Pennsylvania

Lane (1923-2008) was an educator and poet who, in 1967, became the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. She published five books of poetry: Wind Thoughts, The Mystic Female, I Never Scream: New and Selected Poems, Girl at the Window, and Elegy for Etheridge, with The Mystic Female earning a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1979. While her contemporaries criticized her work for not explicitly focusing on Black themes or experiences, she maintained her artistic independence, writing extensively about nature, love, and universal human experiences. As the first woman to chair Southern University's English Department (1974-1986) and Louisiana's first Black Poet Laureate (1989-1992), she broke barriers in academia and literature and cemented her legacy as an influential literary voice. In recognition of her achievements and indelible mark, in 2022 LSU's Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to name its graduate school the Pinkie Lane Gordon Graduate School.

Johnson (1949) is a businesswoman and philanthropist who co-founded Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1980, the first cable television network focused exclusively on Black audiences. BET revolutionized media representation by showcasing Black music, culture, and entertainment at a time when mainstream television largely excluded Black talent. The network launched the careers of countless Black artists, created original programming that reflected Black experiences, and provided news coverage focused on issues important to the Black community, eventually reaching over 88 million households. In 2001, BET was sold to Viacom for $2.9 billion, making Johnson the first Black woman billionaire. Beyond BET, she serves as CEO and founder of the Salamander Collection, a luxury hotel company, and made history as the first Black woman to have ownership stakes in three professional sports franchises as a partner in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA's Washington Wizards, NHL's Washington Capitals, and WNBA's Washington Mystics.

Florence (1897-1991) was the first Black woman to graduate from a professional library program in the United States.

“I am here to put the nation on notice that violence perpetuated against women in the music industry in the forms of gangster rap and misogynist lyrics will not be tolerated any longer.” Tucker (1927-2005), dubbed “the most hated woman in hip hop” …

Entertainer