Phenomenal AKAs

Maya Angelou, Author and Poet

Gwendolyn Calvert Baker, PhD., President of the United States Committee for UNICEF

Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke, Former Congresswoman from California and first woman to chair the Democratic National Convention

Angie Brookes, The first woman President of the United Nations

Bebe Moore Campbell, author of Brothers and Sisters and Your Blues Ain't Like Mine

Suzette Charles, Miss America 1984

Marva Collins, Founder of her own private school on Chicago's west side

Elizabeth (Bessie) Delany, Dentist, Educator and Author

Sarah (Sadie) Delany, Educator, Businesswoman, and Author

Ella Fitzgerald, internationally famous jazz singer

Bettiann Gueno Gardner, Co-Chairman of Soft Sheen Products, Inc.

Zina Garrison, tennis star

Dr. Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant, Essence columnist

Shirlee Tailor Haizlip, author of The Sweeter the Juice

Chamique Holdsclaw, Women's National Basketball Association Player

Janice Huff, NBC Meteorologist and St. Louis Emmy Award Winner

Dr. Marilyn Hughes-Gaston, Assistant Surgeon General

Mae Jemison, M.D. Astronaut and businesswoman

Sharon Pratt Kelly, The first woman to serve as mayor of Washington, D. C.

Alicia Keys, Singer, Composer, and Author

Coretta Scott King, activist

Gladys Knight, Singer and Actress

Yvette Lee, Producer of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and A Different World, and creator and executive producer of Living Single

Jewell Jackson McCabe, President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women

Lt. Col. Anita McMiller, Deputy Legislative Assistant to Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Toni Morrison, author and Nobel laureate

Jomarie Payton Noble, Humanitarian and actress; star of Family Matters

Hazel O'Leary, US Secretary of Energy

Rosa Parks, mother of the Civil Rights Movement

Jada Pinkett-Smith, Film and Television Actress

Phylicia Rashad, actress

Sonia Sanchez, author and poet

Ntozake Shange, writer

C. Delores Tucker, National Chairman of the National Political Congress of Black Women

Dr. Debbye Turner, Miss America 1990

Leah Tutu, Wife of South African activist Bishop Desmond Tutu

Marjorie Judith Vincent, Miss America 1991

Diane Watson, The first Black woman to preside over the California State Senate

Faye Wattleton, former President of Planned Parenthood

Lynn Whitfield, actress