Ernestine White-Mifetu is the Sills Foundation Curator of African Art at Brooklyn Museum.  Her professional curatorial practice on the African continent spans two decades where she has held directorial, curatorial and administrative positions within a number of  cultural institutions in South Africa. Ms. White-Mifetu’s curatorial focus is centered around a few key areas: 1. To […]

Known as one of Jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, Endea Owens is a Detroit-raised Recording Artist, Bassist, and Composer. She has been mentored by Jazz Icons the likes of Marcus Belgrave, Rodney Whitaker, and Ron Carter. She has toured and performed with Wynton Marsalis, Jennifer Holliday, Diana Ross, Rhonda Ross, Solange, Jon Batiste, Jazzmeia Horn, […]

Sydnie L. Mosley Dances (SLMDances) is a New York City-based dance-theater collective that works in communities to organize for gender and racial justice through experiential dance performance. SLMDances’ works engage audiences in the artistic process; the dances provoke a visceral reaction to the physicality on stage and incite conversation toward community action. The collective creates […]

The works of Sumayyah Ali (formerly Ash Nash ) is a Socioeconomic Activist and Black Arts & Organizer. Creative at heart, she leaned in to the complex journey to uncover and address the very systems that hinder Black artists from thriving and narrating to their communities. By investigating public data she concluded that access to […]

Felice Belle is the author of Viscera (Etruscan Press, 2023). As a poet and playwright, she has performed at the Apollo Theater, Joe’s Pub, TEDWomen, and TEDCity2.0. Her writing has been published in several journals and anthologies including Oral Tradition, The Common, and UnCommon Bonds: Women Reflect on Race and Friendship. Playwriting credits include It […]

Nite Bjuti [pronounced Night Beauty] is a trio of Black women artists who weave multiple strands of storytelling using voice, bass, electro percussion, turntables, Haitian drums, dance and visual projections to rediscover the buried Diasporic beauty in the world, transcendent across generations. The name draws from a centuries old Haitian folklore called “Night Beauty,” about […]

Radha Blank is a Director, Playwright, TV Writer, Performer and proud Native New Yorker who The New York Times has hailed as a ‘brilliant filmmaker’. Blank’s first feature film, The Forty-Year-Old Version, was one of the most acclaimed debuts of 2020 for which she was awarded The Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Directing Award, The […]

Bisa Butler was born in Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of a college president and a French teacher and the youngest of four siblings. Formally trained, Butler graduated Cum Laude from Howard University with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art degree.  At Howard Butler was able to refine her natural talents under the tutelage of lecturers […]

Jelani Cobb joined the Columbia Journalism School faculty in 2016 and became Dean in 2022. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2015. He received a Peabody Award for his 2020 PBS Frontline film Whose Vote Counts? and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary in 2018. He has […]

Jordan E. Cooper is an Award-winning playwright, producer, director, performer, and the youngest Black American playwright in the history of Broadway, as well as the youngest Black showrunner in television history. His Obie Award-winning play, AIN’T NO MO’ received six TONY Award nominations including “Best New Play” and “Best Featured Actor in a Play” for […]

With a powerful voice that resonates in any space, Nia Drummond is hailed as one of the rising vocal practitioners of American music. From the Apollo Theater to the Kennedy Center, Nia has wowed audiences with her artistry globally singing genres such as opera, R&B and everything in between . Her musical journey started in […]

Bridgit Antoinette Evans is an award-winning artist and thought leader in the narrative change field, innovating the use of pop culture strategies to advance social justice. In 2008, Bridgit founded Fuel | We Power Change, a narrative strategy firm through which she designed long-term culture change strategies in partnership with many of the nation’s leading […]

Academy Award winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins has directed three highly acclaimed features, Medicine for Melancholy, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, as well as his award-winning television series The Underground Railroad. Most recently, Jenkins produced Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. Upcoming work includes the 2024 theatrical release […]

Eunique Jones Gibson is a cultural architect, brand builder and social activist whose revolutionary campaigns have created global movements.  In 2013, she launched Because of Them, We Can® , an award-winning campaign which has now evolved into a worldwide media platform for Black Excellence. She is also the creator of the hit-game #CultureTags®, which encapsulates […]

Heralded as “one of the most important artists in jazz” by The Los Angeles Times, vibraphonist, composer and band leader, Stefon Harris performs with passionate artistry, an energetic stage presence and astonishing virtuosity. Recognized as “the real deal” at a young age, Harris performed with Joe Henderson, Wynton Marsalis, Buster Williams, Kenny Barron, Cassandra Wilson […]

