Known for his direct yet poetic approach to debate, James Baldwin became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. His work is still heralded as some of the most forward-thinking of its time.
Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work has been fundamental in shaping critical race theory and “intersectionality,” a term that describes simultaneous racial and gender prejudice and that became mainstream 30 years after she first coined it.
Born into a bi-racial family, Ijeoma Oluo’s insightful writings about race, feminism, inequality, including her New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, have made her a leading voice in today’s social justice debate.
Brittany Packnett-Cunningham is a an award-winning leader whose activism bridges the intersections of culture and justice. Her work to elevate social change and empowerment has made her a crucial voice in the present civil rights movement.
Tarana Burke is a New York-based activist, community organizer, and founder of the Me Too movement, an international campaign against sexual violence and sexual harassment.
Rachel Elizabeth Cargle is a writer, academic, activist, and philanthropist whose work focuses on exploring the intersection of race and womanhood and providing tools to empower women and their allies.
Phill Wilson is an internationally-renowned Black AIDS/HIV activist and founder of the nation’s only HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on Black people.
Ayo Tometi is one of the three co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement that intensified focus on the civil rights of the Black community in the United States. For 20 years, Tometi has been a constant voice in the global conversations on issues of race, immigration, and gender justice.
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi founded the Antiracist Research and Policy Center and is an acclaimed anti-racism scholar, writer, activist, and historian of race and discriminatory policy in the United States.
The civil rights work of Mary Jane McLeod Bethune helped change history. She was a passionate educator and advocate who not only led voter registration drives after women fought for and won the right to vote, she also founded Bethune-Cookman college in 1923, working to provide equal access to education.
Reverend Addie Wyatt was a labor leader, women’s rights advocate and civil rights activist who became the first Black woman elected international vice president of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union and in 1975 was named “Woman of the Year” by Time magazine.
