AALBC Search
J. Tremble
J. Tremble NONE J. Tremble, a graduate of Missouri Valley College and Howard University, works as a sixth-grade math teacher in Prince George's County Public School System. He's a dedicated family ma...
Ursula M. Burns
Ursula M. Burns 0000000445332455 Ursula M. Burns is a pioneering American businesswoman, the first black woman to become a Fortune 500 CEO at Xerox, where she served from 2009-2016. She was also Chai...
Dorothy Koomson
Dorothy Koomson 0000000122756528 Dorothy Koomson, a London-born novelist, started her writing journey at 13. After studying in Leeds and London, she began her career in women's magazines and national...
Gary A. Johnson
Gary A. Johnson NONE Gary A. Johnson, founder of a management training and consulting company, is renowned for running popular web platforms like Black Men In America.com. With significant experience...
Terry Wells-Jones
Terry Wells-Jones NONE Terry Wells-Jones, a graduate from the University of Wisconsin, is a retired businesswoman and one of the first Black models of the 1960s. She broke barriers as the first woman...
Leroy Wilson
Leroy Wilson NONE Leroy Wilson, a Brooklyn native and Southern Wesleyan University alum, is an area manager for a Fortune 500 company. Now living in the South, he debuts with his first book, Reversal...
Jeff Johnson
Jeff Johnson NONE Jeff Johnson is a decorated journalist and communication specialist, now President of JIJ Communications. Co-founder and CEO of Elite Voices Speakers, he's a regular on TheRoot.com ...
Oteia Bruce
Oteia Bruce NONE Oteia Bruce is an experienced financial services professional with a focus on biblically based money management since 1986. She held key positions at Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and B...
Valerie Graves
Valerie Graves 0000000120182073 Valerie Graves, a renowned creative director and author, is recognized for her work with Fortune 500 companies and her groundbreaking role as one of the first black co...
Dorothea Grimes-Frederick
Dorothea Grimes-Frederick NONE Dorothea Grimes-Frederick is a distinguished engineer, educator, and speaker with considerable experience in Fortune 500 companies. The first African-American woman to ...
Harrine Freeman
Harrine Freeman NONE Harrine Freeman is a financial expert, speaker, writer, and CEO of H.E. Freeman Enterprises, a firm offering personal finance consulting services. She's a best-selling author kno...
Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi 0000000464681757 Tomi Adeyemi, a Nigerian-American author and creative writing coach, is known for her debut West African YA Fantasy novel “Children of Blood and Bone.” A Harvard graduat...
Gena Cox
Gena Cox NONE Dr. Gena Cox is an organizational psychologist, executive coach, and author known for her nuanced insights and invaluable recommendations. She guides leaders in adapting to societal cha...
Allison Mick
Allison Mick NONE Allison Mick is a Los Angeles–based comedy and animation writer from the Great Lakes. Mick’s writing appears in Trailer Park Boys: Big A$$ Comic Collection (Devil’s Due Co...
Silk White
Silk White NONE Silk White, a best-selling urban fiction author from Harlem, New York, is also a co-owner of Good2Go Publishing and Films. He has credit for films like No Way Out & Black Barbie, and ...
K. Elliott
K. Elliott NONE K. Elliott, raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, overcame a difficult early life involving poverty, the drug trade, and jail. Encouraged by a professor, he pursued writing, excelling ...
Wil Clay
Wil Clay NONE Wil Clay, a renowned artist, began his journey in art at a young age. He studied at prestigious art institutions before establishing studios in Providence and Houston. Initially focusin...
MK Asante
MK Asante NONE MK Asante, Jr., a bestselling author, award-winning filmmaker, and professor, uses his talent for storytelling to overcome personal struggles. Known for his memoir 'Buck,' Asante's wor...
Cherry
Cherry NONE Cherry, an author and finance professional based in Charlotte, North Carolina, uses her love for writing to craft stories that inspire resilience. A graduate of Winston-Salem State Univer...
Lalita Tademy
Lalita Tademy 0000000115872555 Lalita Tademy, a former VP at Sun Microsystems, left her corporate career to trace her family history and write. Born in Berkeley, California, she grew up in a southern...
