Each year for the past 18 years, TIME magazine releases a list of the 100 people deemed most influential.
In the year 2021, we’ve seen the continued fight for social justice, adequate healthcare, representation in media and sports, and more. This year alone, we have faced the legalization of voter suppression, a global pandemic that has brutally exposed the centuries of injustice present at every institution of our nation, body camera footage of more police-involved killings, and record-breaking feats on the court and in the studio.
The Black Information Network wanted to take a closer look at those pioneers, icons, and leaders carrying the torch of these initiatives for our communities and beyond.
Here are all of the Black innovators, icons, pioneers, artists, titans, and leaders who made the 2021 Time 100 Most Influential People List.
Be sure to check out a televised special about this year’s list will air on ABC Monday (September 20).
The Icons
Naomi Osaka
Tennis Champion
Sherrilyn Ifill
Lawyer, Professor, President of NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
Cuban Performance Artist
The Pioneers
Ben Crump
Civil Rights Attorney
Felwine Sarr
Writer and Academic
Aurora James
Canadian Creative Director, Fashion Designer, Founder of Brother Vellies
Phyllis Omido
Kenyan environmental activist
The Titans
Simone Biles
Gymnastics Champion
Shonda Rhimes
TV producer, screenwriter, author
Timbaland and Swizz Beats
Hip-Hop producers, Creators of Verzuz
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Journalist, Creator of The 1619 Project
Allyson Felix
Track Champion
Angélique Kidjo
Beninese singer-songwriter, actress, and activist
Kenneth C. Fraizer and Kenneth I. Chenault
Former CEOs, American Express, Merck
The Artists
Lil Nas X
Rapper
Jessica B. Harris
Culinary historian, author of High On The Hog
Tracee Ellis Ross
Actress, Founder of Pattern Beauty
Mark Bradford
Artist
N.K. Jemisin
Science Fiction Writer
Daniel Kaluuya
Actor
Omar Sy
Actor
Kane Brown
Country Singer
The Leaders
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Director General of the World Trade Organization
Kamala Harris
Vice President of the United States of America
Stacey Abrams
Politician, Voting Rights Leader, Author
The Innovators
Adrienne Banfield Norris, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith
Hosts, Red Table Talk
John Nkengasong
Cameroonian Virologist, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Sara Menker
Entrepreneur, CEO of Gro Intelligence
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