Rhonesha Byng

When it comes to stories of great achievement and triumph that are part of the thread of history of Black people in America the physical structures that served as the homes of black leaders, or the locations of major black history moments are often lost. The history is essentially demolished, passed over or forgotten. So when we come across a rare treasure like the 34-room Italian style mansion known as Villa Lewaro built for and owned by the iconic Madam C.J. Walker in 1918, serious attention… Show more

When it comes to stories of great achievement and triumph that are part of the thread of history of Black people in America the physical structures that served as the homes of black leaders, or the locations of major black history moments are often lost. The history is essentially demolished, passed over or forgotten. So when we come across a rare treasure like the 34-room Italian style mansion known as Villa Lewaro built for and owned by the iconic Madam C.J. Walker in 1918, serious attention must be paid to preserve it. Show less

"From homeless to Howard" might sound like the title of a movie, but for 19-year-old James Ward, this is his reality -- though it still feels like a dream.

The moment that set the stage for international media mogul Arianna Huffington’s career almost didn’t happen. In her senior year of college she was offered a book contract, and essentially said to the publisher, ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ At the time, she says she didn’t know how to go about writing a book. But the persistent publisher asked her to meet for lunch, and she decided it was at least worth a train ride. By the end of that lunch, she signed the book contract and her life changed.

Dreams do come true. That’s the message behind Elisa Padilla’s career journey. The daughter of two blue collar working parents, growing up in Newark, New Jersey Padilla fell in love with the sport of basketball as a little girl, and now she works as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center.

Miko Branch along with her sister Titi Branch successfully launched Miss Jessie’s to cater to women with curly hair. We know them today as pioneers in the natural hair movement. In her new book titled “Miss Jessie’s: Creating A Successful Business From Scratch–Naturally” Miko Branch details how she and her sister did it. She and her sister Titi built a company that essentially evolved from their kitchen table into a multimillion dollar company.