On October 27th in Washington DC, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, along with exhibition sponsor AT&T unveiled “The Black List.”
This included photographs of fifty iconic African Americans in the fields of politics, philanthropy, media, business, and sports at a star-studded private preview and reception.
The portraits, taken by internationally-known photographer and Grammy-award winning filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, included to name a few, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem Thelma Golden, civil rights and business leader Vernon Jordan, religious figure Bishop T.D Jakes, playwright and director Tyler Perry, and choreographic and artistic director Bill T. Jones. Sanders embarked on “The Black List” project after a conversation with author Toni Morrison. The vision was to create an entirely new kind of black list – a visual. Having a sense of “who’s who” of African American men and women whose intelligence, talent and determination have propelled them to prominence in diverse disciplines.
In attendance for the premiere were photo subjects BET President Debra Lee, Oscar winning actors Lou Gossett Jr. and Forest Whitaker, erotica writer Zane, and women’s-rights activist Faye Wattleton; along with media personality Roland Martin, actor and author Hill Harper, fashion designer Patrick Robinson, Essence editor-in-chief emeritus and founder of National Cares Mentoring Movement Susan L. Taylor, Congressman James Clyburn, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, National Urban League President Marc Morial, and environmental activist Majora Carter.
