whose work interrogates the discourse of aesthetics, politics, and philosophy. Taking the form of drawings, photographic series and video installations, the work consistently involves the use of systems, predominantly in the form of the grid, often in combination with photography. His work is rooted in conceptual art – in dialogue with artists such as Sol LeWitt, Lawrence Weiner and Mel Bochner – and Gaines is committed to its tenets of engaging cognition and language. As one of the only African-American conceptual artists working in the 1970s, a time when political expressionism was a prevailing concern among African-American artists, Gaines was an outlier in his pursuit of abstraction and non-didactic approach to race and politics.^[1] There is a strong musical thread running through much of Gaines’ work, evident in his repeated use of musical scores^[2] as well in his engagement with the idea of indeterminacy, as similar to John Cage and Sol LeWitt.^[3] He lives in Los Angeles, California.

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

Eddie Steven Glaude Jr. (born September 4, 1968) is an American academic, author, and pundit. He is James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University, where he teaches in the departments of African American studies and religion.^[1][2] At Princeton, Glaude was the inaugural department chair after the Princeton Center for African American Studies became an academic department in 2015;^[3] he led the program until stepping down in 2023.^[4]

Glaude teaches courses across the liberal arts disciplines^[5] and has been quoted in the media as a subject-matter expert on racial and religious identity politics in the United States.^[6][7] He has written and edited multiple books published by university presses, has contributed essays to Time, The Huffington Post, and The New York Times,^[8] and has appeared on NBC and MSNBC programs such as Morning Joe, Deadline: White House, and Meet the Press.^[1]

Reggie Harris is an innovative guitarist, a fearlessly creative vocalist, and an engaging storyteller whose concert performances are infused with joy. It’s clear to all that he deeply loves singing and that it is more than his work. But that’s not all.

Uniquely committed to “music as a community building vehicle,” Reggie’s music shares insightful perspectives on issues of  life, history, education and human rights. In the spirit of his mentors, Pete Seeger and Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, (founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Reggie is a master songleader who loves to help people discover that they can make a difference at any age, wherever they may live..

https://americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/reggie-harris

Reggie Harris’ mission is to tell the stories and sing the songs about the legacy of race and racism in the United States and to teach people that they have the spirit, courage and decency to rise above it and heal. Reggie says that his work “. . . bridge[s] the gaps between those on the left and right. . . between the unaware and the true believers . . . between the oppressed and the oppressors and . . . provide[s] a basis for dialogue and reconciliation.”

Edouard Wemy

Associate Professor, Economics

Clark University

Dr. Wemy is originally from Burkina Faso.  He received his B.A. in Economics and Mathematics at Ohio Dominican University, and his Ph.D. in Economics in 2015 from Emory University.

Dr. Wemy is an active member of the American Economics Association and a fellow of the Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics (DITE) – an NSF funded program aimed at increasing the representation of minorities in the economics field.

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

Jalen Marquis Brunson^[1] (born August 31, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The son of former NBA guard Rick Brunson, he played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats, earning national player of the year honors as a junior and winning two national championships. Brunson was selected 33rd overall in the 2018 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks and played his first four NBA seasons with them. He signed with the Knicks as a free agent in 2022, subsequently leading the franchise to its first NBA championship in 53 years.

https://www.addyeb.com/biography

a’driane nieves (b. 1982, San Antonio, Texas) is a visual artist and writer whose interdisciplinary practice explores the interior landscapes of the self. A self-taught painter for over a decade, she began painting in 2011 as a form of art therapy during recovery from postpartum depression and a subsequent diagnosis of bipolar disorder. What began as therapeutic experimentation gradually became a way to confront the emotional suppression rooted in her early experiences of abuse.

It takes most college students a semester or two to zero in on passions, projects, and course loads. But Nate Edwards-Roseney ‘22 was a Fellow at Clark University’s Mosakowski Institute even before he began his freshman year; the Institute was part of what drew him to Clark in the first place. For the past four years, he has only deepened his commitment to the Mosakowski Institute and its work, while deepening his connection to himself and those he teaches and trains.

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/15/846195598/abdullah-ibrahim-south-africa-obituary

Abdullah Ibrahim, the South African jazz pianist deemed his country’s equivalent to Mozart by Nelson Mandela, died Monday in his adopted home of Germany after a short illness. He was 91 years old.

“Abdullah passed away peacefully with South Africa and its people in his heart,” his partner, Marina Umari, said in a statement. “His love for his country never wavered, no matter where in the world he found himself.”

In an extraordinarily accomplished career that spanned eight decades, Ibrahim helped bring bebop stylings to South Africa, and he bonded with Duke Ellington, who produced one of his early, influential recordings. In his later years, he became an idol and an inspiration to new generations of jazz pianists.

Dr. Kevin S. Smith, serving as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Affiliations at the Morehouse School of Medicine, brings a wealth of experience and dedication to his role in shaping the future of healthcare professionals. With a foundation laid during his residency and fellowship training at Stanford University Medical Center, Dr. Smith has established a distinguished career consistently demonstrating a commitment to medical education, transformative leadership, and operational excellence.

Throughout his career, Dr. Smith has held key leadership positions at prominent institutions, including serving as the Associate Chief Medical Officer and Division Chief of Gynecology and General Obstetrics at Howard University Hospital in Washington DC, as well as Associate Professor in the Howard University College of Medicine.

Gary Holness

Associate Professor of Computer Science, Clark University

Gary gets an absolute thrill from building things; that is bringing ideas, theories, and algorithms to life! He focuses on the investigation, design, and algorithmic realization of models that endow computing machines and systems with the ability to sense, interpret and act upon the content of their environment. His work ranges from theoretical to applied including the development of new mathematical models, algorithms for pattern recognition, computational approaches and architectures in support of intelligent systems, prototype systems, and experiments.