Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Jimmy Yancey
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Jimmy Yancey, an American blues pianist who established the boogie-woogie style with slow, steady, simple left-hand bass patterns. These became more rapid in the work of his students...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Jim Parker
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Jim Parker, an American professional gridiron football player who, during his 11-year career with the Baltimore Colts, established himself as one of the finest offensive linemen in...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Joe Morgan
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Joe Morgan, an American professional baseball player who won consecutive National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in 1975-76, when he led the Cincinnati Reds to back-to-back...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Johnny Dodds
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Johnny Dodds, an African-American musician noted as one of the most lyrically expressive of jazz clarinetists.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Johnny Griffin
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Johnny Griffin, an African American jazz tenor saxophonist noted for his fluency in the hard-bop idiom.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: John Singleton
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features John Singleton, an American film director and screenwriter whose films often examine urban and racial tensions. He is best known for his directorial debut, Boyz n the Hood.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Jo Jones
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Jo Jones, a black American musician, one of the most influential of all jazz drummers, noted for his swing, dynamic subtlety, and finesse.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Josh Gibson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Josh Gibson, an American professional baseball catcher who was one of the most prodigious home run hitters in the game's history. Known as "the black Babe Ruth," Gibson is considered to be...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: June Jordan
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features June Jordan, an African American author who investigated both social and personal concerns through poetry, essays, and drama.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Kanye West
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kanye West, an American producer and rapper who parlayed his production success in the late 1990s and early 2000s into a career as a popular, critically acclaimed solo artist.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Karl Malone
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Karl Malone, an American basketball player who owns the National Basketball Association (NBA) career record for free throws attempted (13,188) and made (9,787). He ranks second in career...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Katherine Dunham
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Katherine Dunham, an American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist noted for her innovative interpretations of ritualistic and ethnic dances.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Kathleen Battle
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kathleen Battle, an American opera singer, among the finest coloratura sopranos of her time.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Kenny Clarke
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kenny Clarke, an American drummer who was a major exponent of the modern jazz movement of the 1940s.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Kenny Dorham
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kenny Dorham, a black American jazz trumpeter, a pioneer of bebop noted for the beauty of his tone and for his lyricism.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Kerry James Marshall
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kerry James Marshall, an African American painter and printmaker whose work examines aspects of black culture in the United States. His unique images extend the grand traditions of history...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Kobe Bryant
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kobe Bryant, an American professional basketball player, who helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to five championships (2000-02; 2009-10).
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Encyclopedia Britannica: La Dainian Tomlinson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features LaDainian Tomlinson, an American professional gridiron football player who was one of the most productive running backs in National Football League (NFL) history.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Larry Doby
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Larry Doby, an American baseball player, the second African-American player in the major leagues and the first in the American League when he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1947.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Laura Matilda Towne
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Laura Matilda Towne, an American educator known for founding one of the earliest and most successful of the freedmen's schools for former slaves after the American Civil War.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Laurence Fishburne
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Laurence Fishburne, an American actor noted for the intensity of his performances. He was the recipient of a Tony Award (1992) for his work in August Wilson's play Two Trains Running, and...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Lawrence Taylor
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Lawrence Taylor, an American collegiate and professional gridiron football player, considered one of the best linebackers in the history of the game. As a member of the New York Giants of...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Leadbelly
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Leadbelly, an American folk-blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose ability to perform a vast repertoire of songs, in conjunction with his notoriously violent life, made him a legend.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Le Bron James
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features LeBron James, an American professional basketball player who helped the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) win two championships (2012, 2013). Drafted directly out of...