Black Excellence: Louise Little
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Little
Louise Helen Norton Little (née Langdon; 1894 or 1897 – December 18, 1989)[1] was a Grenadian-born American activist. She was the mother of Malcolm X.
Black Excellence: Binyavanga Wainaina
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binyavanga_Wainaina
Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina (18 January 1971 – 21 May 2019) was a Kenyan author, journalist and 2002 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. In 2003, he was the founding editor of Kwani? literary magazine. In April 2014, Time magazine included Wainaina in its annual Time 100 as one of the “Most Influential People in the World”.[2]
Black Excellence: Njideka Akunyili Crosby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Njideka_Akunyili_Crosby
Njideka Akunyili Crosby // ⓘ (born 1983) is a Nigerian-born visual artist working in Los Angeles, California.[1] Through her art, Akunyili Crosby “negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collage and photo transfer-based paintings that expose the challenges of occupying these two worlds”.[2] In 2017, Akunyili Crosby was awarded the prestigious Genius Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.[3]
Black Excellence: Nathaniel Mary Quinn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Mary_Quinn
Nathaniel Mary Quinn (1977) is an American painter. Quinn is known for his collage-style composite portraits that feature disfigured faces.[1][2]
https://gagosian.com/artists/nathaniel-mary-quinn
In his collage-like composite portraits derived from sources both personal and found, Nathaniel Mary Quinn probes the relationship between visual memory and perception. Fragments of images taken from online sources, fashion magazines, and family photographs come together to form hybrid faces and figures that are at once neo-Dada and adamantly realist, evoking the intimacy and intensity of a face-to-face encounter.
Black Excellence: Son Little
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Little
Aaron Earl Livingston,[1] also known by his stage name Son Little, is an American rhythm & blues[2] musician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.[3]
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/02/g-s1-19861/son-little-field-recordings-aspen-ideas-festival
Son Little’s songs radiate outdoors at the Aspen Ideas Festival
Black Excellence: Jonathan Scales
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Scales
Jonathan Scales (born September 14, 1984) is an American steel pannist and composer. He has recorded and produced seven albums, the most recent being Mindstate Music, released in 2019 on Ropeadope Records. Since 2007, Scales has recorded and performed with Victor Wooten, Howard Levy, The Duhks, Roy “Future Man” Wooten, Jeff Coffin, Jeff Sipe, Casey Driessen, Oteil Burbridge, Kofi Burbridge, Yonrico Scott, and Béla Fleck whom Scales describes as his “musical hero”.[1] His albums have been reviewed by Modern Drummer[2] and JazzTimes.[3] Scales graduated from Appalachian State University in 2006.
Jonathan Scales’ steelpans blaze at the Aspen Ideas Festival
Black Excellence: John H. Francis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_(environmentalist)
John H. Francis III (born 1946) is an American environmentalist nicknamed The Planetwalker. Born in Philadelphia, the son of a West Indian immigrant, he moved to Marin County, California, as a young man.
Black Excellence: Outdoor Afro
Outdoor Afro celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. Our national not-for-profit organization reconnects Black people to our lands, water, and wildlife through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation. Some examples of Outdoor Afro’s year-round activities range from fishing, hiking, biking, kayaking, gardening, skiing, and more.
Rue founded Outdoor Afro as a social enterprise in 2009. The now national not-for-profit celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Outdoor Afro incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2015. Today, the staffed organization includes more than 100 trained volunteer leaders, led and designed by Rue to innovate not-for-profit as movements of change.
Black Excellence: Emeline King
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeline_King
Emeline King (born December 16, 1957), is an American industrial designer, known for her automotive designs. In 1983, she was hired by Ford Motor Company, and became the first Black woman designer for the automobile manufacturer.[1][2][3] King also works as a motivational speaker, musician, and author.[4] She authored an autobiography, “What Do You Mean A Black Girl Can’t Design? Emeline King, She Did It” (2021, Claire Aldin Pub.).[4][5]
Black Excellence: Corcoran Holt
On the Beltway, a DC Jazz Festival playlist curated by artist-in-residence Corcoran Holt
https://www.corcoranholt.com/bio
Corcoran Holt, a son of Washington, DC, began playing djembe and other West African percussion at the age of 4 as a member of Wose Dance Company under the tutelage of Baba Aidoo Holmes & Mahiri Edwards.