Curatorial Note
This e-book originated as a post on LinkedIn the week following the death of George Floyd.
The post included an 8-page document entitled an “Open Letter on Race."
The letter was released as a 25-minute video, also.
The central theme of the letter was a reflection on Dr. Martin Luther King’s critical question:“Where do we go from here?"
Leading into the week of Juneteenth, the Open Letter on Race received over 30,000 views, shares, and engagements. Friends were inspired to draft essays sharing their stories; and this book represents their collective energy.
In the arc of history, we stand hopeful that we have now reached a long-awaited inflection point; this book is a demonstration that the People are ready to lead change.
This e-book features 100 Black culture-makers & thought-leaders whose message is made for this moment.
The theme of this book is “A Call for Change.”
This interactive book will never be printed, and has embedded hyperlinks so you can take action now.
The list of change agents is split into five categories:
Cause & Community
Industry & Services
Marketing, Communication & Design
Media, Arts & Entertainment
STEM & Healthcare
There are millions of Black Americans. This book features only 100 — experts, activists,
scientists, artists, educators, industry leaders, Olympians, and beyond.
As a cohort, these change agents are answering 10 calls-to-action:
Leveling the playing field (4)
Uplifting & rallying action (2)
Guarding Black culture & history (9)
Protecting justice & freedom (7)
Creating new paths to prosperity (9)
Turning community into commerce (17)
Leading a wellness movement (5)
Paving a way for others (10)
Setting new trends (17)
Owning the narrative (20)
The inaugural list includes:
Teenage entrepreneur Mikaila Ulmer (whose product earned a $10M deal with Whole Foods);
STEM legend Marian Croak (who holds over 200 patents powering technology you use every day);
Viral Immunologist Dr. Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett (lead researcher for the U.S. government responsible for developing a COVID-19 vaccine);
Gamer Delane Parnell (whose company playVS e-sports league raised nearly $100 million in 15 months); and
Marketing genius Omar Johnson (whose full-page NY Times ad delivered a wake-up call entitled Dear white Corporate America), to name a few.
Individuals are recognized, and sometimes a team, such as I Promise Academy, Afropunk, Harlem Capital, Afrotech, Particles for Justice, and 600&Rising, to name a few.
This inaugural list contains 49 females, 36 males, and 15 teams, all hailing from the African Diaspora including, but not limited to: the United States, Haiti, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the West Indies, to name a few.
The featured artwork underpinning this book is from the 2020 Juneteenth Image Capsule of five works by Harlem-based painter & visual artist Elizabeth Colomba, who is French-born & raised and of Martinique-descent.
Go beyond celebrating these individuals. Celebration is not enough.
Starting today, share their profile & immediately contact them to hire them:
to advise you, your team or organization through a virtual talk/event,
to keynote programming for conferences,
to serve in your influencer relations efforts,
to fill your candidate pipelines,
to serve as career/personal coaches,
to collaborate in creative campaigns (from the beginning),
to discuss trends and lessons,
to train & teach others a new skill, and most importantly,
to catalyze your commitments to change.
Whatever your business need, these 100 experts represent a starting point for action. Use this guide regularly as go-to-resource, join the online blacklist100 community, and keep telling others about Black talent on your radar.
Knowledge is power. Pledge to action action. #imallin
Welcome to the 2020 #blacklist100
#LetsGetToWork
Curator,