African-American businesspeople

Barbara A. McKinzie was from 2006 to 2010 the twenty-seventh International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African-American college women.

Kirt Bruce Bennett (December 15, 1967 – May 3, 2010) was an African-American Republican political activist, businessman, and educational leader in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Lee Wilder Thomas, known as Rev.

Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American hip hop recording artist and producer.

Randal D. Pinkett (born 1971) is an American business consultant who in 2005 was the winner of season four of the reality television show, The Apprentice.

Raymond V. Haysbert Sr.

Ted Ellis (born 1963) is an American artist and former environmental chemist.

Troy Carter is an American music manager who is the founder, chairman and CEO of Atom Factory, a talent management and full-service film and television production company.

Wallace "Wally" Amos, Jr.

William Delford Davis (born July 24, 1934) is a former American football defensive end for the Cleveland Browns and the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL).

Franklin Delano "Frank" Raines (born January 14, 1949) is an American business executive.

Arthur Bernard Leaner (June 30, 1908–September 6, 1978), who was known professionally as Al Benson, was an African-American radio DJ, music promoter and record label owner in Chicago between the 1940s and 1960s.

William Still (October 7, 1821 – July 14, 1902) was an African-American abolitionist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, conductor on the Underground Railroad, writer, historian and civil rights activist.

Norris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, (May 12, 1846 – March 3, 1898) was an American politician, businessman, union leader, and African-American activist in Texas in the United States.

Urias Africanus McGill (c. 1823 – 1866) was an African-American mulatto from the United States who immigrated with his family to Liberia, West Africa, in the 19th century.

Doris E. Saunders (August 8, 1921 – March 24, 2014) was an American librarian, author, editor, businesswoman, and professor of Journalism.

Demmette Guidry is an American music industry executive, talent manager and label owner, who helped launch the careers of many prominent recording artists including Beyoncé, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Cypress Hill, Mary Mary, Alicia Keys and several others.

James A. "Jimmie" Dallas, Sr.

Jane Johnson Endsley (1848–1933) was a successful Dallas businesswomen and community leader.

Ardie A. Clark Halyard (1896-1989) was a banker, activist and first woman president of the Milwaukee chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

David Bullock (born June 15, 1993), also known by the nickname Alaska, is an American publicist and tastemaker.

Mario Leon’trez Turman (born August 25th, 1988), professionally known as SupaCrankIt, is an American hip-hop producer from Lithonia, Georgia mostly known for providing beats/instrumentals to the online independent music industry.

Mathew Knowles (born January 9, 1952) is a talent manager and businessman.

Nathaniel Cornelius "Nate" Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

Gerald Anderson "Jerry" Lawson (December 1, 1940 – April 9, 2011) was an American electronic engineer known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console.

The African-American Civil Rights Movement (1865–1895) refers to the post-Civil War reform movements in the United States aimed at eliminating racial discrimination against African Americans, improving educational and employment opportunities, and establishing electoral power.

Alonzo Franklin Herndon (June 26, 1858 Walton County, Georgia – July 21, 1927) was an African American entrepreneur and businessman.

Amos Fortune (c. 1710 – November 1801) was a prominent African-American citizen of Jaffrey, New Hampshire in the 18th century.

Amzie Moore (September 23, 1911 – February 1, 1982) was an African-American civil rights leader, and entrepreneur in the Mississippi Delta.

John P. Parker (1827 – February 4, 1900) was an American abolitionist, inventor, iron moulder and industrialist.

Johnson Crayne Smith (27 October 1844-20 August 1919) was an early 20th-century businessman from Pittsburgh and the namesake of Johnson C.

Renaldo Whitman, better known by his stage name Slick Pulla, is an American rapper from the 4th Ward of Atlanta, Georgia.

Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), professionally known as Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper and DJ from Atlanta, Georgia, who rose to prominence after producing YC's hit single "Racks" in 2011.

Karyn Calabrese (born April 20, 1947) is an American raw foodist and restaurateur.

Benny Napoleon (born 1955) is an American police officer and politician who is the current Sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan, and a 2013 candidate for the office of Mayor of Detroit.

Zedekiah Johnson Purnell (born 1813) was an African-American activist, businessman, and editor of the literary journal The Demosthenian Shield.

John Harold Johnson (January 19, 1918 – August 8, 2005) was an American businessman and publisher.

Homer B. Roberts (1885–1952) A graduate of Kansas State Agricultural College and veteran of World War I who was the first black to attain the rank of lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps.

Chaka Pilgrim is a music industry executive who currently serves as the President of Roc Nation Records.

Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American author, business executive, radio host, syndicated columnist, and Tea Party activist from Georgia.

Eunice Walker Johnson (April 4, 1916 – January 3, 2010) was the wife of publisher John H.

