Newspaper publishing executive and museum founder Beverly McKenna was born on October 9, 1942 in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Vivian Thomas Stanton and Robert L. Stanton. She graduated from South Side High School in Fort Wayne in 1959 and went on to earn her B.A. degree in English from Tennessee State University in 1964.

After graduating from college, McKenna worked as an English teacher at Kekionga Junior High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She then taught in Washington D.C. and served as a public information officer for the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1985, McKenna founded McKenna Publishing Co., and that same year, she co-founded The New Orleans Tribune, a monthly newspaper publication dedicated to empowering the African American community, with her husband, Dr. Dwight McKenna, Kermit Thomas, and James Borders. For over thirty years, McKenna served as The New Orleans Tribune’s publisher and executive editor. Through McKenna Publishing Co., McKenna also created The New Orleans Black Book, a directory of African American owned businesses, and Welcome magazine, a guide for African American tourists visiting New Orleans. McKenna and her husband then co-founded the George and Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art in New Orleans in 2003. In 2008, McKenna and her husband also co-founded Le Musée de F.P.C., a historic house museum in New Orleans dedicated to telling the story of and preserving the material culture of free people of color. McKenna served as Le Musée de F.P.C.’s director and volunteer coordinator.

In 1995, McKenna served on then-New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial’s committee for ESSENCE magazine’s 25th anniversary celebration, the ESSENCE Festival. McKenna also served in the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, the New Orleans Black Chamber of Commerce, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Foundation Board.

McKenna has received numerous awards and honors including an Asante Foundation Award in 2015, a Distinguished Alumni Award from South Side High School in 2017, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund in 2023, and the Treme Heroes 2024 Award from the New Orleans African American Museum.

McKenna and her husband, Dr. Dwight McKenna, reside in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Beverly McKenna was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 13, 2023.

Composer Roger Dickerson was born on August 24, 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Angela and Olden Dickerson. Dickerson began taking piano lessons at eight years old and later, formed his band “Roger Dickerson and the Groovy Boys” while attending McDonogh No. 35 Senior High School in New Orleans. Dickerson received his B.A. degree in music education from Dillard University in New Orleans in 1956 and his M.M. degree in music composition from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1957. After graduation, Dickerson served in the United States Army, traveling throughout Europe until 1959. Dickerson then continued his studies through a Fulbright scholarship at the Akadamie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (the University of Music and Performing Arts) in Vienna, Austria.

After returning to the United States, Dickerson worked as a professor of music education for numerous universities including Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, where he served as an adjunct professor for composition and orchestration, Southern University at New Orleans, where he worked as university choir director and music coordinator, and his alma mater, Dillard University, where he held the position of lecturer of music. After Hurricane Katrina, Dickerson moved to Roswell, New Mexico, where he co-founded the Roswell Jazz Festival in 2006.

Throughout his career, Dickerson composed numerous musical pieces including a musical accompaniment to Langston Hughes’ poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers for soprano and piano in 1961, “A Musical Service for Louis” in 1972, “Concert Pieces for Beginning String Players,” commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1972, “Orpheus an’ His Slide Trombone” in 1975, and “Psalm XLIX” in 1979. In 1976, the News Orleans Centennial Commission commissioned Dickerson to write the “New Orleans Concerto for Piano and Orchestra,” which was then featured in the PBS documentary New Orleans Concerto in 1978.

Throughout his career, Dickerson received numerous awards and honors including a Pulitzer Prize nomination for “A Musical Service for Louis” from Columbia University in 1972, a Pulitzer Prize nomination for the “New Orleans Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” from Columbia University in 1976, the Lifetime Achievement Award from New Orleans’ Gambit Magazine in 2008, and the Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award from OffBeat Magazine in 2014.

Roger Dickerson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 12, 2023.

