FUTURE RISING

Much of the focus on the Black American contribution to culture has been on Black history, but there are visionaries making history at this very moment. Meet 10 trailblazers who are moving whole industries, our country, and the world forward with their innovations, ideas, and influence.

A Note on Representation from Lee Daniels

I was 12 years old when I first saw Lady Sings the Blues. Diana Ross. Billy Dee Williams. Black folks looking fabulous. You could smell the fried chicken jumping off the screen. Just as formative, but in such a different way, was the film Claudine. Diahann Carroll's Claudine was my mother. Beautiful, elegant, without makeup-or Billie Holiday's money-but rich in spirit, and also a single mother raising six brats in  the inner city. It was probably the first time my mom felt seen by Hollywood. I knew in that moment that if I ever made a film, it would have to be as honest and truthful as Claudine. As a budding filmmaker, I dreamed of a cinematic world where complex Black characters like you find in those films weren't an anomaly but the norm. Where every dimension of Black culture was celebrated for its uniqueness.

Representation matters; it is, after all, what gives people license to dream. It assigns worth to the nondominant culture and validates their existence. I keep talking about representation in cinema, but this is true across every part of our culture and across the entire country.

Which is why I'm so humbled to be included in this list of people who are making history right now and who all stand for representation and innovation and inspiration across every field medicine and mixed-media art, politics and poetry. The Black leaders featured in the following stories show that America is at its best when we're embracing and uplifting and celebrating our diversities.

-Lee Daniels, Academy Award-nominated director and producer

PUBLIC HEALTH PIONEER

Kizzmekia Corbett