Rotimi Fani Kayode (1955-1989)

Founder member of ‘Autograph’, the Association of Black Photographers in London. He experimented with colour photography of the black male nude, using symbols derived from his native Nigerian culture. The homoerotic desire of black males was explored in his book Black Male / White Male of 1988 and his contribution to Ecstatic Antibodies (1990). His vigorous use of colour and original use of symbolism seem to reflect both Nigerian tradition and the new possibilities of expression and political debate in London in the 1980's.


Gladys Bentley (1907-1960)

American/Trinidadian entertainer of the Harlem Renaissance.  Bentley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of American George L. Bentley and his wife, a Trinidadian, Mary Mote. She appeared at Harry Hansberry's "Clam House" on 133rd Street, one of New York City's most notorious gay speakeasies, in the 1920s, and headlined in the early thirties at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She was a 250 pound woman dressed in men's clothes (including a signature tuxedo and top hat), who played a mean piano and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting outrageously with women in the audience.


James Baldwin (1924-1987)

American writer who was one of Black America's most articulate spokespersons in the 1960s. He is now regarded as one of the best American essayists (Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Giovanni's Room).



Willi Ninja (12 April 1961 – 2 September 2006)

Self-taught choreographer, dance and runway teacher Willi Ninja, born William Leake, is considered the father of voguing- dance moves popular in the 70s and 80s. Ninja was inspired by Fred Astaire, "Great Performances" on PBS, Asian culture, Olympic gymnasts and the martial arts- thus the name of his founding house, the House of Ninja. He considered the members of his house to be swift and highly capable in the ballroom and out.

Ninja had a vision of making voguing a worldwide phenomenon. Ninja even influenced Madonna after she saw a group of young kids voguing in New York City's Washington Square Park. Madonna used that influence to introduce Ninja's perfected dance moves to mainstream culture with her single "Vogue".

He was also featured in the documentary Paris Is Burning (1990) which chronicled the Harlem drag ball competitions.

When not walking the balls, Willi Ninja professionally taught women of New York City feminine grace, walks and dance. Willi Ninja died of AIDS complications on September 2,2006. He was 45 years old.


Lenford 'Steve' Harvey ( 1975- 2005)

A leading Jamaican HIV/AIDS activist who worked tirelessly to defend the health and human rights of people living with and at high-risk of HIV/AIDS was abducted by gunmen who forced their way into his home at 1am in the morning of 30 November 2005, the eve of World AIDS Day.  The kidnappers drove Harvey to a remote rural area where he was shot in the head and back in an execution-style killing.


Nella Larsen (1891-1964)

Caribbean-American novelist associated with the Harlem Renaissance (Quicksand, Passing).  Though her literary output was scant, what she wrote was of extraordinary quality, earning her recognition by her contemporaries and by present day critics.



Alberta Hunter (1895-1984)

American blues singer and songwriter. Hunter's 'Down Hearted Blues', as recorded by Bessie Smith, became the best-selling blues record of 1923.  At the age of 59 she enrolled in a practical nursing course and for the next twenty years she worked in a New York City hospital. In the early 1960s she recorded a few albums and then surprisingly took to the stage again in 1977 at age 82 and continued to perform up until the time of her death in 1984.



Tseko Simon Nkoli (1957-1998)

South African activist who founded the Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (GLOW) and was later involved in Black gay choirs and sports groups.  There is a Simon Nkoli Street in Amsterdam and a Simon Nkoli Day in San Francisco. He opened the first Gay Games in New York and was made a freeman of that city by mayor David Dinkins. In 1996 Nkoli was given the Stonewall Award in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Nkoli was the subject of Robert Colman's 2003 play, "Your Loving Simon" and Beverley Ditsie's 2002 film "Simon & I".



Paul Winfield (1941-2004)

American actor who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of a sharecropper in Sounder (1972).  Throughout his career, Winfield frequently managed to perform in the theater. His only Broadway production, Checkmates, in 1988, co-starring Ruby Dee, was also the Broadway debut of Denzel Washington. He also appeared in productions at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.



Fannyann Eddy (1974 - 2004)

Fannyann was an activist for lesbian and gay rights in her native Sierra Leone and throughout Africa. She founded Sierra Leone's first Lesbian and Gay Association and she traveled widely, addressing the United Nations and other international groups.

"We live in fear within our communities," Eddy testified before the U.N., "where we face constant harassment and violence from neighbors and others. Their homophobic attacks go unpunished by authorities, further encouraging their discriminatory and violent treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

Eddy was murdered on September 28, 2004, shortly after giving a speech about the threats of violence faced by lesbians and gays in Sierra Leone. A group of at least three men broke into her office, gang-raped her, stabbed her, and eventually broke her neck.