"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.
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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.
http://bernicejohnsonreagon.com
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National Book Award winner Charles Johnson is a storyteller who ingeniously braids history, philosophy, and imagination in making post-modern fiction of the highest order, weaving intellect and artistry to express his belief in the power of the past to shape the present. A philosopher, literary critic, cartoonist, essayist, novelist, short story writer and screenwriter, his books include Middle Passage, Dreamer and Dr. King’s Refrigerator: And Other Bedtime Stories.
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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.

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 14 books, including Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity and The Black Metropolis in the Twenty-First Century: Race, Power, and the Politics of Place, which were released in 2007.
http://www.ejrc.cau.edu
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Whether writing about jazz music or the state of black America, this iconoclastic cultural critic relishes taking down sacred cows. His scope of topics are as broad as his work as a columnist, novelist, television commentator and artistic consultant. Contrarian and courageous, Crouch's fiercely argued viewpoints take American culture to task.

"The kora talks, for real. That's why when Africans were brought here all African instruments were banned from the United States - because they could talk." Performing his poems with the use of the kora, this unique performance leaves audiences with a new perspective of cultural history and understanding.

This monumental gospel, R & B a cappella group has inspired audiences and performers alike for over thirty years. Vocal ensembles including Boys II Men and Take 6 have tried to emulate the smooth style and tight harmonies of this seminal group to no avail. The Persuasions prove time and again that the most precious instrument of all, the human voice, creates the ultimate in musical experience.

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.

Host of his own talk shows on both NPR and PBS, he is the author of five books, including the critically acclaimed Hard Left: Straight Talk About the Wrongs of the Right. He is the founder of the Tavis Smiley Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage, empower, and enlighten black youth. Exploring current events from a perspective not often heard in the media, Smiley speaks about everything from politics to sports, technology and education, business, and the need for cultural and racial harmony.

Abolitionist and suffragist Sojourner Truth’s life is told in her own words using her speeches and songs in this dramatic presentation by Kathryn Woods. Born a slave, Isabella Baumfree walked away from slavery to become an evangelist, when she wasn’t being a maid or laundress. In her travels she met preachers and advocates of all sorts, and evolved into Sojourner Truth.

After ten years tracing the lives of four generations of her enslaved ancestors at the Somerset Place plantation, Dorothy Spruill Redford took on the task of converting it into a significant national landmark and educational center. Her intensive studies of African American genealogy, and the publication of her book Somerset Homecoming, have led thousands – black and white – to go in search of their roots and find an understanding of the life their ancestors led. She lectures on issues related to diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Nationally known television commentator of “Tony Brown’s Journal,” syndicated columnist and film director, his first book is entitled No White Lies. No Black Lies. Only the Truth! Now a bestselling author, Mr. Brown’s other books include Empower the People and What Mama Taught Me: The Seven Core Values of Life.

Economist, author and commentator, Julianne Malveaux is recognized for her provocative, progressive and insightful observations in a variety of print and broadcast media. Her contributions on issues such as race, culture, gender, and their economic impacts, help shape public opinion in 21st century America. Her two latest books are Unfinished Business: A Democrat and a Republican Take On The Top 10 Issues Women Face, and The Paradox of Loyalty: An African American Response to The War On Terrorism.

Minnesota’s first African American Supreme Court Justice, Alan Page is widely renowned for his former career as a professional football player. He attended law school while at the height of his football career, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his time with the Minnesota Vikings. Page is an ardent defender of equal education for children.

Lyrical, sensitive, seductive and compassionate, Powell frequently weaves gender, race and sexuality into her works, often writing in the dialect of her native Jamaica. Her style confronts weighty issues while conveying the rhythms of everyday life in such works as A Small Gathering of Bones, The Pagoda and Endless Nightmare.

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.

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.

A nationally syndicated Washington Post columnist who addresses urban and minority affairs, Raspberry offers watchdog reporting with a conscience, offering hope and solutions for the social problems he describes.  Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, he is one of our country's most influential journalists.

Author, radio essayist and performer, her work generates a fresh dialogue on race and diversity. Her satirical book How to Rent a Negro has been acclaimed as "one of the most trenchant and amusing commentaries on contemporary race relations." Ayo brings stories, humor, and a unique insight to help audiences find their own solutions to pressing challenges of diversity in their communities.
http://www.damaliayo.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damali_ayo
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Why have so many black Americans been willing, and often eager, to serve in the armed forces of the United States? What role has patriotism played in their determination to serve? How might we explain that determination in the light of the racism these men and women faced? Yvonne Latty's oral history We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans tackles these questions in the words of black veterans.