University president C. Reynold Verret was born on October 8, 1954 in the Petion-Ville suburb of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to Marie Lorraine Vaval Verret and Henri C. Verret. He grew up in Haiti until his family’s migration to the United States in 1963. In 1972, Verret graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory High School in New York City, New York. He received his B.S. degree in biochemistry from Columbia University in 1976, his Ph.D. degree in biological chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982, and his M.D.P. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2004.

After completing his Ph.D. degree, Verret worked as a research fellow at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 1982 and as a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Research in 1984. In 1989, Verret was hired as an assistant professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Verret also served as an adjunct professor of immunology at the Morehouse School of Medicine from 1994 to 2002. In 1995, Verret joined Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as the chair of the department of chemistry in 1996. Verret then worked as a dean and professor of chemistry at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2007. In 2007, Verret left the University of the Sciences and served as provost and a professor of chemistry for eight years at Wilkes College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In 2015, Verret was elected as the president of Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, the only Catholic Historically Black University in the United States.

Verret held the positions of director of the Knowledge Network on Social Exclusion World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health, chair of the review panel for the HHC HIV Testing Expansion Innovation Fund, chair of the MBRS Standing Subcommittee at the National Institutes of Health, and advisor to the director of HIV Services at the NYC Health and Hospital Corporation. Verret also served on the boards of numerous organizations including the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, the Philadelphia Math & Science Coalition, and the Georgia Governor’s Cancer Initiative.

Throughout his career, Verret has received numerous awards and honors including the King Crown Award from Columbia University in 1976, the Karl Taylor Compton Prize from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980, the Award for Academic Excellence and Student Mentoring from the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in 1999, and the First Year Advising Award from the University of the Sciences in 2004.

Verret has two children, Jose Emmanuel and Vincent Antoine Verret. He resides in New Orleans, Louisiana.

C. Reynold Verret was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 11, 2023.

Cultural preservationist Michael Henry Adams was born on February 25, 1956 in Akron, Ohio to Alexander Adams, Jr. and Willie Hollinger Adams. He graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in painting, drawing, and art history. Adams later attended the Attingham Summer School in the United Kingdom and completed coursework in historic preservation at Columbia University in New York City from 1987 to 1989.

Adams began his career as a guard at the Cleveland Museum of Art before relocating to New York City, where he worked as a bookseller at the Scribner Book Store, a messenger for the New York Stock Exchange, and as a personal chef to interior designer Tom Britt. In the early 1990s, Adams became a leading advocate for the preservation of Harlem’s architectural and cultural history, championing the protection of significant landmarks including the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. He also helped preserve artifacts from demolished buildings that include the Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the Audubon Ballroom lobby, and the Lafayette Theatre, once home to Duke Ellington and his orchestra.

In addition to his preservation work, Adams has led architectural and historical tours throughout Harlem. In 2023, he participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Build Out Alliance titled Historic Homo Harlem: Preserving Disappearing Queer Spaces, alongside alumni from Columbia University’s Queer Students of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (QSAPP).

Throughout his career, Adams has authored numerous books including Harlem, Lost and Found: An Architectural and Social History, 1765–1915 (2002) and Style and Grace: African Americans at Home (2003). Adams wrote an opinion piece, The End of Black Harlem, for the New York Times in 2016 and contributed to Lauren Wicks’ 2021 article, Five Black Creatives Who Helped Shape American Art, Architecture, and Design. Adams’ writings have also appeared in The Guardian, The New York Daily News, and Advocate magazine.

Adams lives in New York City, New York.

Michael Henry Adams was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 13, 2023.

Politician and lawyer Peter Lawson Jones was born on December 23, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio to Margaret Hoiston Jones and Charles Jones. He graduated with his B.A. degree in government from Harvard University in 1975. After graduation, Jones served as a press and legislative aide to U.S. Congresswoman Yvonne Braithwaite Burke of Los Angeles, California. In 1976, he worked as a speechwriter for Governor Jimmy Carter before graduating from Harvard Law School with his J.D. degree in 1980.

