To mark the launch of their new black history section , theGrio.com () today unveiled "theGrio’s 100: History Makers in the Making." The exclusive list honors Black History month by highlighting the next generation of African-American history makers and industry leaders who have the potential to make a difference in the lives of all American.
The 100 individuals selected, each with their own path to success, are from 10 fields including business, education, sports, science and the environment, media, service and activism, politics, health, pop culture, and the arts. theGrio’s editorial team selected the 100 individuals with input from a group of experts.
"TheGrio’s 100" was officially unveiled by theGrio Managing Editor David A. Wilson earlier this morning on "Today" (see video of the interview here: ). Individuals from "TheGrio’s 100" will continue to be profiled on all platforms of NBC News including "NBC Nightly News," "Today," MSNBC, CNBC, and msnbc.com through February 6.
In partnership with NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, and msnbc.com, theGrio.com will also present what will be the most robust offering of multi-media Black History content anywhere on the web. The new ‘Our History’ section () features news stories, commentary, and hundreds of video clips, including footage from NBC News' rich archives. The 'Our History' section will be a permanent fixture on the site and will consistently feature new content year round.
TheGrio.com is the first video-centric news community site devoted to providing African-Americans with stories and perspectives that appeal to them but are underrepresented in existing national news outlets. TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles, and opinion on topics from breaking news, politics, health, business, and entertainment, which concern its niche audience. David A. Wilson is the managing editor of theGrio.com.
Below is "TheGrio’s 100: History Makers in the Making" list.
Visit to learn more about each individual:
BUSINESS
URSULA BURNS, 51 - Chief Executive Officer of Xerox Corporation, first black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company
TRACY REESE, 45 - Fashion Designer
JAY-Z, 40 - Musician, Rap Mogul, Investor
OPRAH WINFREY, 56 - Media Mogul
CLARENCE OTIS JR., 53 - Chief Executive Officer of Darden Restaurants
EPHREN W. TAYLOR, 27 - Chief Executive Officer of City Capital Corporations, youngest ever African-American CEO of publicly-traded company
JANICE BRYANT HOWROYD, 47 - Entrepreneur, Founder of employment staffing firm ACT1
RALPH GILLES, 40 - President and CEO Dodge Brand, automobile designer
JAMAIL LARKINS, 26 - Chief Executive Officer of Ascension Aircraft
CARLA HARRIS, 47 - Managing Director in Global Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley
HEALTH
DR. REGINA BENJAMIN, 53 - U.S. Surgeon General
WILL ALLEN, 60 - Chief Executive Officer of Growing Power, Urban Farmer
DR. OTIS BRAWLEY - Chief Medical Officer of American Cancer Society
Dr. KATHIE-ANN JOSEPH - Surgeon and Breast Cancer Researcher/Activist
LISA COOPER - Professor at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researcher in race disparities in medical care
HELENE GAYLE, 54 - President and CEO of CARE USA, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty global
SEUN ADEBIYI, 26 - Olympic hopeful, cancer patient, and bone marrow donation advocate
SATIRA STREETER - Clinical psychologist in Washington, DC
TREENA LIVINGSTON ARINZEH, 34 - Biomedical engineer working on making adult stem cell therapy a future reality
RISA LAVIZZO-MOUREY, 55 - President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
POLITICS
REP. BAKARI SELLERS, 25 - Democratic member of South Carolina House of Representatives
ANTHONY WOODS, 29 - Former Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in California, openly gay war veteran.
REP. ARTUR DAVIS (D)-AL, 42 - Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and candidate for Governor of Alabama
MELODY BARNES, 45 - White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council
DEVAL PATRICK, 53 - Democratic Governor of Massachusetts
KAMALA HARRIS, 45 - District Attorney of San Francisco; candidate for California Attorney General
ERIC HOLDER, 59 - U.S. Attorney General
VERNON PARKER, 50 - Republican Mayor of Paradise Valley, Arizona
STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, 39 - Incoming mayor of Baltimore, Maryland
KEVIN JOHNSON, 43 - Mayor of Sacramento
POPULAR CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT
BEYONCE, 28 - Singer
SHONDA RIMES, 40 - Executive Producer of "Grey’s Anatomy" and "Private Practice" television shows
WILL.I.AM, 34 - Co-founder of Black Eyed Peas, musician and producer
DRAKE, 23 - Innovative rapper, discovered on Myspace.com
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, 35 - Actor, roles in "Amistad" and "2012"
GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD, 40 - Film director, " Secret Life of Bees"
CHARLES KING - Hollywood agent whose clients include Terrence Howard and Tyler Perry
DARIUS RUCKER, 43 - Musician and country singer; formerly of Hootie & the Blowfish
MARY J. BLIGE, 39 - Singer; anti-domestic violence activist
MO’NIQUE, 42 - Actress and comedienne
ARTS AND CULTURE
JASON MORAN, 35 - Jazz musician and music historian
KARA WALKER, 40 - Artist
MALCOLM GLADWELL, 46 - Author of "The Tipping Point"
BILL T. JONES, 57 - Dancer and director of Broadway’s "FELA!"