As an African American woman born and raised in the Jim Crow South, author and professor of Tibetan Buddhism, Jan Willis knows a lot about the struggles for personal and institutional acceptance. Having marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Birmingham campaign and later studied and practiced with Tibetan Buddhists, she also is able to speak knowingly about issues of race, non-violence, peace and social justice. An inspiring lecturer, Willis offers her audiences—whether Religion and Ethics forums, Peace and Non-violence gatherings or Diversity groups--engaging discourses sprinkled with grace and humor. 
www.janwillis.net

Martin Luther King spoke of "passive resistance" and non-violent protest; Malcolm X demanded equality "by any means necessary". In this play, an imaginary Martin and Malcolm face off in a Memphis hotel room. Alternately funny, dramatic, and always insightful, Pinpoints Theater's production offers a look at the places where these two great men come together . and the places they part company.

http://www.nmgdm.com/pinpoints.html

This play takes you on an eye-opening journey through history, describing the vast intellectual contributions of Africans & African Americans. A typical American family is sent into a “Twilight Zone” where they must attempt to survive in a world without inventions created by African Americans. A unique and entertaining way of realizing that black ingenuity is an integral part of our everyday lives.

http://www.nmgdm.com/pinpoints.html

Roy Brooks, author of Re-Thinking the American Race Problem and editor of When Sorry Isn’t Enough: The Controversy over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice, is a leading legal scholar and civil rights activist. He argues persuasively that African Americans are owed reparations for the centuries of enslavement their ancestors endured. Brooks's new book Civil Rights Theory in Our Post-Civil Rights Era has been receiving great reviews.

President and Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Educational Council on Multi-Ethnic Concerns. Forrest Parker is an experienced keynote and motivational speaker, facilitator, trainer, presenter, and consultant in higher education and community outreach. The founder and director of the annual Multi-Ethnic Perspectives Conference, he has received numerous awards and honors for his work promoting diversity.

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.

How does the mainstream media affect perceptions of race, both within and from outside the African-American community? George Curry gives an alternative media perspective on affirmative action, health care in minority communities, and young people of color. Named one of the nation’s most influential black journalists.

Powerful, energetic, innovative and spellbinding, Na’im Akbar’s lectures stimulate, motivate, educate and inspire. He covers a full range, from the philosophical and scientific to the comedic and moving. Dr. Akbar’s lectures provide a candid, African-centered analysis of the issues affecting African Americans in particular and humanity in general. His lectures are always unique and his observations provocative.

Dr. Jonathan Farley is both a mathematician and a progressive political activist. The son of educators, he is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford, and his fields of interest include applying mathematical theories to counterterrorism and consulting for the hit television series "Numb3rs". Farley's essay, "My Fellow Americans: Looking Black on Red Tuesday," was published in Beyond September 11: An Anthology of Dissent.

Co-founder of The Black Think Tank, Dr. Julia Hare has been recognized nationally as a pioneer of the black male/female relationship. Her commentary and lecture topics include: politics, education, religion, war, foreign and domestic affairs, sexual politics, and contemporary events.

Minister, public speaker and activist, Jeff Johnson hosts BET's The Counsin Jeff Chronicles and Rap City, telling the stories of Black and Latino communities, and engaging a nation of young viewers on important political and social issues affecting their communities. A powerful and fiery orator, Jeff works diligently and tirelessly to encourage the Hip-Hop generation to use its political and social voice.

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Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu is a renowned educator and former consultant to the U.S. Department of Education. As president of African American Images, he is a prolific author and popular presenter conducting workshops designed to empower African American children and achieve a positive self-image.

Recognized as one of the most dynamic speakers in America today, Patricia Russell-McCloud lectures on a variety of subjects from quality education to human relations to African American history/life. She challenges her audience to act rather than react, to respond through reason not rhetoric, to dare to be different and to make a difference.

Recognized as one of the most outstanding contemporary writers in the African American community, and winner of the NAACP Image Awards, Mr Tyree never disappoints. His books include Flyy Girl, What They Want and twelve others. Tyree writes and speaks consistently on subjects that make people stand up and take notice.