I’m not a big fan of studying other people’s lives. I don’t read biographies. I don’t like memoir. But maybe that was past-Gwen. Anyway, I’m going to gather a group of intersting-to-me-people, alive and deceased. I don’t know what configuration yet – There’s that “who would you invite to a dinner party” trope – that I do like for a lot of reasons, primarily because I’m fascinated with the concept of “dinner parties” – more on that later. And there’s the “personal board of directors” trope. And … at any rate for now I’m going to combine that thought with another few and start with a list of people, at first women. I’m going to use the lists from 2 different books.
1. A book published in 1989 titled, I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America by Brian Lanker. I love the way they use the woman’s full name.
In March of 1990, I went to an exhibition of these portraits in Birmingham, Al. Gwendolyn Brooks was there and signed my book, “for another Gwendolyn”.
2. A 2017 children’s book, Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History. The word “little” refers to the cute pictures of each woman portrayed as a Funko-brand sort of figurine.
[. ] create a link to jump down to the list
I guess I should give each book it’s own page. but then I might not notice some things. I’ll do both/and – put both lists here and on the separate pages because all the pages will serve different purposes.
I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America
- Rosa Parks
- Janet Collins
- Eva Jessye
- Bertha Knox Gilkey
- Alice Walker
- Cicely Tyson
- Katherine Dunham
- Barbara Jordan
- Toni Morrison
- Althea T. L. Simmons
- Maxine Waters
- Johnnetta Betsch Cole
- Norma Merrick Sklarek
- Gwendolyn Brooks
- Leontyne Price
- Althea Gibson
- Ernestine Anderson
- Unita Blackwell
- Jewel Plummer Cobb
- Clara McBride Hale
- Ellen Stewart
- Beah Richards
- Carrie Saxon Perry
- Charlayne Hunter-Gault
- Constance Baker Motley
- Oprah Winfrey
- Sonia Sanchez
- Georgia Montgomery Davis Powers
- Daisy Bates
- Narva Nettles Collins
- Lena Horne
- Willie Mae Ford Smith
- Coretta Scott King
- Jewel Jackson McCabe
- Mary Frances Berry
- Ruby Middleton Forsythe
- Jean Blackwell Hutson
- Anna Arnold Hedgeman
- Johnnie Tillmon
- Myrlie Evers
- Faye Wattleton
- Angela Yvonne Davis
- Betty Shabazz
- Queen Mother Audley Moore
- Harriet Elizabeth Byrd
- Shirley Chisholm
- Wyomia Tyus
- Ruby Dee
- Leontine T.C. Kelly
- Margaret Walker Alexander
- Rachel Robinson
- Gloria Dean Rande Scott
- Marian Wright Edelman
- Elizabeth Catlett
- Jackie Torrence
- Autherine Lucy
- Alexa Canady
- Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
- Dorothy Irene Height
- Sarah Vaughan
- Josephine Riley Matthews
- Niara Sudarkasa
- Wilma Rudolph
- Odetta
- Cora Lee Johnson
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Ophelia DeVore-Mitchell
- Sherian Grace Cadoria
- Priscilla L. Williams
- Leah Chase
- Elizabeth Cotten
- Marian Anderson
- Winson and Dovie Hudson
- Maya Angelou
- Septima Poinsette Clark
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
- Phillis Wheatley
- Sojourner Truth
- Harriet Tubman
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler
- Mary Bowser
- Mary Eliza Mahoney
- Charlotte E. Ray
- Ida B, Wells
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Alma Woodsey Thomas
- Alice Ball
- Bessie Coleman
- August Savage
- Marian Anderson
- Josephine Baker
- Mahalia Jackson
- Rosa Parks
- Gwendolyn Brooks
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Mamie Phipps Clark
- Katherine Johnson
- Shirley Chisholm
- Althea Gibson
- Maya Angelou
- Nichelle Nichols
- Nina Simone
- Audre Lorde
- Raven Wilkinson
- Wilma Rudolph
- Marcelite Harris
- Angela Davis
- Octavia E. Butler
- Julie Dash
- Ruby Bridges
- Oprah Winfrey
- Gwen Ifill
- Dr. Mae Jemison
- Florence Joyner
- Lorna Simpson
- Dominique Dawes
… more little leaders … just basic bio info in book
- Mary Jane Patterson
- Madam C.J. Walker
- Dorothy Height
- Lorraine Hansberry
- Alice Walker
- Carrie Mae Weems
- Vernice Armour
- Venus Williams
- Serena Williams
- Misty Copeland
- Gabby Douglas
- Simone Manuel