Upon completing law school, Jones served as a law clerk to Ohio Supreme Court Justice Ralph S. Locher from 1982 to 1983. The following year, he was elected to the Shaker Heights City Council, where he later served as vice mayor in 1986. During this time, Jones participated on multiple municipal boards and committees, including those overseeing recreation, governance, fair housing review, community services, police, fire, and public affairs. In 1994, Jones made history as the first African American nominated to run for lieutenant governor of Ohio, campaigning alongside State Senator Rob Burch. Three years later, in 1997, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, where he served until 2002, That same year, Jones was elected Cuyahoga County Commissioner, serving from 2002 to 2010. During his tenure, he helped oversee one of the state’s largest county governments. Concurrently, from 1999 to 2009, he was a partner at Roetzel & Andress, a law firm based in Akron, Ohio.

In addition to his career, Jones authored several plays for the stage, including The Family Line in 1975, The Bloodless Jungle in 2016, The Phoenix Society in 2022. The Bloodless Jungle was honored with an Achievement Award from the Cleveland, Ohio-based LAND of CLEVE entertainment group. Jones has also appeared in such films as Battle Hill in 2011, White Boy Rick in 2018, Judas and the Black Messiah in 2021, A Man Named Otto in 2022, and Last Shop on Walnut in 2023.

Jones served on the boards of the Harvard Law School Association of Cleveland, the Ohio Arts Council, the Shaker Heights Arts Council, the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival, and the Baseball Heritage Museum. He was a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Actors’ Equity Association.

Throughout his career, Jones has received numerous honors and awards, including the Ohio School Counselors Association Legislator of the Year award in 2000; the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board Helping Hands Legislator of the Year Award in 2006; and the City of Shaker Heights Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Special Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. Jones was included in Inside Business magazine’s Power One Hundred list from 2004 to 2008 and was in the Most Interesting People regional list in Cleveland magazine in 2008. Jones also received the Artist of the Year Award from the African American Playwrights Exchange in 2012 and the Best Ohio Supporting Actor Award from the Indie Gathering International Film Festival in 2016.

The Honorable Peter Lawson Jones was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 7, 2023.

Producer, writer, and director Lee Daniels was born on December 24, 1959, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Clara-Mae and William Daniels. He graduated from Radnor High School in 1978 and attended Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

In 1980, Daniels moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked as a receptionist and later as a manager at a nursing staffing agency. He subsequently founded his own nursing staffing agency, which grew to employ more than five hundred nurses. After selling his agency in 1983, he entered the entertainment industry, starting as a production assistant on the films Purple Rain (1984) and Under the Cherry Moon (1986), both starring Prince. Daniels then worked as a casting director and talent manager, where he represented actors like Wes Bentley and Michael Shannon, before founding his own production company, Lee Daniels Entertainment. In 2001, the company produced its first feature film, Monster’s Ball, which starred Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, and Heath Ledger, and earned Halle Berry an Academy Award for “Best Actress,” making her the first Black female to win an Academy Award in this category. Daniels then made his directorial debut with the dramatic film Shadowboxer in 2005, which starred Cuba Gooding Jr., Helen Mirren, and Mo’Nique.

Daniels continued to produce films independently, and in 2009, he directed and produced Precious, adapted from Sapphire’s novel Push, starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, and Mariah Carey. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including “Best Picture” and “Best Director,” making Daniels only the second African American director in history to earn that distinction. Daniels also earned the NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture.” Daniels went on to direct and co-produce the 2013 film The Butler, based on the life of longtime White House butler Eugene Allen. The film, which starred Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, and Jane Fonda, grossed more than $175 million worldwide and won two NAACP Image Awards. In 2015, Daniels and Danny Strong co-created and co-wrote the hit television series Empire, starring Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard. Subsequently, he produced the companion series Star (2016–2019), starring Queen Latifah and Benjamin Bratt. After the series concluded, Daniels continued to produce, write, and direct various award-winning or nominated film and television projects, including the 2021 Hulu drama The United States vs. Billie Holiday, starring Andra Day, whose performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and the 2024 horror film Deliverance, which featured Andra Day, Glenn Close, Mo’Nique, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.

