• Ed Bradley, award winning 60 Minutes correspondent (Cheyney State)
• Keith Clinkscales, former CEO of Vanguard Media (Florida A&M University)
• Alvin J. Boutte- founder and CEO of Indecorp, the largest Black-owned financial institution in the U.S. (Xavier)
• Althea Gibson, first African American woman to win Wimbledon, U.S. Open and the French Open
• Booker T. Washington, noted educator (Hampton)
• The Honorable Barbara Jordan, legislator (Texas Southern)
• The Honorable Kwame Kilpatrick- youngest mayor of Detroit (Florida A&M University)
• Pam Oliver- trailblazing female sportscaster (Florida A&M University)
• Reuben Studdard- American Idol winner (Alabama A&M)
• Sean “P.Diddy” Combs- founder and CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment (Howard)
• Common- actor, hip hop artist (Florida A&M University)
• Rosa Parks- civil rights icon (Alabama State)
• Alex Haley- author (Alcorn State)
• Steve McNair- NFL quarterback (Alcorn State)
• Michael Clark Duncan- actor (Alcorn State)
• A. Phillip Randolph- civil rights activist (Bethune Cookman College)
• Mary McLeod Bethune- educator, college founder and presidential advisor
  (Barbara Scotia College)
• James Weldon Johnson- writer of the Negro National Anthem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
  (Clark Atlanta)
• Nikki Giovanni- poet (Fisk)
• Matthew Knowles- music industry executive (Fisk)
• Rob Hardy and William Packer- movie producers (Florida A&M University)
• Erykah Badu- singer (Grambling)
• Wanda Sykes- comedian (Hampton)
• Ananda Lewis- talk show host (Howard)
• Andrew Young- U.N. ambassador, Atlanta mayor (Howard)
• David Dinkins- New York mayor (Howard)
• Debbie Allen- choreographer, director (Howard)
• Ossie Davis- actor (Howard)
• Lynn Whitfield- actress (Howard)
• Phylicia Rashad- actress (Howard)
• Sharon Pratt Kelly- DC mayor (Howard)
• Shirley Franklin- Atlanta mayor (Howard)
• Toni Morrison- Nobel Prize winning author (Howard)
• Vernon Jordan- former head of UNCF and Urban League (Howard)
• The Honorable Roderick Paige- U.S. Secretary of Education (Jackson State)
• Walter Payton- Hall of Fame NFL player (Jackson State)
• Whitney Young- former Urban League head (Kentucky State)
• George Curry- former editor, Emerge Magazine (Knoxville College)
• Bessie Coleman- first female African American pilot (Langston College)
• Brian Mcknight- Recording Artist (Oakwood College)
• Barry Black- 1st SDA Chaplain for U.S. Senate & Retired Rear Admiral U.S. Navy
  (Oakwood College)
• Angela Brown- World renowned Oprah Singer (Oakwood College)
• John Street- Mayor of Philidelphia, PA (Oakwood College)
• Benjamin Hooks- NAACP head (LeMoyne-Owen College)
• Marion Barry- Washington, DC mayor (LeMoyne-Owen College)
• Langston Hughes- writer (Lincoln)
• Thurgood Marshall- Supreme Court Justice (Lincoln)
• Jerry Rice- NFL player (Mississippi Valley State)
• Esther Rolle- actress (Spelman)
• Oprah Winfrey- talk show host, philanthropist (Tennessee State)
• Ron Brown- Democratic Party head, Secretary of Commerce (Tennessee State)
• Wilma Rudolph- Olympic athlete (Tennessee State)
• Yolanda Adams- singer (Tennessee State)
• Betty Shabazz- (Tuskeegee)
• Keenan Ivory Wayans- (Tuskeegee)
• Ralph Ellison- author of “The Invisible Man” (Tuskeegee)
• Reginald Lewis- late CEO of TLC/ Beatrice (Virginia State)
• Tony Brown- journalist (West Virginia State)
• James Farmer- civil rights activist (Wiley College)