Carla Hall first won over audiences when she competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Top Chef: All Stars” and shared her philosophy to always cook with love.  Born in Nashville, TN, Carla grew up surrounded by soul food. Her path to food celebrity took a winding road.  She believes food connects us all, and she […]

Sage Adams (They/She) is a Brooklyn based artist. Adams got their start on the website Tumblr as a young black person discussing politics, art, and one direction. From that initial interest in the art Adams would go on to visually direct SZA’s CTRL, release a sold-out sneaker and merchandise, and become one of the youngest […]

Justin Hicks is a multidisciplinary artist and member of The HawtPlates a family singing group that was formed in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx. His work has been featured at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Performance Space New York, The Public Theater, JACK, Dixon Place, The Whitney Museum of American Art, among […]

Kenita Miller-Hicks is a Tony-nominated, AUDELCO and Drama Desk Award-winning actor and member of The HawtPlates – a family singing group that was formed in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx. She has performed on stage in Broadway productions For Colored girls, Once On This Island, The Color Purple (Celie, original cast), and Xanadu, and […]

Emmy Award winning journalist, Jemele Hill is the Co-founder of Lodge Freeway Media and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. In April of 2019, Hill debuted a new podcast on Spotify, called Jemele Hill is Unbothered. Unbothered explores the news of the day and the intersectionality between the worlds of sports, politics, music, identity and […]

Michael R. Jackson is one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2022. His Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle winning A Strange Loop (which had its 2019 world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in association with Page 73 Productions) received 11 Tony nominations in 2022, and was called “a full-on laparoscopy of […]

Marlon James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for A Brief History of Seven Killings, making him the first Jamaican author to take home the U.K.’s most prestigious literary award. In the work, James combines masterful storytelling with brilliant skill at characterization and an eye for detail to forge a bold novel of […]

Bomani Jones is the host of the podcast The Right Time with Bomani Jones. As CEO of Old Soul Productions, He also hosts The Evening Jones, an audience driven podcast discussing a range of pop culture topics. He previously hosted Game Theory with Bomani Jones on HBO, where he tackles sports and their intersections with […]

Luvvie Ajayi Jones is a four- time New York Times best- selling author, speaker, podcast host and entrepreneur who thrives at the intersection of culture, business, and leadership. Her critically acclaimed books Rising Troublemaker, Professional Troublemaker, and I’m Judging You established her as a literary force with a powerful pen. Her first children’s book Little […]

Nikole Hannah-Jones is the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. The book version of The 1619 Project as well as the 1619 Project children’s book, Born on the Water, were instant #1 New York Times bestsellers. Her 1619 Project is now a six-part docuseries […]

Dr. Kreative is an industry professional with an impressive breadth of knowledge and a vast and varied background in the commercial end of entertainment. He has over 18 years of experience in Producing, Arts Administration and Programming. Dr. Kreative is the owner, creator, and CEO of Eason Kreative Agency, LLC and has just celebrated his […]

Jonathan McCrory is a Tony Award and Emmy Award nominated producer, two time Obie Award-winning, Harlem-based artist who has served as Executive Artistic Director at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO, Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts which include: How the Light Gets In (NYMF), Klook and […]

A Columbia University graduate and Brooklyn native, Chelsea Miller is one of the leading voices in digital organizing. After working in the Obama White House in 2016, Chelsea would later become a global voice in activism. Chelsea is the Co-Founder of Freedom March NYC, one of the largest youth-led civil rights organizations in the country. […]

Terence Nance is an Artist, Musician, and Filmmaker born in Dallas, Texas in what was then referred to as the State-Thomas community. Nance wrote, directed, scored, and starred in his first feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2013, was named a […]

Millie Peartree is an accomplished chef and media personality whose personalized takes on classic Soul Food recipes helped make her a  household name. Millie is the host of A Chef’s Guide to Soul Food, currently streaming on Magnolia/Discovery+. She has been a featured guest on Food Network’s Chopped, Worst Cooks in America and Supermarket Stakeout. […]

Dr. Fahamu Pecou received his BFA at the Atlanta College of Art and a Ph.D. from Emory University. Dr. Pecou exhibits his art worldwide in addition to lectures and speaking engagements at colleges and universities. As an educator, Dr. Pecou has developed (ad)Vantage Point, a narrative-based arts curriculum focused on Black male youth. Dr. Pecou […]

