Damon Young is an American writer, editor, author, and co-founder of the website VerySmartBrothas. Young was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and while in high school, he played basketball and was able to earn a basketball scholarship to Canisius College, where he earned his M.A. degree in English. Young later co-founded VerySmartBrothas, which is a dating and relationship blog that also... read full bio
John Randolph, better known as Jay Smooth, is a writer, DJ, radio personality, and blogger, who is best known for hosting The III Doctrine. He is also known for being the former host and founder of the New York hip-hop radio program, The Underground Railroad. Smooth grew up in New York City and studied at Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He... read full bio
Richie Reseda is an activist, feminist, hip-hop artist, and co-founder of the non-profit, Initiate Justice. Reseda began Initiate Justice while he was incarcerated, and it is a non-profit that help people affected by mass incarceration to change laws to end punitive justice systems and to invest in the people and communities to help reduce harm. Reseda also works with organizations... read full bio
April Reign is the creator of the hashtag that went viral, ‘#OscarsSoWhite,’ a thought leader and influencer, a former lawyer, an activist, a diversity and inclusion consultant, and writer. Reign gained attention after tweeting out the hashtag ‘OscarsSoWhite,’ during the Oscars nominations announcement. She started the hashtag as she felt that the nominations had a lack of nominees of color.... read full bio
Fred Biletnikoff is an American former gridiron football player and coach who played as wide receiver. Biletnikoff was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and while in high school, he found success in sports, which include baseball, basketball, football, and track. He went on to earn All-City honors in basketball and baseball and went on to play college football at Florida State... read full bio
Helen Zia is a Chinese-American journalist and activist who is known for her activism for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. Zia was born in Newark, New Jersey, and she later studied at Princeton Unviersity where she was a student at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. While studying there, she became founder of the Asian American Students... read full bio
Dr. Frank Leon Roberts is an American professor, writer, political commentator and activist who is best known for his part in the Black Lives Matter movement. As a professor, Roberts has taught the course “Black Lives Matter: Race, Resistance, and Populist Protest,” at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individual Study. His course gained attention after being one of the... read full bio
Brian Mosteller is an American operations executive and former political aide who has previously served as Director of Oval Office Operations under President Barack Obama. Mosteller was born in Akron, Ohio, and he went on to graduate summa cum laude with a B.S. in international business from Ohio State University. He also spent time studying at DePaul University. Mosteller began... read full bio
Jim Obergefell is an American civil rights activist who is best known for being the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which was the case that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States. Obergefell began the Obergefell v. Hodges case after finding out that he could not be listed as his late husband’s surviving spouse on his... read full bio
Eric Alva is an author, LGBTQ rights activist, and veteran who was the first Marine that was severely injured in the Iraq War. Alva was born in San Antonio, Texas, and after graduating high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a gay man knowing that the military excluded all gays and lesbians from service. Throughout most of his... read full bio
Che Smith, better known as his stage name, Rhymefest, is an American rapper and songwriter, politician, and philanthropist from Chicago, Illinois. Smith rose to fame after the release of his debut album, “Blue Collar.” He has since gone on to release two more albums; “El Che,” and “Violence Is Sexy.” Smith is also well known for his work with Kanye... read full bio
Bill Posley is a comedian whose topics make humor on race and racial identity as a bi-racial comedian. Although Posley is black and white, he found out at a young age that people are very judgmental and consider him fully black although that is definitely not the case. Posley often struggled growing up being bi-racial and uses comedy as his... read full bio
Will Strickland is a hip-hop industry veteran who has served as co-principal of Keikwalk Consulting, which is an entertainment marketing, promotions, and consulting firm in Toronto. Strickland is also known for being a educator that educates client on hip-hop culture. He has been the producer of the first ever online concert in black music history which he produced while working... read full bio
Jewel Allison is a poet, author, public speaker, former model, actress, and music educator who is best known for her book “Stealing Peace.” Allison was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and she began writing poetry at a young age and knew she always wanted a career in writing. Growing up, Allison often wrote in the dark as her... read full bio
Black Mountain is a Canadian psychedelic rock band that consists of members Stephen McBean, Jeremy Schmidt, Adam Bulgasem, Rachel Fannan, and Arjan Miranda. The band is from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and each member of the band formed other bands before all coming together to form Black Mountain. From there, they went on to release their self-titled debut studio album.... read full bio
Zig Mentality is a Canadian punk rock trio from Ottawa that consists of brothers Jig Dube on bass and lead vocals, Liam Dube on lead guitar, and Quinn Dube on drums and backup vocals. Zig Mentality was formerly known as just dube, and since their formation, they have gone on to earn over four million streams for their songs over... read full bio
Villages is a folk group from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, that consists of members Matt Ellis, Travis Ellis, Jon Pearo, and Archie Rankin. The group originally formed the group Mardeen, a pop-rock band that was inspired by groups such as The Super Friendz, Thrush Hermit and Sloan. They began to grow local fame through Mardeen but after having a singalong... read full bio
Titus Calderbank is a Canadian alternative folk-soul musician from Vancouver, British Columbia, who is known for his voice that can go from a smooth croon, to a soulful vibrato, and into a perfect howl in just one song. Calderbank began his career trying to write, record, and release 365 songs in one year but he only ended the year with... read full bio
Thompson Egbo Egbo is a Canadian pianist and jazz performer who is based out of Toronto, Ontario. Thompson began his career learning how to play piano at the Dixon Hall Music School. Thompson was born in Nigeria and moved to Canada when he was four years old and by the time he was six, he began learning how to play... read full bio
Schwey is a Canadian funk and soul collective that consists of members Jacob Schwinghammer, Isaiah Dobbs, Jarah Terrell-Dobbs, and Christof Bede. Schwey is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, and they rose to popularity after the release of their debut self-titled album. Shortly after, they released the EP “Korenteen,” both albums being released through 604 Records. Some of Schwey’s most... read full bio
