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 Dr. Reagon is a Freedom Singer who highlights her forty year journey as a cultural activist, scholar and artist. Founder of 'Sweet Honey In the Rock,' she renders her passionate convictions in a moving and memorable mixture of song and spoken word, drawing on the life stories of 19th and 20th century African American women whose struggles for freedom guide her in this moving presentation.
 A true Renaissance man, Johnson is a poet, Buddhist philosopher, novelist, teacher, cartoonist, screenwriter and essayist. His writing, including the National Book Award winning novel, "Middle Passage," braids history, philosophy and artistry to show how the power of the past shapes the present. His engaging speaking style draws the audience into an unforgettable dialogue.
Roy
Brooks
 International award winning Somali novelist, whose themes focus on women's liberation and political and individual freedoms in his homeland.
Widely recognized as the best contemporary African writer of our time, his stories are vivid reminders of living through cultural conflicts.
An award
winning journalist and former Washington Post reporter, Patrice Gaines works
to empower girls and young
women at risk, drawing from
the heart of her experiences
on the streets and in prison.
She is the co-founder of Brown
Angel Center, seeking to provide
formerly incarcerated women
and their families with the
tools to renew their lives.
Gaines is author of Laughing in the Dark and Moments of Grace: Meeting the Challenge to Change.
A world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator, and one of the most widely read American poets, Giovanni remains as determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality. Her focus is on the individual, specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others.
Yvonne Latty  Journalist and author of “In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive,” which was turned into an award-winning play. Latty is also the author of the critically acclaimed “We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, from World War II to the War in Iraq.”
Spencer Overton
 Professor Overton is the author of Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression, a book describing the way that politicians manipulate election laws to their advantage while diluting the value of the average American's vote. He is a law professor at The George Washington University Law School and a leading election law scholar. Overton served as Chairperson of Barack Obama's Government Reform Committee, a group of more than 30 experts who advise the Obama presidential campaign on campaign finance reform, lobbying, voting rights and government ethics and transparency policies.
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 Leading the battle for environmental justice, from dealing with the toxic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to curbing urban sprawl, Dr. Bullard tells the stories of frontline warriors who are fighting environmental and human rights abuses. His research and activism challenges government and industry policies that place people of color and the poor at special risk. He is the author of 15 books, including “Race, Place, and Environmental Justice After Hurricane Katrina.”
 "Dynamic", "heartwarming" and "soulful" are words often used to describe Lucas' portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His uncanny resemblance to King is breathtaking, and his performance consistently brings standing ovations and a deeper appreciation of King's life, work and vision.
Bruce A. Jacobs  Bruce A. Jacobs is a nationally-praised author and speaker who inspires people to question our media, turn off today’s “rage talk” shows, and have real conversations with friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
 Fonzworth Bentley is a pop icon, musical artist and author who caught the world's attention as the flawlessly dressed personal assistant to Sean P Diddy Combs. Now he's the one sharing his secrets and working to bring his generation back to the grace and dignity of their ancestors.
 Best-known for her Obie Award-winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Ntozake Shange's work is informed by her passionate interest in issues relating to race and feminism. Named "A Living Legend" by the National Black Theatre Festival, Shange has declared herself "a poet first, and a playwright second". Her work empowers women to take responsibility for their lives by learning to love themselves and challenge their oppressors.
 In 1859, Frederick Douglass, a relentless anti-slavery orator, was being sought by the state of Virginia with a warrant of arrest for his alleged activity in the armed assault on the Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. This historical moment beset with national and personal drama is the setting for "Frederick Douglass, 1859." Guy Peartree renders Frederick Douglass with sensitivity to the historical and folkloric features of this period in American history.
 This Oscar-winning actor is known all over the world for his sensitive and powerful portrayals in such socially charged films as No Way Out, Blackboard Jungle, The Defiant Ones and In the Heat of the Night, just to name a few. His activism and dynamic acting have made him one of Hollywood's most respected and honored stars for more than five decades.
 Author of Black Film/White Money, filmmaker Jesse Rhines discusses the portrayal of African Americans on and behind the silver screen as well as the historic and present-day contributions of African American men and women to the motion picture industry from 1915 to the present.
The founding chairman and national organizer of the Black Panther Party compares the activism of the 1960s with new-millennium social change advocacy. He covers topics as diverse as all peoples: civil-human rights and economic liberation in today's high tech computerized scientific globalized social order. He is the author of A Lonely Rage and Seize The Time.
 Rapper, scholar, bestselling author, educator, and community activist. A powerful and self-assured woman of color, she provides eloquent insights into today's social issues, which are rooted in her deep love and pride for the African American community. Her novel "The Coldest Winter Ever" has received critical praise as a gritty and powerful coming-of-age story.
Jeff Stetson 
Jeff Stetson is an internationally acclaimed award-winning playwright and screenwriter for film and television.He is the author of "The Meeting" and "Blood on the Leaves."
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