Nick Grant is an up-and-coming rap artist who has been co-signed by Outkast artist Andre 3000 as well as Nas, has been featured on MTV’s Push artists, and has performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. Grant hails from Walterboro, South Carolina and he began his career after joining up with Jason Geter. The following year, Grant performed on Sway in... read full bio
Jesse Holland is an award-winning journalist, speaker, author, educator, and television personality. He is best known for being one of the first African American journalists to cover the Supreme Court full-time. Holland was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and he earned his bachelor’s in liberal arts with an emphasis in journalism and English from the University of Mississippi. He went... read full bio
Payton Head is an activist and community leader who was the former President of the Missouri Students Association. Head focuses on fighting hate with love, and helps develop cultures that are grounded in equity. Head began his work in activism after the events that happened in Ferguson and he started working on improving race relations in Missouri. While working as... read full bio
Damon Davis is an American artist, musician, and filmmaker who works in painting, illustration, music, film, printmaking, and public art. He uses his art to tell stories on systemic oppression and his best-known work is called “All Hands On Deck,” which has been featured as a permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s Nation Museum of African American History and Culture. His... read full bio
Rosa Clemente is an American community organizer, political commentator, independent journalist, and activist who was previously the vice presidential running mate for Cynthia McKinney in the U.S. Presidential election. Clemente was born and raised in Bronx, New York. She has earned her B.A. from State University of New York, Albany, and has earned her MPS from Cornell University. She is... read full bio
Rachel Cargle is a writer, speaker, lecturer, and activist whose work circles around the intersection of race and womanhood. Cargle uses her social media to create meaningful conversations, to encourage critical thinking, and have meaningful engagement with people from all over the world that she wouldn’t normally have the chance to talk to. As a speaker, Cargle has talked on... read full bio
Keith Boykin is an American author, television personality, journalist, and political commentator. Boykin is from St. Louis, Missouri, and he has earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College and has earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. While studying at Harvard, Boykin became editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and was also leader of the campus diversity movement.... read full bio
Mike Africa Jr. is a hip-hop artist, writer, motivational speaker, and a member of the MOVE organization. Mike is the son of two political prisoners who were sentenced to 100 years and prison and Mike himself, was born in prison. After his mother gave birth to him, he was placed in an orphanage where he had a rough upbringing. He... read full bio
Damon Young is an American writer, editor, author, and co-founder of the website VerySmartBrothas. Young was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and while in high school, he played basketball and was able to earn a basketball scholarship to Canisius College, where he earned his M.A. degree in English. Young later co-founded VerySmartBrothas, which is a dating and relationship blog that also... read full bio
John Randolph, better known as Jay Smooth, is a writer, DJ, radio personality, and blogger, who is best known for hosting The III Doctrine. He is also known for being the former host and founder of the New York hip-hop radio program, The Underground Railroad. Smooth grew up in New York City and studied at Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He... read full bio
Richie Reseda is an activist, feminist, hip-hop artist, and co-founder of the non-profit, Initiate Justice. Reseda began Initiate Justice while he was incarcerated, and it is a non-profit that help people affected by mass incarceration to change laws to end punitive justice systems and to invest in the people and communities to help reduce harm. Reseda also works with organizations... read full bio
April Reign is the creator of the hashtag that went viral, ‘#OscarsSoWhite,’ a thought leader and influencer, a former lawyer, an activist, a diversity and inclusion consultant, and writer. Reign gained attention after tweeting out the hashtag ‘OscarsSoWhite,’ during the Oscars nominations announcement. She started the hashtag as she felt that the nominations had a lack of nominees of color.... read full bio
Fred Biletnikoff is an American former gridiron football player and coach who played as wide receiver. Biletnikoff was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and while in high school, he found success in sports, which include baseball, basketball, football, and track. He went on to earn All-City honors in basketball and baseball and went on to play college football at Florida State... read full bio
Helen Zia is a Chinese-American journalist and activist who is known for her activism for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. Zia was born in Newark, New Jersey, and she later studied at Princeton Unviersity where she was a student at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. While studying there, she became founder of the Asian American Students... read full bio
Dr. Frank Leon Roberts is an American professor, writer, political commentator and activist who is best known for his part in the Black Lives Matter movement. As a professor, Roberts has taught the course “Black Lives Matter: Race, Resistance, and Populist Protest,” at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individual Study. His course gained attention after being one of the... read full bio
Brian Mosteller is an American operations executive and former political aide who has previously served as Director of Oval Office Operations under President Barack Obama. Mosteller was born in Akron, Ohio, and he went on to graduate summa cum laude with a B.S. in international business from Ohio State University. He also spent time studying at DePaul University. Mosteller began... read full bio
Jim Obergefell is an American civil rights activist who is best known for being the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which was the case that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States. Obergefell began the Obergefell v. Hodges case after finding out that he could not be listed as his late husband’s surviving spouse on his... read full bio
Eric Alva is an author, LGBTQ rights activist, and veteran who was the first Marine that was severely injured in the Iraq War. Alva was born in San Antonio, Texas, and after graduating high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a gay man knowing that the military excluded all gays and lesbians from service. Throughout most of his... read full bio
Che Smith, better known as his stage name, Rhymefest, is an American rapper and songwriter, politician, and philanthropist from Chicago, Illinois. Smith rose to fame after the release of his debut album, “Blue Collar.” He has since gone on to release two more albums; “El Che,” and “Violence Is Sexy.” Smith is also well known for his work with Kanye... read full bio
Bill Posley is a comedian whose topics make humor on race and racial identity as a bi-racial comedian. Although Posley is black and white, he found out at a young age that people are very judgmental and consider him fully black although that is definitely not the case. Posley often struggled growing up being bi-racial and uses comedy as his... read full bio
