LibGuides: Antiracism: Influencers/Visionaries

Literary Visionaries

Coates has had a varied career as an author, journalist, and comic book writer. He has served as a national correspondent for the Atlantic and written Black Panther comics for Marvel Comics....

Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman is an African American poet and the inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States.

Tommy Orange
Tommy Orange is an American novelist. His first book, There There, won an American book award and was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma.

Amy Tan
Amy Tan first gained acclaim in 1989 for The Joy Luck Club, a beautifully spun tale of generational and cultural differences in Asian American families focusing on mother-daughter relationships.

Arts Visionaries

Jean-Michel Basquiat
...he rose from an anonymous, homeless graffiti artist spraying cryptic social messages on building walls around New York City's SoHo and East Village in the late 1970s to become, within five years, one of the first African American artists to receive international recognition...

Faith Ringgold
On her storytelling quilt Tar Beach and in her self-illustrated children's book of the same name, fiber artist Faith Ringgold depicts her eight-year-old heroine soaring above the clouds over Harlem, reveling in the joy and freedom of fantasy.

Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo was a bisexual painter, feminist, socialist, and activist. Her work fascinated prominent and diverse artists around the world. The wife of world-renowned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, Kahlo forged a place in the art world that was completely her own.

Political/Government Visionaries

Stacey Abrams

In 2018 Stacey Abrams became the first African-American woman--Democrat or Republican--to be nominated as her party's gubernatorial candidate in Georgia.

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris became the vice president of the United States in 2021, under President Joe Biden. With the win, she became the first woman, first African American, and first South Asian American to serve as vice president.

Sonia Sotomayor
A first-generation American, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court. Joining the court in 2009, she played a key role in upholding Obamacare in 2015. She was known for being outspoken yet thoughtful as she continued to serve her second decade on the court in the 2020s.

Tammy Duckworth
Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth was severely wounded in Iraq in 2004 during her service as a U.S. Army National Guard pilot. Despite the loss of both legs and a shattered arm, she found the strength and perseverance to run for Congress in 2006. Her bid was unsuccessful, but close enough to ensure she tried again. Duckworth's political victory came in November 2012.

Entertainment/Media Visionaries

Beyonce
Born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, on September 4, 1981, the singer, songwriter, producer, and actress first found fame as a member of the popular R&B singing group Destiny’s Child. After launching her own successful solo career in the early 2000s, she took on new challenges, including acting on television and in films.

Mindy Kaling
Best known for her role as Kelly Kapoor on the hit situation comedy The Office, Mindy Kaling is an actress, writer, director, and producer. She works in all mediums and was the cowriter and costar of the underground theater sensation Matt & Ben.

Yo-Yo Ma
Winner of more than 17 Grammy Awards, cellist Yo-Yo Ma possesses astounding technical brilliance and an awe-inspiring artistic sensibility. He virtually defined the standard for future cellists, and during his prolific career recorded more than 50 albums, between 1983 and 2000.

Sports Visionaries

Serena Williams
Serena Williams is a top-ranked tennis player who has been one of the sport's most exciting and closely watched players since her professional debut in 1995.

Michelle Kwan
The most decorated American figure skater in the sport's history, Michelle Kwan became one of the most respected and admired athletes of her generation for her grace on and off the ice.

Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe (Native American name, Wa-tho-huck or Bright Path) was born south of Bellemonta, near Prague, Oklahoma, on May 28, 1888. American track star and professional football and baseball player Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) was the hero of the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, only to have his gold medals taken from him for professionalism.

Yao Ming
Chinese basketball player Yao Ming became the first foreigner to be the number-one draft pick of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in June of 2002.