HERO. MICHEL. HENDRIX.

Although googling “Hero” yields 1000’s of examples and I believe that their no longer exists a hierarchy in the idea, definition or example of “Hero”, I do believe that there is value in identifying and celebrating “Hero” iconography within a particular community, profession, philosophy or any group who’s history and story can be better understood by identifying its game changers. For this particular piece I chose 24 African American Heroes from history ,science and pop culture. They include: Duke Ellington, August Wilson, Gordon Parks, Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou, W.E.B Du Bois, Harriet Tubman, Toni Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier, Katherine Johnson, Robert Abbott, Alvin Ailey, Muhammad Ali, Booker T. Washington, Dorothy Dandridge, Dr. Charles Drew, Jesse Owens, Thurgood Marshall, Sojourner Truth, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Allen, and Jackie Robinson.

Jean-Michel Basquiat; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of SAMO, an informal graffiti duo who wrote enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the late 1970s, where rap, punk, and street art coalesced into early hip-hop music culture. A prominent theme in the early Basquiat portrayed historically prominent black figures, such as Charlie Parker, who were identified by Basquiat as black heroes and saints. These were often identified with the iconographic depiction of crowns and halos to distinguish heroes and saints in Basquiat's specially chosen pantheon. He appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique. Basquiat's visual poetics were acutely political and direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle. He died of a heroin overdose at his art studio at the age of 27.

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career lasted only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential guitarists in history and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music". Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at age 15. He achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and his third and final studio album Electric Ladyland reached number one in the US in 1968; it was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his only number-one album. He was the world's highest-paid performer, and he headlined the Woodstock festival in 1969. He died from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, at age 27.