Rae Lewis-Thorton is an AIDS activist who has been featured on the cover of Essence magazine, as well as in numerous feature stories in Ebony and Emerge magazines, Chicago Tribune newspaper, Chicago Sun Times newspaper, and the Washington Post. She was also featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Nightline with Ted Koppel. She received an Emmy award in 1996 for her WBBM-TV's ongoing series of first person stories on living with AIDS.

Mary Church Terrell was the first African American chosen to represent the United States Congress of Women and to serve on the board of education of a major city.

Barbara Jordan was the first African-American to serve in the U.S. congress from the South since reconstruction; first Black woman to preside over a state senate; and the first Black person to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

Alexis Herman was the Secretary of Labor and a Cabinet Member in the administration of President William Clinton.

Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman member of the U.S. Congress, was the first African American and first woman to run as a major party candidate for the presidency of the United States.