Bozoma Saint John, Maverick Carter, Whitney-Gayle Benta And Angelica Ross Announced Among The Inaugural Blacklist100— Black Thought Leaders Creating Positive Change

From luminaries changing the face of media, sports and entertainment to pioneers in medicine STEM, activism and public policy, The blacklist100 amplifies emerging voices within the Black community leading the way, transforming their industries, and creating global positive change. The idea for the list originated as a post on LinkedIn the week following the death of George Floyd. Including an 8-page document entitled an Open Letter on Race, the post received over 30,000 views, shares, and engagements. The open letter was a reflection on Dr. Martin Luther King’s critical question: “Where do we go from here?"  The blacklist100 is the result and definitive answer to that resounding question.  

This inaugural list contains 49 women, 36 men, and 15 teams, all from the African Diaspora including, but not limited to the United States, Haiti, Ethiopia, and the West Indies.  Individuals have been selected based on five categories: 

1. Cause & Community
2. Industry & Service
3. Marketing Communication & Design
4. Media, Arts & Entertainment
5. STEM & Healthcare

Actualized to magnify Black voices across industry that represent forward-thinking, culture-making and thought-leadership, The blacklist100 will also unveil a digital book of 100 Black thought-leaders each year during Juneteenth moving forward. The theme of the 2020 inaugural book is “A Call for Change.” blacklist100 creator, Kai D. Wright composed the interactive book, which will never be printed, but instead exists to create active change with embedded hyperlinks that lead readers to take exact action now.  The featured artwork underpinning the book is from the 2020 Juneteenth Image Capsule of five works by Harlem-based painter and visual artist Elizabeth Colomba, who is French-born, raised of Martinique-descent. 

Wright hopes that the digital book will exist as an invitation and a guide to influence corporate America and other industry leaders alike to invest in the people and groups who are actively dismantling racism and creating positive change. “From Corporate America to street corners, conversations have been dominated by proclamations that Black lives matter,” says Wright “commitments to be anti-racist, and pledges to commit to change. This inaugural #Blacklist100 represents change agents that can take teams and organizations through transformation. Now is your chance to turn those words into actions by putting your money where your mouth is, and pay the creators of culture to help you usher in change.” 

The digital book aims to highlight 100 — experts, activists, scientists, artists, educators, industry leaders, Olympians, and more who all answer these ten calls-to-action: 

1.         Leveling the playing field

2.         Uplifting & rallying action

3.         Guarding Black culture & history

4.         Protecting justice & freedom

5.         Creating new paths to prosperity

6.         Turning community into commerce

7.         Leading a wellness movement

8.         Paving a way for others

9.         Setting new trends

10.     Owning the narrative

_{The blacklist100 recognizes individuals as well as teams. Here are a few of the honorees:}

I Promise Academy - The public elementary school in Akron, Ohio supported by the LeBron James Family Foundation.

Harlem Capital - an early stage, diversity-focused venture capital firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1000 diverse founders over the next 20 years.

Mathematicians Against Police Brutality - (comprised of over 1,400 researchers calling for their colleagues to stop collaborating with police, namely with regard to “predictive policing” technology.

Whitney-Gayle Benta – Head of Talent Relations, Spotify

Bozoma Saint John - Businesswoman and marketing executive who was just named Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Netflix.

Maverick Carter - Longtime friend and business partner to LeBron James and the two have formed a new company new media company called SpringHill Co (already securing $100 million in funding) that the founders state will be “a maker and distributor of all kinds of content that will give a voice to creators and consumers who’ve been pandered to, ignored, or underserved.”

Dr. Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett - Viral Immunologist and lead researcher for the U.S. government responsible for developing a COVID-19vaccine); ·       

Omar Johnson - Marketing guru whose full-page NY Times ad delivered awake-up call entitled Dear white Corporate America.

Keith Cartwright – Co-Founder of Saturday Morning an organization built using creativity to shift negative perceptions in the African-American Community

Angelica Ross – businesswoman, actress and activist in the movement for transgender and racial equality and star of Ryan Murphy’s hit FX series Pose

Ultimately, the book calls for corporations and for America to go beyond just celebrating these individuals. A part of the curatorial statement urges those who can, to support the people on the list and hire them where they can. The guide should be regarded as a go-to-resource. The blacklist100 invites readers to join the online blacklist100 community, and keep telling others about Black talent on your radar.

Click here to see the entire blacklist100

About blacklist100 creator Kai D. Wright

Kai D. Wright helps busy executives, founders, and celebrities grow their brand by applying communication & marketing secrets. He was recently named to the Thinkers50 Radar 2020 as one of the top 30 thought-leaders in business to watch in the world. An author, speaker, strategy advisor, global consulting partner at Ogilvy, and lecturer at Columbia University, he is on a mission to help people build better brands. He often speaks at Fortune 500 companies, conferences, and schools. Recently, he has spoken to members of the American Marketing Association, PR Society of America, The Next Web, SXSW, and the Association of National Advertisers. As an executive, he has been recognized as a leader by Forbes (30 under 30), Adweek, INC, C-Suite Quarterly, and the Advertising Research Foundation. He is the author of Follow the Feeling: Brand Building in a Noisy World (Wiley, 2019), which reveals branding secrets based on research from 1,500 fast-growing brands from Aldi to Peloton.

Prior, Kai has worked in communication/strategy roles for media startup REVOLT, founded by Sean Diddy Combs, and agencies including Porter Novelli, Organic, and Ogilvy. He began his career in Ogilvy’s Associates program. Kai earned a masters from Columbia University and a bachelors from The University of Chicago. An avid traveler, Kai lived in Germany during childhood and has visited over 20 countries. He lives in New York City.