Beyond his creative work, Daniels serves on the boards of the Ghetto Film School and the Public Theater, has co-chaired the Directors Guild of America’s Eastern Diversity Steering Committee, and supports emerging filmmakers through initiatives such as the Lee Daniels Entertainment Creative Workshop. Honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2016 and the amfAR Award of Courage in 2018 for his HIV/AIDS advocacy, Daniels has received more than thirty awards for his artistic and humanitarian contributions and continues to be recognized for his work in film and social advocacy.

Daniels resides in Los Angeles, California. He has two children.

Lee Daniels was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 20, 2024.

University president Soraya M. Coley was born on November 25, 1950 in Wilmington, North Carolina to Majoria Morgan and John Moore. She received her A.B. degree in sociology from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1972; and subsequently her M.S.S. degree in social planning and social research; and her Ph.D. degree in social policy and planning from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1974 and 1981, respectively.

In 1975, Coley was hired as the national director of the Child Abuse Prevention Project at the National Urban League. She worked as the project site director at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. in 1979 and was promoted to survey manager in 1980. She then served as a professor of human services at California State University, Fullerton in 1981; and, in 1994, she became an administration fellow and was appointed dean of Fullerton’s College of Human Development and Community Service in 1996. In 2001, Coley became Alliant International University’s founding systemwide provost and vice president for academic affairs before being named professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton in 2003 and senior research fellow at Children and Family Futures in 2004. In 2005, Coley was hired as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Bakersfield and hired as the interim vice president for university advancement affairs in 2011. In 2014, Coley made history when she was appointed president of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona as the first African American and first female to hold this position. She held this position to her retirement in 2025.

During her career, Coley served on the board of directors for Children and Family Futures and Ready to Start. She also chaired Kern County’s strategic planning committee to address the problem of methamphetamine use and its impact on Kern County. In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Coley to the California Future of Work Commission.

In 2015, Coley received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Bryn Mawr College and the Trailblazer Award from Leadership California. Coley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Lincoln University in 2016 and was honored by the African American Civic Engagement Project and California Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas in 2017. She was named Woman of the Year by California’s 20th State Senate District in 2022.

Coley and her husband, Ron T. Coley, live in Pomona, California.

Soraya M. Coley was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 18, 2024.

Civic leader and producer Nicole Avant was born on March 6, 1968 in Los Angeles, California to Jacqueline and Clarence Avant. She graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1986 and received her B.A. degree in communications from California State University, Northridge in 1990.

Following graduation, Avant began her career in the music industry, joining A&M Records in 1990 as part of the promotions division. In 1998, she was named vice president of Interior Music Publishing, where she managed artist relations and oversaw music licensing.

Avant became active in political fundraising and civic engagement in the mid-2000s. In 2006, she assisted with fundraising efforts for Harold Ford, Jr.’s U.S. Senate campaign and co-founded the Culture Cabinet, a collective of African American entertainment industry executives supporting political and advocacy initiatives. Two years later, Avant served as Southern California finance co-chair for then-Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

In 2009, President Obama appointed Avant United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, making her the first African American woman to serve in that role. Her service earned her a nomination for the U.S. State Department’s Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. In 2019, Avant worked as a producer on the film The Black Godfather, which chronicled the life and career of her father, Motown music executive Clarence Avant. In 2021, she invested in the e-commerce beauty and wellness site Thirteen Lune, which focuses on selling beauty products owned by people of color. Then, in 2023, Avant released her memoir Think You’ll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude, in which she reflects on the death of her mother, Jacqueline Avant. The book was published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Throughout her career, Avant has been honored for her leadership and service. In 2012, she received the Trumpet Award for Public Service, recognizing her diplomatic contributions and civic engagement.

Avant and her husband, Ted Sarandos, live in Malibu, California. She has two stepchildren, Sarah and Anthony Sarandos.