Christopher Miller (born November 6, 1985) better known by his stage name YC Worldwide or simply YC, is an American rapper from Decatur, Georgia.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr.

Ivenue Love-Stanley, FAIA, NOMA, is an American architect.

John C. Bowers (February 9, 1811 – October 5, 1873) was an African American entrepreneur, organist and vestryman at St.

Quentin Riggins (born April 14, 1966) is a former American football linebacker who played one season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Joe Von Battle (born Joseph Battle, April 3, 1915 – March 26, 1973) was an American record store owner and pioneer black record producer in Detroit, Michigan, between the 1940s and 1960s.

John Learie Estrada (born September 27, 1955) is the current United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago and a former U.

Percy Romeo Miller, Jr.

Harold Pierce (August 11, 1917 – March 8, 1988) was an African-American entrepreneur who founded the successful Harold's Chicken Shack restaurant chain in Chicago, Illinois.

Nicole Mitchell Murphy (born Nicole Mitchell on January 5, 1968 from Sacramento, California) is an American fashion model, television personality, designer, occasional actress and businesswoman.

Channing Dungey (born in 1969 or 1970) is an American television executive who in 2016 became the first African American president of ABC Entertainment Group.

Paula Williams Madison is an American journalist, writer, businessperson, and executive.

Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone (August 9, 1869 – May 10, 1957) was an American businesswoman, inventor and philanthropist.

Bobby “Bobcat” Ervin (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Bobcat or DJ Bobcat, is a Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum Producer, songwriter, DJ, artist and music executive.

Freeman Briley Ransom (1880-1947) was born on his family's farm in Grenada, Mississippi as one of sixteen children.

George B. Jackson (1850 – November 25, 1900), was a former slave who became a soldier in the United States Army, serving with the Buffalo Soldiers from 1869 to 1875 in Texas.

George Washington Gibbs, Jr.

Oliver "Power" Grant (born November 3, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, producer, and actor.

Roy Donahue “Don” Peebles (born March 2, 1960) is a real estate entrepreneur, author and political activist.

Stephanie J. Jones (born in Youngstown, Ohio) is deputy chief of staff for the U.

Jeremiah G. Hamilton (sometimes Jerry Hamilton) was a Wall Street broker noted as "the only black millionaire in New York" by James McCune Smith about a decade before the American Civil War.

Cornelius Otis Johnson (born July 12, 1943) is a former American football offensive guard who played six seasons with the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League (NFL).

Sarann Knight-Preddy (July 27, 1920 - December 22, 2014) was an American business leader and gaming pioneer in the U.

Eric D. Thomas is an American motivational speaker, author and minister.

Javin France (born February 23, 1993), professionally known as JayFrance, is an American hip-hop and R&B producer from St.

Derrius Quarles is an entrepreneur, author, speaker and consultant.

Philip A. Payton, Jr.

William T. Johnson (1809 – June 17, 1851) was a free African American barber, who lived in Natchez, Mississippi.

Ulysses Lee "Junior" Bridgeman (born September 17, 1953) is a retired American basketball player.

Benjamin Thornton Montgomery (1819–1877) was an influential African-American inventor, landowner, and freedman in Mississippi.

Stedman Graham, Jr.

Maggie Anderson (born Margarita in 1971 (age 45–46)) is an American activist, CEO, and co-founder, with her husband John Anderson, of the Empowerment Experiment.

Manuel Seal, Jr. (born September 26, 1960) is an American musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, vocal coach, and arranger.

Rose Catherine Pinkney (born 1964) is an American television development executive.

Otis Williams, Jr.

Buffie Carruth (born January 7, 1977), also known by her stage name Buffie the Body, is an American model, fitness instructor actress and writer.

Victoria "Vicki" Vann (born Victoria Vann, July 14, 1980) is an American country music artist, model and actress.

Chris Lighty (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012) was an American music industry executive.

Rodney Ramone Hill, Jr.

Damon Dash (born May 3, 1971), also known as Dame Dash, is an American entrepreneur, music producer and actor.

Charles Clinton Spaulding (August 1, 1874 – August 1, 1952) was a prominent black American business leader.

Chosen Effect also known by the name T-Effect, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, musician, DJ, dancer and actor.

Clarence Otis, Jr.

Rodney "Don Vito" Richard (born July 9, 1978) is an American record producer.

Earl Gilbert Graves, Sr.

Tracey Elaine Edmonds (née McQuarn; February 18, 1967) is an American businesswoman, media mogul and television personality.

Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher Jr.

Cheryl Contee is an American blogger, writer, and a businessperson.

Kenneth Irvine Chenault (born June 2, 1951) is an American business executive.

Richard Donnell Ross (born January 26, 1960), known as "Freeway" Rick Ross, is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s.

Samuel B. "S.B." Fuller (June 4, 1905 – October 24, 1988) was an American entrepreneur.