paul robeson

Paul Robeson was so influential that, with his singing, he stopped the fighting momentarily on the battlefield during the Spanish Civil War. Because of his outsized talent and extraordinary good looks, Robeson became an internationally regarded artist and appeared in films such as Oscar Micheaux’s Body and Soul and Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. 

He and his friend and colleague Count Basie recorded “King Joe” (with lyrics by Richard Wright) in 1941 to pay homage to another 555 resident, Joe Louis. Robeson paid the cost for their outspoken political activism that called for the equality of Black Americans-- along with many of his neighbors and comrades. Along with W.E.B. Du Bois and attorney William Patterson, Robeson was persecuted by the American government and vilified by the McCarthy witch hunts of the mid-twentieth century.

Vaughn Terry, a world-renowned costume designer, came to fame in the 1980s, designing for artists such as Earth, Wind, & Fire, Natalie Cole, and Bobby Brown. Terry and his design partner, the late Louis Wells, traveled the world styling and designing costumes for some of the biggest names in music. Most notable of Terry’s clientele was Black Music icon Prince. Terry and Wells designed Prince’s world-famous lustrous purple suit worn in his 1984 American rock musical drama.

Large and raised ruffles were a notable characteristic of Terry’s work, and he later incorporated them into many of his designs. This style later developed into an influential style for costume design. He made some costumes rip apart, ensuring the “wow factor” on stage when a performer would transition from costume to costume without stopping the show to change.

Terry shared in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily: “So, the lights would go down, you’d rip some tuxedos off them, and underneath would be glittery clothes. It was actually a broad range of theatrical staging, so you had to know something about clothing to actually do it, and not just pull something off a hanger.”

Terry, one of the most notable costume designers in the field, parlayed his skill, creativity, and experience into a career with prominent design houses such as Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, and many others.

Cassandra Wilson, born in Jackson, Mississippi, in December of 1955, is an African-American musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer. Appraised nationally as one of the most successful female Jazz singers, Wilson was named“America's Best Singer” by Time magazine in 2001.

She has recorded over twenty releases and has features with musicians such as Terence Blanchard, Bill Frisell, Charlie Haden, Angelique Kidjo, and Luther Vandross. Wilson is also critically acclaimed for her performance in Wynton Marsalis's Pulitzer Prize-winning Blood on the Fields.

She is a two-time Grammy Award winner. Other honors include Downbeat Female Jazz Vocalist of the Year awards (1995-96), the Miles Davis Prize by the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (1999), the Mississippi Governor’sAward for Artistic Excellence in Music (2009), a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail (2010), and honorary doctorates from Millsaps College, the New School, and Berklee College of Music.

Jane Bolin was the first African American woman in the United States to be appointed to the bench. This distinguished jurist served in family court for forty years. Because of the retirement-age requirement of 70, she left the bench and served on the New York State Board of Regents. 

Bolin knew early on that she would pursue a career in law, inspired by her father’s profession, but even he, initially, did not support her decision to study law. Her father, Gaius Bolin, was, also, the founder of the Poughkeepsie chapter of the NAACP.

She was a top student at Wellesley—a Wellesley Scholar—yet, an advisor there tried to discourage her from applying to Yale Law School due to her race and gender, but she became the first African American woman to graduate from there. She married fellow attorney, Ralph E. Mizelle. They opened a law practice together, Mizelle and Bolin.

As a family court judge, she adjudicated cases that included domestic violence, paternity suits, and crimes that minors committed. Also, she chose not to wear judicial robes in order to make children feel more comfortable.

Her humanitarian nature was apparent. She strove to be a beacon for social justice. In an interview with her hometown newspaper, the Poughkeepsie New Yorker, she called out segregation there, stating that “Poughkeepsie is fascist to the extent of deluding itself that there is superiority among human beings by reasons solely of color, race or religion.” In regards to women’s rights, she proclaimed, “We have to fight every inch of the way and in the face of sometimes insufferable humiliations.” 

The video highlights Jane Bolin’s father, Gaius Bolin, and includes commentary about her by her family members.

Born March 7, 1902, to Virginian parents who had recently migrated north to New York, Bessie Allison Buchanan came of age during the Harlem Renaissance. She was raised in the city’s theatrical district, emerging from her youth fully aware of the new opportunities for young Black Americans.

Buchanan first graced the public eye as a performer with appearances in the 1925 edition of Plantation Revue and in the integrated cast of Lucky (1927) and the original Shuffle Along (1921)¬–the first successful musical comedy with an all-African-American cast. She was highly revered and listed among performers like Josephine Baker, her dear friend, who organized a protest against the Stork Club after an incident of racial misconduct in the 1950s. 

In her performance career, Buchanan performed with the Show Boat road company, recorded for Black Swan Records, and danced in the chorus line of the famed Cotton Club, all while actively working in the Harlem Woman’s Civic Club. Having become one of Harlem’s social elite, Bessie married prominent Harlem businessman Charles Buchanan in 1929 and retired from her performing career.

The New York City Democratic Party nominated Buchanan for the State Assembly in 1954, where she prevailed victoriously and became the first Black woman to the State Assembly.

She served four terms in office. Later in her career, after a political shift of party support, Buchanan endorsed Republican Governor Rockefeller and Senator Jacob Javits.

She served on the New York State Commission of Human Rights for five years. After leaving public office, but never the public eye, Bessie Buchanan suffered a short illness and passed away in 1980 at the age of 78.