Raven Cook

Born in Wichita, Kan. in 1928, June Esther Bacon-Bercey gravitated toward science, and at a young age, her teachers encouraged her to pursue STEM studies. She would eventually become the first African American woman to receive a bachelor's degree in meteorology from UCLA. Bacon-Bercey would study meteorological impacts of atomic testing sites, and in 1971, she was hired by NBC affiliate WGRZ.

Born Julian Edward Adderley in Sept. 1928, Cannonball Adderley's father was a jazz cornetist. With a musical family, the young Adderley explored all the possibilities musical creativity had to offer. He studied music in the U.S. Navy School of Music and led two military bands before moving to New York City. The bebop scene of the 1950s attracted Adderley, and he formed a quintet with his brother, Nat.

Born in Little Rock, Ark. in May 1936, historian David Levering Lewis paved the way for in-depth considerations of figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois and African American men and women of the early 20th century. Despite having educators for parents, Lewis didn't learn to read until he was about six years old. After his father was as a witness in a NAACP case to ensure equal pay in the South, his family moved to Ohio. Lewis attended Fisk University where he learned from some of the pioneers of English, history and art.