Ethel Hedgeman Lyle - Founder and
"guiding light" of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. whose purpose was 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.
Yvette Lee
Bowser - Producer of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and A Different
World, and creator and executive producer of Living Single and For Your
Love.
Angie Brookes
- The first woman President of the United Nations.
Yvonne
Braithwaite-Burke - Former Congresswoman from California and
first woman to chair the Democratic National Convention.
Bebe Moore
Campbell - Award-Winning Author of Brothers and Sisters
and Your Blues Ain't Like Mine.
Suzette
Charles - Former Miss America, 1984, contemporary singer and
actress.
Marva Collins
- Founder of her own private school on Chicago's west
side.
Ella
Fitzgerald - Internationally famous jazz singer.
Dr. Marilyn
Gatson - Assistant Surgeon General.
Gwendolyn
Goldsby Grant - Advice columnist for Essence.
Shirlee
Tailor Haizlip - Author of The Sweeter the
Juice.
Zina
Garrison-Jackson - Famous tennis player.
Dr. Mae
Jemison - The first Black woman astronaut and put Alpha Kappa
Alpha Sorority Banner in Space.
Sharon Pratt
Kelly - The first woman to serve as mayor of Washington,
D.C.
Coretta Scott
King - Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social
Change and Civil Rights Activism.
Elma
Lewis - Founder of the Elma Lewis School of the Arts in Boston
and humanitarian.
Toni
Morrison - Nobel prize-winning novelist and poet.
Jo-Marie
Payton Noble - Humanitarian and actress; star of Family
Matters.
Hazel
O'Leary - Secretary for the Department of
Energy.
Rosa
Parks - Civil Rights Activist.
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.
Jada Pinkett
Smith - Actress; star of Woo, The Nutty Professor, Jason's
Lyric, Set It Off, Menace II Society, A Different World.
Dr. Debbye
Turner - Humanitarian, Veterinarian and former Miss America
1990.
Leah Tutu
- Wife of South African activist Bishop Desmond
Tutu.
Marjorie
Judith Vincent - Lawyer and former Miss America,
1991.
Alice
Walker - Pulitzer Prize winning author of the Color Purple,
Civil Rights Activist, Poet, author of Possessing the Secret of Joy, The
Temple of My Familiar, Anything We Love Can be Saved.
Faye
Wattleton - First woman to head the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America.
Diane
Watson - The first Black woman to preside over the California
State Senate.
Lynn
Whitfield - Humanitarian and actress; star of The Josephine
Baker Story, Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Eve's Bayou.
