Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Blind Willie Johnson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Blind Willie Johnson, an African-American gospel singer who performed on Southern streets and was noted for the energy and power of his singing and for his ingenious guitar accompaniments.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bobby Mc Ferrin
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bobby McFerrin, an American musician noted for his tremendous vocal control and improvisational ability. He often sang a cappella, mixing folk songs, 1960s rock and soul tunes, and jazz...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bobby Short
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bobby Short, an American cabaret singer and piano player who in his personal and performance style came to represent a sophistication and elegance typical of an earlier era.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bob Hayes
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bob Hayes, an American sprinter who, although he was relatively slow out of the starting block and had an almost lumbering style of running, was a remarkably powerful sprinter with as much...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Brock Peters
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Brock Peters, an American actor who employed his powerful bass voice and strong presence in portrayals of a wide range of characters, notably in the role of Tom Robinson in To Kill a...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Brownie Mc Ghee
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Brownie McGhee, an American blues singer, guitarist, pianist, songwriter, and longtime partner of the vocalist and harmonica player Sonny Terry.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Buck Leonard
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Buck Leonard, an American baseball player who was considered one of the best first basemen in the Negro leagues. He was among the first Negro leaguers to receive election into the Baseball...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Buddy Guy
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Buddy Guy, an American blues musician noted for his slashing electric guitar riffs and passionate vocals.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bud Powell
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bud Powell, an American jazz pianist who emerged in the mid-1940s as one of the first pianists to play lines originally conceived by bebop horn players.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bunk Johnson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bunk Johnson, a black American jazz trumpeter, one of the first musicians to play jazz and a principal figure of the 1940s traditional jazz revival.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Carlton Moss
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Carlton Moss, a filmmaker who inspired later African American filmmakers with the industrial, training, and educational films that he made in the era when segregation and discrimination...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Carmen Mc Rae
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Carmen McRae, an American jazz vocalist and pianist who from an early emulation of vocalist Billie Holiday grew to become a distinctive stylist, known for her smoky voice and her melodic...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Charles Harrison
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Charles Harrison, an American industrial designer whose creations included such iconic consumer items as polypropylene trash cans (including those with wheels) and the plastic version of...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Charles Henry Turner
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Charles Henry Turner, an American behavioral scientist and early pioneer in the field of insect behavior. He is best known for his work showing that social insects can modify their...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Charles Lee Moore
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Charles Lee Moore, an American photographer born March 9, 1931, Hackleburg, Ala.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Cheryl Miller
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Cheryl Miller, an American basketball player who is one of the greatest players in the history of women's basketball. Miller is credited with both popularizing the women's game and...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Clarence Page
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Clarence Page, an American newspaper columnist and television commentator specializing in urban affairs.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Constance Baker Motley
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Constance Baker Motley, an American lawyer and jurist, an effective legal advocate in the civil rights movement and the first African American woman to become a federal judge.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Cynthia Cooper
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Cynthia Cooper, an American basketball player who was the first Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In the WNBA's inaugural season (1997),...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: David Hunter
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features David Hunter, a Union officer during the American Civil War who issued an emancipation proclamation (May 9, 1862) that was annulled by President Abraham Lincoln (May 19).
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: David Satcher
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features David Satcher, an American medical doctor and public health administrator who was (1998-2002) the 16th surgeon general of the United States.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Deacon Jones
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Deacon Jones, an American professional gridiron football player, regarded as one of the sport's premier defense players.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Deion Sanders
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Deion Sanders, an American gridiron football player and baseball player who is the only person to have played in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. Known for his flashy personality and...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Dick Gregory
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Dick Gregory, an African-American comedian, civil rights activist, and spokesman for health issues, who became nationally recognized in the 1960s for a biting brand of comedy that attacked...