Black Excellence: Leo Sullivan and Ethelyn O. Stewart
https://afrotech.com/leo-sullivan-ethelyn-o-stewart
Seasoned Hollywood animator, producer, and director Leo Sullivan — together with his wife, Ethelyn O. Stewart — have committed their lives toward educating Black families. Recently the couple received Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Legacy Award for their outstanding achievement for their contributions in media, Black News previously reported.
For the last 60 years, the couple has created entertaining interactive content for over 500,000 Black families to become informed through Leo Sullivan Multimedia, as per the company website. Its sister companies include AfroKids.TV, AfroKids.com, and TheAfroKidsFamily.com.AfroKids.com, and TheAfroKidsFamily.com. The mission of the multimedia outlet is to utilize visual arts to create a new future for children who are searching for a solution to their social and academic challenges.
Black Excellence: Pierre Laguerre
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Pierre Laguerre, founder and CEO of Fleeting. Laguerre was born in Haiti and came to the United States when he was 15. After emigrating to the United States, he spent his teen years living with his family in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. According to Laguerre, it was a tough neighborhood to grow up in where drug-dealing was prevalent.
Black Excellence: Stephanie Yeboah
https://stephanieyeboah.com/about
Stephanie’s active and influential presence within the creator space began over 15 years ago with her blog. Her work is a testament to her commitment to the industry and status as one of its first original bloggers.
Stephanie writes and creates content surrounding relevant and personal subjects, including plus-size fashion, body image, beauty, travel, and lifestyle, and provides witty, raw takes, perspectives, and commentary on pop culture.
Black Excellence: Paul Tazewell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tazewell
Paul Tazewell is an American costume designer for the theatre, dance, and opera and television. After training at New York University Tisch School of the Arts he started his career on Broadway. He went on to win a Tony Award and an Emmy Award as well as a nomination for an Academy Award.
Black Excellence: Nikki Giovanni
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/09/nx-s1-5222858/nikki-giovanni-poet-obituary
The renowned poet Nikki Giovanni has died. Giovanni died on Monday, Dec. 9, following her third cancer diagnosis, according to a statement from friend and author Renée Watson. She was 81. “We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world,” said poet Kwame Alexander in the statement.
Black Excellence: Michael Kiwanuka
https://www.npr.org/2020/11/16/934758657/michael-kiwanuka-tiny-desk-home-concert
Michael Kiwanuka: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kiwanuka
Michael Samuel Kiwanuka (born 3 May 1987) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is currently signed to Polydor Records.[3] His debut album Home Again (2012) went gold in the United Kingdom, while his second album Love & Hate (2016) debuted at the top of the charts.[4] He has been nominated for numerous honours, including Brit Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, BBC Music Awards, and Grammy Awards. He won the BBC‘s Sound of… in 2012 and the Mercury Prize in 2020. His most recent album, Small Changes, was released in November 2024.
Black Excellence: Georges C. Benjamin, MD
https://apha.org/about-apha/executive-board-and-staff/apha-staff/georges-c-benjamin-md
Georges C. Benjamin, MD is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation.
Black Excellence: Frank “The Tank” Watkins
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/02/nx-s1-5195424/skating-mental-health
The U.S. is facing a youth mental health crisis. These skaters want to help
On an unseasonably warm fall afternoon, Frank “The Tank” Watkins welcomes me to one of his favorite places: the skatepark at Pier 62 in Manhattan.