Black History Month (U)

<p>An award-winning actor, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author, and philanthropist, Hill Harper is a celebrity role model with empowering messages of achievement, defining success, effective communication and how to take control of one’s future.</p><p>With seven NAACP Image awards for his work, Harper has appeared in a variety of television and film roles, including Universal Pictures’ 2015 release, <i>The Boy Next Door</i>, on USA Network’s <i>Covert Affairs</i>, and previously, from 2004 to 2013, on the CBS TV drama <i>CSI:

<p>Cliff Albright is a 2020 Soros Equality Fellow and co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund (and BVM Capacity Building Institute) which builds community and organizational capacity related to Black voting power. </p><p>BVM received national attention in 2017 when they helped mobilize Black voters during the U.S. Senate race between Doug Jones and Roy Moore.

<p>Justin Hansford is a Howard University School of Law Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center. </p><p>Professor Hansford was previously a Democracy Project Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and an Associate Professor of Law at Saint Louis University. He has a B.A. from Howard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a founder of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives.

<p>Ruth E. Carter’s unparalleled ability to develop an authentic story through costume and character has made her one of the most sought-after, renowned, and award-winning costume designers today. </p><p>A two-time Academy Award-winner for “Best Costume Design” (<em>Black Panther </em>in 2019; <em>Black Panther: Wakanda Forever</em> in 2022), Ruth E. Carter has also garnered nominations for Spike Lee’s <em>Malcolm X</em> (1993) and Steven Spielberg’s <em>Amistad</em> (1998).

<p>Author of <em>On A Move </em>and Star of HBO documentary <em>40 Years A Prisoner,</em> Mike was born in a jail cell and freed his innocent parents from 40 years of incarceration. He pushes his revolutionary message with his dynamic stage performances mixing music with speeches.</p><p>Mike is the son of 2 political prisoners who were sentenced to 100 years in prison. Mike was secretly born in a Philadelphia prison following a police raid on his family’s home.

<p>Born and raised in Detroit, Demetrius taught himself graphic design in 3rd grade. By the time he reached 7th grade, he had used those skills to start a clothing brand that would eventually become his current clothing brand, "You Matter by Demetrius Harmon." </p><p>In 9th grade he started posting YouTube videos as a way to cope with a change of schools.

Richie Reseda is a music, film and content producer, who was freed from prison in 2018.

He co-created and co-hosts the Spotify Original podcast “Abolition X.” While in prison he started Question Culture, the independent media collective that houses his projects, and cofounded Success Stories, the feminist program for incarcerated men chronicled in the CNN documentary, "The Feminist on Cell Block Y."

<p>Bakari Sellers recently released a <i>New York Times </i>Best Seller <i>My Vanishing Country: A Memoir</i>. The book has been described as part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis illustrating the lives of America’s forgotten black working-class men and women.</p><p>Bakari recently expanded his audience with the <i>Bakari Sellers Podcast</i>, a twice-a-week show that is part of The Ringer Podcast Network.

<p>As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III serves as an ambassador of his parent’s legacy of nonviolent social change.</p>

<p>Damon Davis brings a powerful blend of social commentary and art therapy to audiences to help heal divisions, empower the powerless, and illuminate issues of race and class in society. </p>