Tracee Ellis Ross is the first Black woman to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical in over 30 years . She is also the first Black woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Comedy in over 30 years . The four-time Emmy Award nominee is an actress , executive producer and star of ABC ’ s “ black-ish .” Previously , Ross starred in the UPN / CW series “ Girlfriends ” for eight seasons . Ross has won nine NAACP Image Awards for “ black-ish ,” “ Girlfriends ” and BET ’ s “ Reed Between the Lines ,” which she starred in and produced . Recently , Ross starred in the feature film “ The High Note ” for which she recorded five original songs . She has hosted the BET Awards , American Music Awards and Black Girls Rock ! Ross is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pattern , an award-winning natural haircare brand . Launched in 2019 , it is the number one BIPOC brand and number two curl brand at ULTA Beauty . As ULTA Beauty ’ s Diversity and Inclusion Advisor , Ross champions initiatives that reframe narratives around Black women and Black consumers . Advocate for joy , self-acceptance , inclusivity and equity , Ross is a founding member of Time ’ s Up where she is focused on creating safety and equality in the workplace . Ross was the first Black woman to open the TED Conference . Additionally , she also moderated a conversation with Michelle Obama for the “ Becoming ” book tour . Ross received both a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and an honorary doctorate from Brown University .
Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize winner , National Book Award winner and New York Times best-selling author of the globally , critically acclaimed novel , “ The Color Purple .” The book spawned a film that was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won two Tony Awards – one for Best Actress in a Musical for AKA member Cynthia Erivo who starred as Celie . The internationally celebrated novelist , writer , poet and social activist has written six other novels – " The Temple of My Familiar ,” “ By The Light of My Father ’ s Smile ,” “ Possessing the Secret of Joy ,” “ The Third Life of Grange Copeland ,” “ Meridian ” and “ Now Is the Time To Open Your Heart ;” four collections of short stories , four children ’ s books and volumes of essays and poetry . Her work has been translated into more than two dozen languages and her books have sold more than fifteen million copies . Walker was honored as one of the inaugural inductees into the California Hall of Fame and has been awarded the Mahmoud Darwish Literary Prize for Fiction . In 2007 , her archives were opened to the public at Emory University . She is a staunch defender of human rights and lends her support to the revolutionaries , teachers and leaders who seek change and transformation of the world . Her next book , “ Gathering Blossoms Under Fire : The Journals of Alice Walker ” will be released in 2022 . Walker is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College .
These eight women now join other exceptional honorary AKA members including Marian Anderson , Coretta Scott King , Rosa Parks , Maya Angelou , First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt , Suzanne de Passe , Ntozake Shange , Mae Jemison , Zina Garrison , Alice Coachman Davis , Gladys Knight , Ella Fitzgerald , Alicia Keys , Cathy Hughes , Yolanda Adams , Jada Pinkett Smith , Iyanla Vanzant , Mellody Hobson , Julie Dash , Ava DuVernay and other distinguished recipients .
46 I vyL eaf ® Summer 2021 Centennial edition