WYNTON MARSALIS, 48 - Jazz musician
LYNN NOTTAGE, 45 - Pulitzer prize winning playwright
KADIR NELSON, 35 - Children’s book illustrator
KEHINDE WILEY, 32 - Painter
DARIN ATWATER - Composer/conductor who’s redefining the Eurocentric symphonic tradition
JESSICA CARE MOORE, 38 - Poet, actor, publisher
SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
CHARLES BOLDEN, 63 - NASA Administrator; former space shuttle commander
TONY HANSBERRY, 15 - The Next Doogie Howser, created a breakthrough surgical stitch
DERRICK PITTS, Ph.D. - Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute
LISA JACKSON, 47 - Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
JAMES MCLURKIN, 37 - Electrical engineer and robot specialist
JEROME RINGO, 54 - President of the Apollo Alliance
BEVERLY WRIGHT, 63 - Head of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University in New Orleans
ROBERT BULLARD - Author and environmentalist
SHELTON JOHNSON - Park Ranger at Yosemite National Park
AGNES A. DAY - Associate professor of microbiology at Howard University
SPORTS
SHANI DAVIS, 27 - Olympic Speed Skater
MICHAEL HILL, 39 - General Manager of the Florida Marlins baseball team
JAMES "BUBBA" STEWART, 24 - Champion motorcross driver
EVANDER KANE, 18 - Member of the Atlanta Thrashers NHL team
LEBRON JAMES, 25 - Member of the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team
ADRIAN PETERSON, 24 - Member of the Minnesota Vikings NFL team
ALLYSON FELIX, 24 - Olympic track and field athlete
CANDACE PARKER, 23 - Member of the Los Angeles Sparks WNBA basketball team
SERENA WILLIAMS, 28 - Professional tennis player
CHEYENNE WOODS, 19 - Golfer
SERVICE AND ACTIVISM
WYCLEF JEAN, 37 - Musician and philanthropist
CRAIG WATKINS, 41 - Dallas District Attorney
CORY BOOKER, 40 - Mayor of Newark, New Jersey
RICHARD BUERY, JR., 37 - President and Chief Executive Officer of Children's Aid Society in New York
RABBI ALYSA STANTON, 45 - First female African-American Rabbi; leads a synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina
MAJORA CARTER, 43 - Environmental justice advocate; Bronx, New York
SHAWNA KIMBRELL - First American-American female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force
KARI FULTON, 23 - National campus campaign coordinator for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative
YOLANDA WIMBERLY, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia
JOSHUA DUBOIS, 27 - Pentecostal minister; Head of the White House Office for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
MEDIA AND INFORMATION
TYRA BANKS, 36 - Model and media entrepreneur
TYLER PERRY, 40 - Producer/Director; projects have grossed $400 million worldwide
CHRISTINA NORMAN, 46 - Chief Executive Office of OprahWomensNetwork (OWN)
FRED MWANGAGUHUNGA - Founder of Meditakeout.com
BYRON PITTS, 49 - Correspondent for CBS News’ "60 Minutes"
ROLAND MARTIN, 41 - Journalist
STEVE HARVEY, 52 - Radio host, author
DAVID DRUMMOND, 45 - SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Google
MARY SPIO, 36 - Co-founder of Gen2MEDIA and digital media expert
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO -"NBC Nightly News" digital correspondent; first digital correspondent for network newscast
EDUCATION
COMMAND SGT. MAJ. TERESA KING, 48 - First female commander at U.S. Army's Drill Sgt. School
DR. FREEMAN A. HRABOWSKI III, 59 - President of University of Maryland; education expert
SPIRIT TRICKEY-ROWAN - Daughter of one of Little Rock 9, Park Ranger at Central High School Visitor's Center
BARRINGTON IRVING, 26 - Pilot; founder of Experience Aviation; youngest person to pilot a plane around the world solo
ROLAND FRYER, 32 - Professor of economics at Harvard University
OMO MOSES, 37 - Founder and Executive Director of Young Peoples Project, teaching math to underprivileged in Mississippi
SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, PHD, 63 - President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; first black and woman to chair the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
TIM KING - Founder of Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men in Chicago
ASHANTI JOHNSON - Assistant Professor of Chemical Oceanography at College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, FL
JOHN JACKSON - President and CEO of The Schott Foundation for Public Education