Toni Morrison was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. Growing up in a working-class family, she developed a love for reading, storytelling, and music at an early age. She excelled in school, studied English at Howard University, and earned a master’s degree from Cornell University.

Morrison became well known not only for her extraordinary novels, but also for the way she centered Black voices and experiences at a time when mainstream publishing rarely allowed them space. Her writing is known for its beautiful language, deep emotion, and unforgettable characters. Some of her most famous works include: Beloved – winner of the Pulitzer Prize, The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon – winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

In 1993, Toni Morrison made history as the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature—one of the highest honors any writer can receive. But Morrison didn’t just write books—she also shaped the world of literature from the inside. As an editor at Random House, she helped bring Black authors and Black stories into the spotlight, publishing works by Angela Davis, Muhammad Ali, Toni Cade Bambara, and many others. Through her editing and writing, she played a major role in building the modern canon of Black American literature.

Later in life, Morrison became a professor at Princeton university, inspiring a new generation of writers and thinkers. Even after gaining global recognition, she continued to speak boldly about storytelling, identity, racism, and the importance of protecting creative freedom.

Toni Morrison passed away in 2019 at the age of 88, but her legacy continues to influence authors, classrooms, and readers around the world. Her books are studied in schools, adapted into films and plays, and celebrated for their beauty, honesty, and power. Toni Morrison showed us that words matter—and that telling our stories can shape history.

Augusta Savage was a groundbreaking sculptor and art teacher from Green Cove Springs, Florida, who overcame poverty, racism, and sexism to become one of the most important artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Even though her parents discouraged her from making art, Savage kept creating and eventually won a prize at a county fair that helped send her to New York to study.

In Harlem, Savage became a well-known sculptress because she centered Black life and culture in her work. Savage opened the first gallery dedicated to Black art, taught more than 2,500 students for free, and mentored future famous artists like Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. Her most famous piece, Lift Every Voice and Sing—a 16-foot sculpture inspired by the Black National Anthem—was created for the 1939 World’s Fair and seen by millions. Although the sculpture was later destroyed, a visual replica can be seen on a building on Hogan Street in downtown Jacksonville.

Augusta Savage is remembered as a fearless artist, educator, and activist who fought for Black artists to be seen, valued, and included in the art world.

B.B. King, who was born Riley B. King in 1925 in the small town of Itta Bena, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta.

Despite the hardships of his early life, including losing his mother and grandmother at a young age, King found comfort and purpose in music. King learned guitar from a local minister and began performing on street corners for spare change, slowly building the skills that would one day make him a legend.

As a teenager, King hitchhiked to Memphis, a major center for Black music, where his career truly began. A radio spot on WDIA gave King his first big break, and by the early 1950s he was recording hits like “Three O’ Clock Blues,” which launched him into national touring.

Fame for King exploded in the late 1960s when rock musicians such as Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy praised him as a major influence.

In 1969 King’s hit “The Thrill Is Gone” became a crossover success, introducing millions of new listeners to the blues. King was known for his signature guitar style—full of bending notes, emotional vibrato, and soulful phrasing—which became instantly recognizable and inspired generations of musicians.

King performed around the world, from Europe to Africa to Japan, spreading American blues across the globe. King earned numerous awards, including multiple Grammys, the Presidential Medal of Arts, and inductions into both the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

When B.B. King passed away in 2015 at age 89, he left behind a legacy as the “King of the Blues”

The LaVilla neighborhood in Jacksonville is the birthplace of one of the city’s most accomplished figures: James Weldon Johnson.

Mr. Johnson achieved many firsts in his life:

He became Florida’s first African American lawyer after Reconstruction and later served as the principal of Stanton High School, where he helped turn it into the state's first Black public high school.

He also worked internationally as a U.S. Consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and he eventually became the first African American leader of the NAACP.

In addition to his leadership roles, he was a respected college professor and a talented writer.

He became an important voice during the Harlem Renaissance.

• His most famous work, the poem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” was first performed at the Historic Stanton School on February 12th, 1900.

• Today, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, is known as the Black National Anthem.