Ami Taf Ra is a world renowned North-African singer and songwriter. She was born in Morocco and raised most of her life in Amsterdam. She creates music that connects East and the West musically with her fusion jazz sound.  While residing in Istanbul, she recorded her Istanbul inspired debut album in 2018 called EastWest and […]

Diallo Riddle is a versatile talent in the entertainment industry, known for his work as a director, writer, actor, showrunner, producer, and not to mention DJ. Alongside his creative partner Bashir Salahuddin, Riddle has launched numerous critically acclaimed projects through their production company, J30 Studios. Their Emmy-winning variety comedy series Sherman’s Showcase, executive produced by […]

Emmy-nominated actor, director, writer and producer Bashir Salahuddin was born and raised on the south side of Chicago as one of six children. He is a recognized alumni of Harvard University where he was a member of the famed HASTY PUDDING THEATRICALS.  Bashir co-created the critically acclaimed series South Side on HBO MAX for which […]

Halima Taha is an art professional whose curatorial, art advisory, gallery, appraisal, strategic planning, writing, and management services develop corporate, not-for-profit,  academic, and civic programs and audiences. She is best known for her groundbreaking  bestseller, Collecting African American Art: Works on Paper and Canvas, the first book to validate collecting fine art, printmaking, and photography by Americans of African descent as […]

Liesl Tommy is a Tony® nominated, award-winning international theater, TV, and film director.   She is known in the theater world for her development of exciting new works as well as her innovative interpretation of classics. She is the first Black woman ever nominated for a Tony Award® for Best Direction of a Play, which she […]

Kerry Washington is an Emmy-winning, SAG, and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director, producer, and organizer. A native of The Bronx, New York, Washington is a versatile and fearless multi-hyphenate, and has received high acclaim for her work in film, television, theater, digital media, advocacy, and beyond. Washington received widespread public recognition for her role as Olivia […]

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. He is the author of the bestselling books The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, The Water Dancer, and Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015. He was a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship the same year.  As a […]

Dr. Yaba Blay is a dark-skinned, kinky-haired, first-generation American-born-Ghanaian who identifies as Black with a capital B. She is a scholar-activist, freedom writer, and cultural consultant whose scholarship, work and practice centers on the lived experiences of Black women and girls, with a particular interest in body, identity, and beauty politics. dr. Blay’s commentary is […]

Ted Bunch is an author, educator, activist, and lecturer working to advance gender and racial justice and create a more equitable society. As the chief development officer for A Call to Men™, Ted is internationally recognized for his efforts to prevent violence against women while promoting a healthy, respectful manhood. He is a leading voice […]

Ghetto Gastro is the Bronx-born culinary collective from Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, and Lester Walker. As a group they have notably defined their own lane, merging food, fashion, music, art, and design. Ghetto Gastro celebrates The Bronx as a driver of global culture and uses food as a weapon to make an impact in their […]

Michael Harriot is the author of BLACK AF HISTORY: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America, the host of the podcast Drapetomaniax: Unshackled History, and is a columnist at theGrio.com where he covers the intersection of race, politics, and culture. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, NBC, BET, and on his mother’s refrigerator. He is a political […]

Since 2007, Stephen Satterfield has devoted his career to redefining food and beverage as a means to organize, activate and educate. He saw the need for more inclusive storytelling and a media company dedicated to food origins and culture from around the world.  Prior to his career in media, Stephen Satterfield was a sommelier and […]

Salamishah Tillet won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for criticism for her work at The New York Times Magazine for columns examining race, genre, and Black perspectives as the arts and entertainment world responded to the Black Lives Matter moment with new works. She is also the author of In Search of The Color Purple: The […]

Named after the famous feminist storyteller of the Arabian Nights, Scheherazade Tillet is a Trinidadian and African American photographer, art therapist, and social justice organizer.  Tillet earned a Masters of Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a B.A. from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine […]

Kamasi Washington is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer born and raised in Los Angeles. His three bodies of work to date—The Epic; Harmony of Difference, an EP originally commissioned for the 2017 Whitney Biennial; and Heaven and Earth, are among the most acclaimed of the past decade. Washington has released two films: As Told To […]

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. He is the host of the new action podcast Be Antiracist. Dr. Kendi is the author of many […]