The Honorable Nicole Avant was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 16, 2024.

Football player Willie Gault was born on September 5, 1960 in Griffin, Georgia, to Willie Mae Gault and James Gault, Jr. He graduated from Griffin High School in 1978, where he excelled in both football and track and field, earning all-state honors during his junior and senior seasons. Gault attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from 1979 to 1982, where he was a standout athlete on both the football and track teams, earning All-American honors during his senior year. In 1980, Gault qualified for the United States Olympic Track and Field Team, and three years later, he placed third in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

In 1983, Gault was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, where he earned a reputation as one of the fastest players in league history. With the Bears, Gault became known for his performance as a wide receiver and kick returner. In 1986, he helped lead the team to victory in Super Bowl XX against the New England Patriots. Over his eleven-season career, Gault recorded 333 receptions for 6,635 yards and scored forty-four touchdowns. During his time with the Chicago Bears, he helped create the hit rap song Superbowl Shuffle, which was released seven weeks before the 1986 Chicago Bears championship.

In 1988, Gault was named an alternate member of the United States Olympic Bobsled Team and was also traded to the Los Angeles Raiders, where he played until his retirement from the NFL in 1993.

Following his retirement from professional football, Gault pursued acting, appearing in television series such as Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and The Pretender. He later joined the board of directors of Heart Tronics, Inc., a medical device company.

During his career, Gault received numerous honors recognizing his contributions to sports. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his participation in the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team boycott and was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.

Gault has two children, Shakari Gault-Okwudibonye and Gabriel Gault with his with his ex-wife, Dainnese Mathis Gault. He lives in Encino, California.

Willie Gault was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 17, 2024.

Lawyer Sonali B. Wilson was born on May 31, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio to Frances Joy Simmons Bustamante and John Henry Bustamante. In 1983, she obtained her B.A. degree in history with a minor in political science from Boston University and her A.L.M. degree in government studies from Harvard University. In 1986, Wilson graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with her J.D. degree.

After graduating from law school, Wilson worked as an associate attorney at the Cleveland, Ohio law firm of Arter & Hadden from 1986 to 1994. In 1987, she also served as a law clerk to Justice Herbert R. Brown of the Ohio Supreme Court. In 1996, Wilson became an adjunct professor of law at Cleveland State University’s College of Law. She was also appointed assistant university legal counsel in 1997 and named general counsel in 2004, becoming one of the first Black female general counsel in Northeast Ohio. She’s held this position for more than two decades and is the longest-serving general counsel in the university’s history. From 2000 to 2011, she served as secretary to the Cleveland State University Board of Trustees and was reappointed in 2020. Wilson also served as the university’s chief ethics officer and as a leader in residence in the College of Law. In addition to her academic appointments, she served as vice president for diversity and inclusion at the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association from 2013 to 2015.

During her career, Wilson has held memberships and leadership positions in various legal and social service organizations. She served as president of the Cleveland, Ohio Chapter of the Links, Inc. from 1999 to 2003. From 2006 to 2010, she was a member of the National Executive Counsel and chair of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Links, Inc. She also served on the board of the Cleveland Institute of Music from 2006 to 2018. In 2011, she became a board member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), serving until 2014. Wilson has served on the United Way of Greater Cleveland Board of Directors since 2016, chaired the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee from 2017 to 2024, and, since 2024, has served on the Executive Committee as secretary.

Wilson has received numerous awards and honors, including the Women of Color Foundation’s Professional Woman of the Year Award in 2014, the Distinguished Service Award from NACUA in 2021, and the Community Service Award from the Cleveland Chapter of the NAACP in 2022. Wilson was also inducted into Cleveland State University College of Law’s Hall of Fame in 2022.

Wilson and her husband, Dr. Napoleon Stephen Wilson, reside in Cleveland, Ohio. She has five children and three grandchildren.

Sonali B. Wilson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 14, 2024.