| Phenomenal Sorors Ethel Hedgeman Lyle - Founder and "guiding light" of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. whose purpose is to promote scholarship, sisterhood, and service among Black college women. Marian Anderson - The first Black woman to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. Maya Angelou - Renowned novelist and poet (author of the poem Phenomenal Woman). Angie Brookes - The first female president of the United Nations. Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke - Former Congresswoman from California and first woman to chair the Democratic National Convention. Dr. Gwendolyn Calvert Baker - President of the United States Committee for UNICEF Bebe Moore Campbell - Author of Brothers and Sisters and Your Blues Ain't Like Mine. Suzette Charles - Miss America, 1984. Marva Collins -- Founder of her own private school on Chicago's west side. Ella Fitzgerald - Internationally famous jazz singer. Zina Garrison-Jackson - Famous tennis player. Dr. Marilyn Gatson - Assistant Surgeon General. Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant - Advice columnist for Essence. Bettiann Gueno Gardner - Co-Chairwoman of Soft Sheen Products, Inc. Shirlee Tailor Haizlip - Author of The Sweeter the Juice. Jewell Jackson McCabe - President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. Dr. Mae Jemison - The first Black female astronaut. Coretta Scott King - Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change and Civil Rights Activism. Yvette Lee - Producer of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and A Different World, and creator and executive producer of Living Single. Toni Morrison - Nobel prize-winning novelist and poet. Hazel O'Leary - Secretary for the Department of Energy. Rosa Parks - Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Jomarie Payton Noble - Humanitarian and actress; star of Family Matters. Jada Pinkett Smith - Actress who has appeared on the television series A Different World, and in such movies as The Nutty Professor and Set It Off. Sharon Pratt Kelly - The first woman to serve as mayor of Washington, D. C. Phylicia Rashad - Actress on the award-winning Cosby Show. Eleanor Roosevelt - Humanitarian and former First Lady of the United States. Sonia Sanchez - Noted author and poet. Ntozake Shange - Author of for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. C. Delores Tucker - National Chairman of the National Political Congress of Black Women. Dr. Debbye Turner - Humanitarian and Miss America, 1990. Leah Tutu - Wife of South African activist Bishop Desmond Tutu. Marjorie Judith Vincent - Miss America, 1991. Diane Watson - The first Black woman to preside over the California State Senate. |
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