Men of Change

An old black & white photo of a young African American man in glasses, a white shirt and dress pants & shoes, leaning up against what appears to be chairs on a stage.

Bob Moses, 1964. Photo by Mark Levy. In the collection of Queens College.

Bob Moses

A black & white portrait of an African American man in a dark suit and tie.

Dr. Charles Houston, 1931. Addison N. Scurlock. Scurlock Studio Records. Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Charles Hamilton Houston

A black & white photo of an African American man in a rancher's outfit standing in-between two harnessed horses.

[Andrew Young], 1968. Roland L. Freeman. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture © Roland L. Freeman.

Andrew Young

A black & white photo of an African American man in a dress shirt and pants, writing on the top of a piano.

[Duke Ellington composing at the piano], 1928. Valentino Sarra. Duke Ellington Collection. Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Duke Ellington / John Coltrane / Miles Davis / Louis Armstrong

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Pauses for a Moment after Watching Orion Splashdown, 2014. Bill Ingalls. NASA/Bill Ingalls.

Charles Bolden

A black & white photo of an African American man with long hair braided into thin strands in a vested suit, seated and leaning forward looking at the camera, his hands clasped in front of him.

[Shaka Senghor], 2016. Shawn Lee of SHAWN LEE STUDIOS

Shaka Senghor

A black & white photo of a man with a white beard and a black suit and hat standing in front of a wall covered with papers pinned to it.

August Wilson, 2004. Photo by David Cooper.

John H. Johnson, date unknown. David Jackson. Johnson Publishing Company Archive, Courtesy Ford Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution.

John H. Johnson

A color photo of a smiling bearded African American man in a black shirt and glasses in front of a black backdrop.

[Michael Seibel (headshot)], date unknown. Martin Klimek. Image Courtesy of Michael Seibel.

Michael Seibel

A black & white photo of a smiling African American man wearing glasses and standing in front of a blurry ambulance in he background.

[Dr. Rob Gore], date unknown. Image Courtesy of Dr. Rob Gore.

Dr. Rob Gore

A color photo of a smiling older African American man in a dark grey suit with a white shirt and red tie, standing against a painted white concrete wall with his hands clasped in front of him.

[Robert Smith], 2017. Leah L. Jones. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Robert F. Smith

A black & white portrait of an African American man gazing at the camera/viewer, his right hand resting on his left shoulder.

James Baldwin, Istanbul 1964, 1964. Sedat Pakay. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Sedat Pakay 1964.

James Baldwin

A color photo of a smiling African American man wearing a silver chain and a blue-and-gold patterned shirt.

[Kendrick Lamar], 2018. Andrew Lih. Courtesy of Fuzheado/Andrew Lih.

Kendrick Lamar

A black & white portrait of an African American man with closely cropped hair and beard.

[Ta-Nehisi Coates], date unknown. Gabriella Demczuk. Photo: © Gabriella Demczuk.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

A black & white portrait of an older African American man in a suit, seated in an office in front of a desk covered in papers and magazines.

[Dr. Carter G. Woodson—educator/historian & publisher/late 40’s], 1948. Robert S. Scurlock. Scurlock Studio Records. Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Carter Woodson

A black & white portrait of an older, bald, mustachioed, African American man in a suit sitting in front of a spiral patterned wall.

W.E.B. Du Bois, [from the portfolio 'O, Write My Name:' American Portraits, Harlem Heroes], 1936. Carl Van Vechten. ©Van Vechten Trust; Compilation/Publication © Eakins Press Foundation, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Black and white photo of Muhammad Ali sitting on the couch while holding his kids

Muhammad Ali and Family, 1978. Ron Harvey. Mirrorpix/Courtesy of Everett Collection/Ron Harvey.

Muhammad Ali/Cleveland Summit

A black & white photo of an African American man straddling a chair, mirrored to the left and right, the only difference between them being the position of his clasped hands.

LeBron James, 2017. Liam MacRae.

Lebron James

A black & white photo of two African American men in business attire standing, talking and smoking on either side of a sign that reads “National Headquarters | March On Washington For Jobs & Freedom | Wed. Aug. 28”.

Bayard Rustin, 1963. Orlando Fernandez. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, NYWT&S Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-35538.

Bayard Rustin

A black & white portrait of a light-skinned African American man wearing a flat artist's cap.

Romare Bearden, date unknown. Frank Stewart. Copyright Frank Stewart.

Romare Bearden

[Ryan Coogler and Danai Gurira on the set of the film Black Panther], 2017. Matt Kennedy. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company, © Marvel/Matt Kennedy.