Lucy Terry
Lucy Terry NONE Lucy Terry Prince, born in West Africa (1730-1821), was a poet, storyteller, and activist known for being the first African American woman to compose a poem. Kidnapped and sold into s...
Flores Forbes
Flores Forbes NONE Flores Alexander Forbes, a former Black Panther Party member and convict, turned his experiences into criminal justice-related work at Columbia University and two memoirs. His book...
Thom S. Rainer
Thom S. Rainer 0000000083290568 Thom S. Rainer is the CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, an author of over two dozen books, and a former dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also le...
Cynthia Freeman Gibbs
Cynthia Freeman Gibbs NONE Cynthia Freeman Gibbs is a Michigan-born author, MBA holder, and former Merck Pharmaceutical corporate worker. She launched her writing career in 2016 and published her boo...
Patricia C. Mckissack
Patricia C. Mckissack 0000000108593937 Patricia L'Ann Carwell McKissack (1944-2017) was a renowned children's author who wrote over 100 books highlighting African American history and Southern folklo...
Mickey See-Asia
Mickey See-Asia NONE Michele D. Croswell, pen name Mickey See-Asia, is a New York-born author known for her impactful books that discuss her personal experiences with sexual abuse and empowering love...
Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron 0000000120176415 One of the most influential progenitors of rap music, Gil Scott-Heron’s aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his en...
Jamaica Kincaid
Jamaica Kincaid 0000000081560368 Jamaica Kincaid, born as Elaine Potter Richardson in Antigua, is a renowned novelist and essayist. She migrated to the US at 17, worked as an au pair, and later atten...
Karen E. Quinones Miller
Karen E. Quinones Miller 0000000050390888 Karen E. Quinones Miller, born in Harlem, experienced street life as a teen, joined the Navy at 22, and later became a journalist. She worked for The Philade...
Robert Hayden
Robert Hayden 0000000114660665 Hayden was Named U.S. Poet Laureate for (1976–1978) Robert Hayden (1913-1980) was a renowned African-American poet, essayist, and educator. He was the first Africa...
Charles D. Ellison
Charles D. Ellison NONE Charles D. Ellison is an acclaimed political strategist, commentator, and advocacy expert with nearly 20 years of experience. He's the Washington Correspondent for The Philade...
Pamela Thomas-Graham
Pamela Thomas-Graham 0000000120062776 Pamela Thomas-Graham, a Harvard graduate, is currently the president and CEO of CNBC Television, and founder of luxury blog Dandelion Chandelier. She has extensi...
Elayne Fluker
Elayne Fluker NONE Elayne Fluker is a seasoned media entrepreneur with a 20-year career in journalism at top outlets like Condé Nast and Huffington Post. She's an expert in media, pop culture, and w...
Reginald F. Lewis
Reginald F. Lewis 0000000082053675 Reginald F. Lewis (1942-1993) was an influential American businessman, known as the richest African-American in the 1980s with an estimated net worth of $400 millio...
Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup 0000000374327420 Born free, Solomon Northup was kidnapped into slavery in 1841, enduring this for 12 years in Louisiana. Regaining his freedom in 1853, he penned the memoir “Twelve Ye...
Olive Senior
Olive Senior 0000000110714769 Jamaican-born Olive Senior is an accomplished scholar, journalist, and editor. Educated at Carleton University and the Thomson Foundation, she's held roles at the Daily ...
Charlos Gary
Charlos Gary 0000000040441645 Charlos Gary is an award-winning cartoonist known for the comic strip “Working It Out.” Raised in poverty, he used his artistic talents to rise above his circumstances, ...
Artika R. Tyner
Artika R. Tyner NONE Dr. Artika R. Tyner is an influential leader, author, and speaker focused on fostering inclusive leadership and social justice. With a background in law, education, and nonprofit...
A.R. Bernard
A.R. Bernard NONE Dr. Alphonso R. Bernard, Sr., born in 1953, is the spiritual leader of the New York Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn. He left a banking career in 1979 to establish a church tha...
