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Leroy Burgess
Leroy Burgess may not be a household name, but there’s a good chance that he had something to do with your favorite disco tune or house music jam. As writer, producer, arranger, vocalist,
Burgess’s special touch can be felt on hits like “Mainline,” “Let’s Do It,” “Moment of My Life,” and going way, way back, “You and I” and many, many more. Burgess, a Harlem native, is steeped in the traditions of various manifestations of Black Music, from jazz to gospel, and received part of his musical education at the City College of New York with the likes of Herbie Jones, a colleague of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
Kenneth & Mamie Clark
Kenneth Clark, Ph.D & Mamie Clark, Ph.D.
Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark, were a revered, married, African American psychologist team. The results of their famed “doll test” were used in Brown v. Board of Education, which resulted in the end of legal segregation in the United States. Together they founded the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU) and the Northside Center for Child Development.
Mamie Clark, born Mamie Phipps in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was a child of Caribbean immigrants. She attended Howard University as a physics and mathematics major, but felt the need early in her college career to change majors due to the lack of support by the institution as a woman in the field.
Phipps met the man that would eventually be her husband and research partner, Kenneth Clark, at Howard. Clark began his journey there as a political science major, but after working with mentor Francis Cecil Sumner, the first African American to receive a doctorate in psychology, he became a student of psychology.
After Mamie and Kenneth wed, they moved to Harlem, where he had grown up. The Clarks continued their education in psychology at Columbia University in the 1940s, where Mamie became the second African American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University—her husband was the first.
As a Black woman in psychology, it was difficult for Mamie to enter the field, so
she followed her passion for working with children, and began her quest to improve social services for youth in Harlem. She and her husband eventually opened their own children’s psychological centers in Harlem.
Upon receiving his Ph.D., Kenneth quickly landed a job at the City College of New York. He became the first fully tenured African American professor there. He later started the Psychology Department at Hampton Institute in 1942. Kenneth was also the first African American to be appointed to the New York State Board of Regents, as well as the first African American to be president of the American Psychological Association.
joe louis
Joseph Louis Barrow, born May 13, 1914, outside of Lafayette, Alabama, emerged in the 1930s as an African American boxing legend with fifty wins in fifty-four matches, including forty-three wins by knockout. He maintained the title of championship winner for close to twelve years.
Louis, nicknamed the “Brown Bomber,” began boxing after moving to Detroit with his family. With the money his mother gave him to pay for violin lessons, he paid for boxing lessons at the Brewster Recreation Center.
Louis, hard-working and determined, trained vigorously until he won Detroit’s Golden Gloves light-heavyweight title and the national Amateur Athletic Union championship. He gained global fame as heavyweight champion on June 22, 1937, in his fight against James J. Braddock.
Louis was a generous victor and donated some of his money to military relief funds. He enlisted in the U.S. Army to demonstrate his support. Louis formally retired in 1949 but returned to the ring shortly after to combat financial struggles.
Louis underwent heart surgery in 1977 and died of cardiac arrest four years later. He was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 1982.
RONALD K. ALEXANDER
Alexander’s mastery and depth of knowledge regarding classical ballet and other dance forms have transformed him into a highly sought-after dance educator. He is also a seasoned arts administrator and consultant, as well as an activist and choreographer.
In addition to the National Ballet of Canada, Alexander, a Washington, D.C. native, has performed on international stages with the Iranian National Ballet, the Frankfurt and Hamburg Dance companies, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.
He has choreographed for numerous schools, colleges, and dance companies, including the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, the Ailey School, the Harlem School of the Arts, Boys and Girls Harbor Conservancy, Alpha-Omega Theatrical Dance Company, and the Nanette Bearden Dance Company. His vast teaching experiences includes his tenures at the Harlem School of the Arts, Marymount and Adelphi University Dance Departments, Clark Center for the Performing Arts, the Restoration Arts Youth Arts Academy, Ailey, and others.
Alexander has an MFA in Dance, from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. He was the subject of Five Teachers, Five Venues, an article in Dance Magazine. He is currently on faculty at the following: The Ailey School, Stella Adler School of Acting, and the Black Arts Institute. He is on the board of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable and a member of the New York Dance and Performance Award, the Bessies.
JUNE BENJAMIN
Since the 1970s, June has called 555 Edgecombe Avenue home. She is a veteran organizer for UAW Local 2110 and has devoted many decades to ensuring equality for workers.
She has been recognized by Assemblywoman Diana C. Richards and 100 Blacks In Construction as a Labor Trailblazer.
Tulani Kinard
Tulani Kinard holds many titles but is best known as an ordained interfaith minister, vocalist, and author. As an interfaith minister, she speaks about motivation, growth, and empowerment in her community and has become known to captivate an audience with her words of wisdom. Kinard’s poetry and music tell fierce stories of love, peace, transformation, activism, and enlightenment. Her music takes the power of words and interlocks them with strong, smooth tones with the intent to change lives.
Kinard is best known for her musical career as a former Sweet Honey in the Rock member— a three-time Grammy Award-nominated a cappella ensemble of Black women who express their history through song, dance, and sign. As an author, Tulani Kinard broke out with her beauty-culture how-to book No Lye! The African American Woman’s Guide to Natural Hair Care.
As a natural beauty pioneer and owner of the first natural Black hair salon in Brooklyn, NY, Kinard is dedicated to the growth of coils, curls, and locks and the growth of the people with them. Her commitment to ensuring the success of the natural hair community led her to write legislation to protect the rights of hair braiders, lockticians, and other stylists.
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