the Information Technology Company WiseDome INC Beyoncé, co-founder of Tidal Sarah Bickford, former owner of Virginia City Water Company Dave Bing, owner of Bing Steel Chris Brown, founder of the record label CBE Herman Cain, business executive Demmette Guidry, music industry executive Kerry S. Harris, entrepreneur Robert L. Johnson, co-founder of BET and RLJ Companies Lisa S. Jones, founder and CEO of EyeMail Inc. Walter P. Lomax Jr., founder of Lomax Health Systems Mary Ellen Pleasant, real estate magnate Henry A. Tandy, founder Tandy&Burns stone masonry and construction firm Vertner Woodson Tandy, first African American architect State of New York and founder of Kappa Phi Alpha fraternity Madam C. J. Walker, businessperson, hair care entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist Gertrude Pocte Geddes Willis, owner of the Gertrude Geddes Willis Life Insurance Company and Gertrude Geddes Willis Funeral Home Cinematographers B Charles Burnett, cinematographer, director D Ernest Dickerson, cinematographer H James E. Hinton, cinematographer J Arthur Jafa, cinematographer K Kira Kelly, cinematographer M Jessie Maple, cinematographer Janks Morton, cinematographer S Malik Hassan Sayeed, cinematographer Y Bradford Young, cinematographer Civil rights leaders and activists A Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist and minister Muhammad Ali, civil rights activist Maya Angelou, civil rights activist, writer, poet B Ella Baker, civil rights activist James Baldwin, civil rights activist, novelist, playwright Marion Barry, civil rights activist, politician Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, lecturer Mary McLeod Bethune, civil rights activist, educator James Bevel, minister, leader of the civil rights movement Sojourner Truth, civil rights activist Gloria Blackwell, civil rights activist, educator Unita Blackwell, civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, civil rights activist Julian Bond, civil rights activist, professor and writer Ruby Bridges, civil rights activist Ralph Bunche, civil rights activist, scientist, academic, diplomat C Beatrice Morrow Cannady, civil rights activist, publisher Bunchy Carter, civil rights activist Jeannette Carter (1886–1964), lawyer, labor organizer, and suffragist Julius L. Chambers, civil rights activist Fannie Lee Chaney, civil rights activist James Chaney, civil rights activist Shirley Chisholm, civil rights activist, educator Xernona Clayton, civil rights activist Septima Poinsette Clark, civil rights activist, educator Eldridge Cleaver, civil rights activist Kathleen Cleaver, civil rights activist Charles E. Cobb Jr., civil rights activist, journalist, professor John Conyers, civil rights activist Vivian E. J. Cook, educator and activist Marvel Cooke, civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper, civil rights activist Dorothy Cotton, civil rights activist Claudette Colvin, civil rights activist, nurse Elijah Cummings,