RAWSISTAZ
RAWSISTAZ NONE The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers were a group of 13 women, including founder Tee C. Royal, who promoted books by and about African Americans. These avid readers, reviewers and members of the Re...
Charly Palmer
Charly Palmer 0000000036783693 Charly “Carlos” Palmer is a renowned artist, illustrator, and educator. Born in Alabama and trained in Chicago, he's famous for running a successful design studio and t...
Bonnie St. John
Bonnie St. John 0000000036620085 Bonnie St. John, the first African-American Winter Paralympic medalist, is a highly accomplished individual. Despite losing her leg at age five, she ventured into var...
Shawn D. Rochester
Shawn D. Rochester NONE Shawn D. Rochester, CEO of Good Steward LLC, is a financial expert with a strong background in corporate development and global strategy. He has a proven track record in optim...
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass 0000000121171288 “Without Struggle… There Is No Progress!” —Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), born into slavery, was an influential abolit...
Joshua L. Mitchell
Joshua L. Mitchell NONE Joshua L. Mitchell, an ordained Baptist minister, serves as a youth and college students' leader at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. He holds degrees in Communications, Divinity...
Kim Jones
Kim Jones 0000000385386573 Kimberly Jones, an educator at Lawton Public Schools since 1998, is committed to community improvement. She has initiated numerous programs including “The Colors of Life,” ...
Lynda Johnson
Lynda Johnson NONE Lynda Johnson, co-founder of Go On Girl! Book Club, supported authors from the African diaspora and helped fund scholarships. She also founded Kidstylesource.com, a leading website...
Ray’Chel Wilson
Ray’Chel Wilson NONE Ray’Chel Wilson, an award-winning teacher and entrepreneur, focuses on educating young professionals about financial wellness. Originally from Ohio, she moved to Tulsa to teach h...
Lisa M. Bennett
Lisa M. Bennett NONE Lisa M. Bennett, former executive and current author, coach, and YouTube personality, uses her expertise to empower individuals through Fearless Coaching LLC and C-Crets, a caree...
Chris Webber
Chris Webber 0000000031515227 Chris Webber was a five-time All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. In a career that spanned fifteen seasons, Webber is one of five NBA players to average at least ...
Nina Foxx
Nina Foxx 0000000045364941 Nina Foxx, a prolific author of 15 novels, has also written, produced, and directed multiple award-winning stage plays and films. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a...
Robert Livingston
Robert Livingston 0000000450948924 Robert Livingston is a diversity scholar who serves on the faculty of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of The Conve...
Karmetria Burton
Karmetria Burton NONE Karmetria Dunham Burton PhD is senior director of Global Supplier Diversity and Inclusion for McDonald’s. Dr. Karmetria Burton is a corporate executive, speaker, author, and fou...
Kenneth I. Chenault
Kenneth I. Chenault NONE Chenault was one of the first Black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company. Kenneth Irvine Chenault, born June 2, 1951, is the Chairman and Managing Director of the venture capital fi...
Gerry Wright
Gerry Wright NONE Gerry Wright is a former professional basketball player and author. After earning All-American honors in high school and playing basketball at the University of Southern California ...
Toni Lee
Toni Lee NONE Lee, with over 22 years experience in filmmaking and production in Atlanta, has also taught screenwriting at various universities. She later retrained as a mental health and addictions ...
Aliona L. Gibson
Aliona L. Gibson NONE Aliona L. Gibson is an author and filmmaker with a passion for creativity and service. She published her first book, Nappy, and later the self-published For Black Writers. Inspi...
Ziggy Marley
Ziggy Marley 000000011476515X Ziggy Marley, five-time Grammy-winning musician, actor, and activist, was born in Jamaica to Bob and Rita Marley. He began his career in music at just 10 years old and l...
Nah’Sun
Nah’Sun NONE Born in Lilbourn, Missouri, Nah’Sun would later move around the Midwest before temporarily settling in Chicago. An aspiring cartoonist, Nah’Sun never gave writing a thought until him an...
