Category: Black Excellence

https://www.brittneyspencer.com/

As a Baltimore native, Brittney Spencer is known for her free spirit and standout ability to mold life, truth, and wild imagination into songs.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/23/1232446014/tiny-desk-concert-kelela

Kelela took her opportunity at the Tiny Desk to create something new. She swapped key pieces from her recordings (hard drums and effects) for a harp and piano. She also presented us with a challenge or two as well.

https://www.nytco.com/press/simbarashe-cha-joins-the-times/

Simbarashe has been a contributor to The Times since 2020, when he began photographing for the Metro section. He went on to write about and capture street style and fashion in his Fashion Week Diaries and Style Outside columns. He has photographed and reported for The Times from New York, London, Paris, Milan and Dakar, showcasing street style at Paris Fashion Week, Easter hats, men in pink, the layered look, Wimbledon looks and more. Simbarashe’s fresh eye and singular voice are anchored in the tradition of the beloved Bill Cunningham — in which fashion coverage comes alive through people off the runways as much as on.

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

Patrice Washington (born 1961) is a Bahamian airplane pilot, whose career was marked by a series of firsts.

https://publichealth.nyu.edu/podcast/iamgph/ep133-climate-change-and-disease-elimination-hyacinth-burrows

Hyacinth is currently pursuing her masters at NYU GPH, specializing in environmental public health sciences, where she’s also a William N. Rom climate fellow, actively working on projects related to climate change and global health. Besides all her academic pursuit, Hyacinth volunteers for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network as a Vice State Lead Ambassador. We’ll dive into this entire journey and discover her valuable insights on disease elimination strategies and building strong, better communities.

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

John Berry Meachum (1789–1854) was an American pastor, businessman, educator and founder of the First African Baptist Church in St. Louis, the oldest black church west of the Mississippi River. At a time when it was illegal in the city to teach people of color to read and write, Meachum operated a school in the church’s basement. Meachum also circumvented a Missouri state law banning education for black people by creating the Floating Freedom School on a steamboat on the Mississippi River.

As a young man, he guided 75 enslaved people from Kentucky to their freedom in Indiana, a free state. Once established in Missouri, he and his wife Mary Meachum were conductors on the Underground Railroad.

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

Allison Russell is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and activist.

Prior to her solo music career, Russell performed as a member of various music groups including Po’ Girl,^[1] Birds of Chicago,^[2] Our Native Daughters^[3] and Sisters of the Strawberry Moon.^[4]

https://www.raeghn.com/about-me

I am a writer, community organizer, and hospitality worker based in Chicago. I am the oldest of eight siblings born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in a low-income household. My younger siblings are foundational to who I am and my values. Despite facing many challenges, I graduated college with a BA in Communications and Media from Northeastern Illinois University, paying my way.