Black Excellence: Bill Hamid

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

Abdul Bilal “Bill” Hamid (/həˈmiːd/ hə-MEED; born November 25, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper.

Born in Annandale, Virginia, Hamid was the first D.C. United Academy player to sign for the first team in September 2009. He made his professional debut in May 2010 as the youngest goalkeeper to win a game in Major League Soccer history. He helped the team to victory in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup and received the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award in 2014. In January 2018 he joined FC Midtjylland, winning the Danish Superliga in his first season. He returned to D.C. United in August, initially on loan, and totaled 296 appearances (232 league). He was released at the end of the 2022 season, with franchise records of 89 shutouts and 976 saves.

Hamid made his senior debut for the United States national team in January 2012, playing eight games up to December 2020. He was part of their teams that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013 and 2017.

Black Excellence: Charles Francis McAfee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._McAfee

Charles Francis McAfee, FAIA, NOMA (born December 25, 1932),[1] is an American architect, building material manufacturer, and housing activist. He was the founding president of Charles F. McAfee Architects, Engineers, and Planners firm (now McAfee3) which was headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.[2] McAfee has had a distinguished career, and has been considered one of the most important African-American architect in the United States for his social activism in designing affordable housing.[3][4] He was a mentor to many of Black architects, including two of his own daughters.[5]

Black Excellence: Mara Brock Akil

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

Mara Brock Akil (born May 27, 1970) is an American television producer and writer. She began her screenwriting career at age 23 on South Central (1994) on Fox. At age 30, she became the youngest African American showrunner on broadcast network television when she created the sitcom Girlfriends, airing on UPN (2000–06) and its successor The CW (2006–08), and is the first African American female showrunner to have two series concurrently on broadcast network TV when she created its spin-off The Game on The CW (2006–09) before its revival on BET (2011–15).[1][2]

Black Excellence: Alma Thomas

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

Alma Woodsey Thomas (September 22, 1891 – February 24, 1978) was an American artist and art teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. She is the first African-American woman to be included in the White House‘s permanent art collection.[1] Thomas is best known for the “exuberant”, colorful, abstract paintings that she created after she retired from a 35-year career teaching art at Washington’s Shaw Junior High School.

Black Excellence: Ayanna Pressley

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

Ayanna Soyini Pressley (born February 3, 1974) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of Cambridge, parts of Milton, as well as all of Chelsea, Everett, Randolph, and Somerville.[1]

Pressley served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council from 2010 through 2019. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2018 after she defeated the ten-term incumbent Mike Capuano in the Democratic primary election for Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district and ran unopposed in the general election.[2] Pressley was the first black woman elected to the Boston City Council and the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.[3][4] Pressley is a member of “The Squad“, an informal group of progressive Congress members.

Black Excellence: Bow Wow

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/g-s1-126163/bow-wow-tiny-desk-concert

Bow Wow built his own lane. His debut single spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, he released three successful albums and landed a string of big screen appearances, all before turning 18. His transformation from child star to well-rounded entertainer serves as a blueprint for longevity, and honoring the impact and legacy of BET without him would have been incomplete.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Wow_(rapper)

Shad Gregory Moss (born March 9, 1987), better known by his stage name Bow Wow (formerly Lil’ Bow Wow), is an American rapper and actor. His career began upon being discovered by rapper Snoop Dogg in 1993 at the age of six; five years later, he signed with record producer Jermaine Dupri‘s So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Columbia Records. As Lil’ Bow Wow, his debut studio album, Beware of Dog (2000), was released at the age of 13, and followed by his second album, Doggy Bag (2001). Both commercial successes, the albums peaked at numbers 8 and 11 on the Billboard 200, respectively.