Miriam Decosta-Willis
Miriam Decosta-Willis 0000000033083659 Dr. Miriam DeCosta-Willis is a renowned academic, holding degrees from Johns Hopkins and Wellesley College. She made history as the first African American facul...
Derrick Bell
Derrick Bell 0000000108752280 Derrick Bell, the first tenured African-American professor at Harvard Law School and one of the first African-American law school deans, was a pioneer in critical race t...
Paulo Lins
Paulo Lins 0000000109587125 Paulo Lins, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1958, escaped the dangers of favela life to become a renowned writer. He studied at the University of Rio de Janeiro and published hi...
Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips 0000000500252416 Gary Phillips is a Los Angeles-based author known for crafting stories of chicanery and malfeasance. Drawing from his experiences as a community activist, his narrative...
Tab “Hot Boy Turk” Virgil Jr.
Tab “Hot Boy Turk” Virgil Jr. NONE New Orleans rapper Turk, discovered by Cash Money Records in 1996, made his debut on Juvenile's “Solja Rags.” He rose to fame with the Hot Boys before launching a s...
Scholastique Mukasonga
Scholastique Mukasonga 0000000073708975 Scholastique Mukasonga, born in Rwanda in 1956, experienced ethnic conflicts and genocide, which claimed 37 of her family members. She later settled in France....
Kel Mitchell
Kel Mitchell 0000000120210820 Kel Mitchell, born August 25, 1978, is a renowned actor, producer, and comedian known for his roles in Nickelodeon's All That and the film Good Burger. He began his acti...
Morrie Turner
Morrie Turner 0000000021272073 Morris “Morrie” Turner (1923-2014) was an American cartoonist known for creating Wee Pals, the first American syndicated comic strip featuring an integrated cast. Raise...
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho 0000000120981529 The Brazilian author Paulo Coelho was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre ...
Albert French
Albert French 0000000054146305 Albert French, a Vietnam war veteran and former US Marine, turned his distressing war experiences and emotional struggle into powerful memoirs and novels. His works inc...
Dan Jakana
Dan Jakana NONE Dan Jakana was born on July 4, 1955, in Kampala, Uganda, where he attended both elementary and high school. In 1973, he enrolled in the University of Texas at El Paso College of Busi...
Efua Traoré
Efua Traoré 0000000506605710 Efua Traoré is a Nigerian-German author, raised in a small Nigerian town. Known for her imaginative storytelling, she started writing her stories much later in life. Efu...
Benny Andrews
Benny Andrews 0000000066753102 Benny Andrews (1930-2006) was an American painter, printmaker, and educator known for his expressionist style. Born and raised in Georgia, he was the first in his famil...
Reality Way
Reality Way NONE Reality Way, a Queens-born author, faced several life obstacles leading him to prison. It was there he developed a passion for writing, leading to his first published work, “Young Go...
Ernest Morris
Ernest Morris 0000000071824075 EJ Morris, known as “The Urban Fiction Literary Guru,” debuted in the literary world in 2014 with his novel, Flippin Numbers. Raised on the tough streets of Pennsylvani...
Carol Denise Mitchell
Carol Denise Mitchell NONE Carol Denise Mitchell, an acclaimed author and journalist, has a 30-year writing career and is known for her award-winning book, “What Happened to Suzy.” Born and raised in...
Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver 0000000108667924 Leroy Eldridge Cleaver was a writer, political activist, and early leader of the Black Panther Party. His 1968 bestseller, “Soul on Ice,” is a collection of his pris...
William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown 0000000120314769 William Wells Brown (1814-1884) was a notable African-American abolitionist, novelist, playwright, and historian. He's recognized for 'Clotel' (1853), the first n...
Charles Fuller
Charles Fuller 0000000109011919 Charles H. Fuller, Jr. is an acclaimed author and playwright known for his works on racial tensions. Notably, he wrote The Village: A Party, The Brownsville Raid, and ...
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby 0000000116918041 Jack Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg (1917-1994), was an influential American comic book artist, writer, and editor. Notably known for his creation of Captain America and co-c...
C. F. Volney
C. F. Volney 0000000083431332 “C. F. Volney” Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney (1757–1820) was a French philosopher, historian, and orientalist who became one o...
