Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Valerie Jarrett
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Valerie Jarrett, an American lawyer, businesswoman, and politician who was a senior adviser (2009- ) to U.S. Pres. Barack Obama.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Val Mc Calla
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Val McCalla, a Jamaican-born British publisher who founded The Voice, an influential British newspaper focusing on black issues and interests.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Vernon Forrest
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Vernon Forrest, an American boxer born Jan. 12, 1971, Augusta, Ga.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Walter Page
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Walter Page, a black American swing-era musician, one of the first to play "walking" lines on the string bass. A pioneer of the Southwestern jazz style, he was a star of the Count Basie...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Walt Frazier
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Walt Frazier, an American basketball player who was one of the finest professional guards in the late 1960s and early '70s.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Warren Aloysious Kimbro
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Warren Aloysious Kimbro, an American activist born April 29, 1934, New Haven, Conn.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Wayman Lawrence Tisdale
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wayman Lawrence Tisdale, an American basketball player and smooth jazz musician born June 9, 1964, Tulsa, Okla.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Wayne Embry
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wayne Embry, an American professional basketball player and the first African-American to serve as the general manager of a professional sports franchise.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Wayne Shorter
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wayne Shorter, an African-American musician and composer, a major jazz saxophonist, among the most influential hard-bop and modal musicians and a pioneer of jazz-rock fusion music.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Wesley Snipes
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wesley Snipes, an American actor best known for his action films, many of which featured martial arts.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Wes Montgomery
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wes Montgomery, a black American jazz guitarist, probably the most influential postwar improviser on his instrument.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Whitney Houston
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Whitney Houston, an American singer and actress who was one of the best-selling musical performers of the 1980s and '90s.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: William Lewis Taylor
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features William Lewis Taylor, an American lawyer and civil rights activist born Oct. 4, 1931, New York, N.Y.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Willie King
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Willie King, an American musician born March 8, 1943, Prairie Point, Miss.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Willie Stargell
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Willie Stargell, an American professional baseball player who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to World Series championships in 1971 and 1979.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Willis Reed
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Willis Reed, an American professional basketball player and professional and collegiate basketball coach.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Will Smith
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Will Smith, an American actor and musician whose charisma, clean-cut good looks, and quick wit helped him transition from rap music to a successful career in acting.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Woody Strode
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Woody Strode, an American character actor who was part of director John Ford's "family" of actors, appearing in nearly a dozen of Ford's films. Strode also had a brief career as a...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Zadie Smith
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Zadie Smith, a British author known for her treatment of race, religion, and cultural identity and for her novels' eccentric characters, savvy humor, and snappy dialogue. She became a...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: William Julius Wilson
Biographical details on William Julius Wilson, an American sociologist whose views on race and urban poverty helped shape U.S. public policy and academic discourse.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Willie Simms
Learn about American jockey, Willie Simms, who is the only African American to have won all three of the races that compose the Triple Crown of American horse racing: the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes, and the Preakness Stakes.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Shirley Horn
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Shirley Horn, an American jazz artist whose ballads, sung in a breathy contralto to her own piano accompaniment, earned her both critical acclaim and popular renown. This site, rich in...