Greetings and welcome back. Our featured presentation today highlights influential African Americans who not only helped shape America but also shook up the world. Welcome to blackexceles.com. The site where we share black excellence, opulence and affluence. Our mission is to inspire you as we enlighten you. Our list is based on the undefeated 44, which is published by undefeated.com. And we want to commend them on their research and compilation of these 44 African American influencers. These individuals are the true essence of black excellence and represents the quintessential mission of our channel. The undefeated 44 is a collection of dreamers and dewers, noisy geniuses and quiet innovators, record breakers and symbols of pride and aspiration. We pay homage to these African American leaders and pioneers who are truly an inspiration as their personal achievements reveal the best qualities of black Americans. Their unusual will, intelligence and determination in the face of inequality, danger and insurmountable odds is admired and praised. We want to thank them all for their self-sacrifice and consistent posture towards raising the social, culture and economic status of African Americans. In this original black excellence video, we will feature influential African Americans who help shape our world. So without further ado, let's get started. Because he gave voice to the voiceless, born just five years after the end of the Civil War, Robert Sengstack Abbott founded a weekly newspaper, The Chicago Defender, one of the most important black newspapers in history, in 1905. The success of the Chicago Defender made Abbott one of the nation's most prominent post-lavery black millionaire and paved the way for prominent black publishers such as Earl G. Graves, John J. Johnson and Edward Lewis. Alvin Ailey, because he brought dance and the beauty of black bodies to the fight for justice. Alvin Ailey is a legendary modern dance pioneer, choreographer and civil rights artist as activist. Although Ailey died nearly 30 years ago, many of his best known pieces have become as emblematic of vibrant, relevant American art as tap dance jazzed the literature of Tony Morrison and hip-hop. Ailey explored issues of social justice, racism and spirituality in the African American experience. This was during the height of the Civil Rights movement, when the notion of black classically trained dancers moving to the music of Duke Ellington, gospel, blues, Latin and African pop was truly revolutionary, if not unfathomable. Muhammad Ali, because he was the greatest, just like he said he was. Muhammad Ali is the undisputed president of African American athletes. As a boxer, Ali is considered the greatest of all time, his style, power, ring savvy and winning of an Olympic gold medal and the world's heavyweight title three times was unprecedented. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector of the Vietnam War made him both a hero and an icon for the larger counter-culture generation of the 1960s. Richard Allen, because God doesn't segregate, but humans do. Allen is considered the founder of African Methodist Episcopal, AME, Church in America. That church, now with a membership of more than 2.5 million people and 6,000 churches, was the country's first independent black denomination. Allen focuses his sermons on the freedom of slaves, cessation of colonization, education of youths and temperance. His own home and churchy-pastored, Bethel AME Church, were even stopped on the Underground Railroad. Maya Angelou, because she rose to greatness despite facing some of life's coreless hardships, Maya Angelou lived a life just as remarkable as the poetry and prose she crafted in her 86 years on this earth. Maya life and work resonated with her audience and earned her a myriad of accolades, including three Grammy Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and more than 50 honorary degrees. Maya Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and adult experiences. Angelou is also a fearless and determined civil rights activist who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. If you love our videos and have a suggestion for a future edition, let us hear from you in the comments section below. Ella Baker, because she didn't let her gender keep her from defending her race. Proof that visibility is not necessary to make an impact. Ella Baker is one of history's lesser known civil rights heroes, yet one of the most important. If Martin Luther King Jr. was the head of the civil rights movement, Ella Baker was its backbone. She helped Dr. King form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference through which she facilitated protests, built campaigns, and ran a voter registration campaign called the Crusade for citizenship. Baker was one of the early adopters of the belief that young people were the strongest and most important aspects of the civil rights movement. James Baldwin Because he embraced the responsibility to be a voice of his nation. James Baldwin, through his brilliant prose, revealed the truth. The truth about his race. The truth about his country. The ugly truths of racism, poverty, and inequality that plagued the United States during his lifetime. He confronted American racism with fearless honesty and courageously explored homosexuality through his literature and in his life. The work of Baldwin, a product of Harlem, New York, and a citizen of the world, combined his own experience with the best and the worst of that of the black life around him. The joy, the blues, the sermons, the spirituals, and the bitter sting of discrimination. John Michel Basquiat Because his paintings were a springboard to deeper truths about the individual. Basquiat was handsome, fashionable, and famously eccentric. Basquiat dropped out of high school and cut his artistic chops as a graffiti artist in Soho and Manhattan, New York's Lower East Side. The drawing in Basquiat's best known pieces may be primitive looking at first glance, but the images were sexy, complex, and sophisticated. While his worldview was undeniably black, urban, and hyper-masculine, his bold paint splash technique was influenced more by modern abstract masters. Mary McLeod Bethune Because the first lady of the struggle left us an indelible legacy of love, hope, and dignity. An educator, civil rights leader, and advisor to five U.S. presidents, the first lady of the struggle has been synonymous with black uplift since the early 20th century. She turned her faith, her passion for racial progress, and her organizational and fundraising savvy into the enduring legacies of Bethune Cookman University and the National Council of Negro Women. Bethune understood the intersections of education, optics, and politics, and was fierce and canny in using them to advance the cause of her people. These attributes helped make Mary one of the most prominent African-American women of the first half of the 20th century. Shirley Chism Because before yes we can, there was unbought and unbossed. Shirley Chism was relentless in breaking political barriers with respect to both race and gender. In 1968, Chism became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, representing New York's 12th District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, Chism became the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Chism remarked in words that still resonate today that in the end, anti-black, anti-female and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing. Anti-humanism We appreciate the fact that you stayed with us until the end. Thank you for spending time with us and don't forget to like this video. Also, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a video. Bye for now. We will see you tomorrow.