Martin R. Delany
Martin R. Delany 0000000080985970 Martin Delany (1812-1885) was a pioneering African American abolitionist and the first African American Field Officer in the U.S Army. Post-Reconstruction, he promot...
George Clinton
George Clinton 000000011473322X Musician George Clinton, born 1941, started his career in a barbershop, forming The Parliaments. He later reconfigured the group into Funkadelic and Parliament, known ...
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer 0000000072528286 “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” —Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer was a significant civil rights leader and voting rights activist. ...
Kai Leakes
Kai Leakes NONE Midwestern author Kai Leakes, developed a love for books early on, later evolving into a passion for storytelling. Now residing in Chicago, she's pursuing a doctorate while writing no...
Frank Yerby
Frank Yerby 0000000114552525 Frank Garvin Yerby (September 5, 1916 – November 29, 1991) was a writer, best known for his historical novel The Foxes of Harrow, which was the first novel written...
Shakir Rashaan
Shakir Rashaan NONE Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste his talent, but must develop it.” —Pope Jo...
Gloria Mallette
Gloria Mallette NONE Gloria Mallette is a renowned author who began her career self-publishing “Shades of Jade” which was later picked up by Random House and made several best-sellers lists. Her work...
Battiscombe G. Gunn
Battiscombe G. Gunn NONE Battiscombe George “Jack” Gunn was an English Egyptologist and philologist known for his 1906 translation of the Prisse Papyrus from Egyptian hieroglyphs to English. Despite ...
R.C. McDonald
R.C. McDonald NONE R.C. McDonald, a Baltimore native, is an accomplished author and entrepreneur. A graduate of Morgan State University, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland, McDona...
Jess Mowry
Jess Mowry 0000000080841328 Jess Mowry is an author of children's and young adult books often set in Oakland, California, dealing with contemporary themes. Raised by his father, he developed a love f...
Maggie Collins
Maggie Collins NONE Maggie Collins, born in Loreauville, Louisiana, is an acclaimed author and a Center for Black Literature fellow. A finalist for the William Faulkner William Wisdom writing contest...
Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair
Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair MULTIPLE Richard Ellmann, an influential literary critic and biographer, and Robert O’Clair, a scholar specializing in modern poetry, were key contributors to the s...
Manning Johnson
Manning Johnson NONE Manning Rudolph Johnson (December 17, 1908 – July 2, 1959) was an African-American leader in the Communist Party USA who later became an anti-communist government witness ...
E. B. Lewis
E. B. Lewis 0000000367331472 E.B. Lewis, an award-winning illustrator, has worked on over 70 children's books. Inspired by his uncles, he developed his artistic skills from a young age and later spec...
Denizé Lauture
Denizé Lauture 0000000054539790 Denizé Lauture was born in Haiti on May 11, 1946. The firstborn of thirteen children, he was the son of Lhomond and Ergenie (née Prevot) Lauture. Lauture emigrated fr...
Juan Boria
Juan Boria NONE Jaime Torres Torres, known as Juan Boria, was a celebrated Puerto Rican poet and actor born in 1906. Despite humble beginnings, he earned a university degree and taught for 37 years. ...
Ferris Shelton
Ferris Shelton NONE Ferris Shelton, a US Marine Corps veteran and world traveler, spent significant time in east Asia and Africa. His haunting visit to Ghana inspired his work 'Seven Full Days'. A Ne...
Janie De Coster
Janie De Coster NONE Author Janie De Coster began writing in high school and now pens books across genres such as romantic suspense and contemporary fiction. Her works, like her latest release 'Frien...
James T. Hollin, Jr.
James T. Hollin, Jr. MULTIPLE James T. Hollin, Jr. is a University of Arizona graduate, former USAF pilot, and retired Delta Air Lines captain. He pivoted his career to law, earning a Juris Doctor de...
Torman Jahi
Torman Jahi NONE Torman Jahi, for the last 27 years, has been known as an international hip-hop artist, born and raised in East Cleveland, Ohio, and calling Oakland home for the last 25 years. Jahi,...