Lorna Simpson
Lorna Simpson’s interrogation of race and gender issues with a minimal, sophisticated interplay between art and language has made her a much respected and influential figure within the realms of visual culture.
Lorna Simpson’s interrogation of race and gender issues with a minimal, sophisticated interplay between art and language has made her a much respected and influential figure within the realms of visual culture.
ʿIṣmat ad-Dīn Khātūn was the daughter of a regent of Damascus, and wife of two of the 12th century’s greatest Muslim generals, Nur ad-Din and Saladin.
During the US Civil War, runaway slave couple Dabney and Lucy Ann Walker provided Union General Joseph Hooker with valuable intelligence.
Alice Coachman was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal. Growing up in the segregated South, she overcame discrimination and unequal access to inspire generations of other black athletes to reach for their athletic goals.
Her music combines a rich and romantic symphonic idiom with the melodic intimacy and emotional intensity of African-American spirituals. As Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker, her music “deserves to be widely heard.”
Piper’s distinctly confrontational ability to address pertinent topics around racial segregation and stereotyping have established her voice as one which is fearless, powerful, and hugely influential.
The founder and president of the Muslim Women’s National Network, she has become a leading spokesperson for her community, and in 2004 served on Prime Minister Howard’s Muslim Community Reference Group.
Agnes Nebo von Ballmoos was a Liberian music professor, Liberian folk music scholar, conductor, composer, and lawyer. She helped preserve Liberian folk music by collecting and transcribing music from diverse cultural traditions around the country and composing original arrangements of traditional songs. She was a pioneer in the transcription of Liberian folk songs into written form and taught at the University of Liberia for nearly 30 years. Under her leadership, the university choir gave concerts at venues around the world, performing a varied repertoire that included classical pieces, spirituals, and traditional Liberian music.
Elisabeth Dieudonné Vincent was a Haitian-born businesswoman and international traveller, born the illegitimate child of a former slave and a Frenchman.
Dr. Hawa Abdi Dhiblawe was a Somali human rights activist and Somalia’s first female obstetrician and gynecologist. She was the founder and chairperson of the non-profit Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF), which provides healthcare, education, shelter and access to sanitation to displaced families.