Paying Homage
A verified registry of the people building, making, and shaping what shows up on black.wiki. Over time, verified entries will receive plaques, certificates, and contributor cards — a durable record of who put in the work.
12 Years a Slave
Steve McQueen's 2013 film adaptation of Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir.
A Tribe Called Quest — The Low End Theory
Tribe's 1991 sophomore album that perfected jazz-meets-hip-hop.
Amanda Gorman — The Hill We Climb
Amanda Gorman's 2021 Biden inaugural poem.
Aretha Franklin — Amazing Grace
1972 live gospel album recorded at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts.
Aretha Franklin — Respect
Aretha Franklin's 1967 version of Otis Redding's "Respect" that became the song of the civil-rights and women's liberation movements.
Audre Lorde — Sister Outsider
1984 essay collection that founded modern Black-feminist theory.
August Wilson — Fences
1985 play in Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, set in a 1950s Black working-class household.
Beyoncé — Black Is King
2020 visual album film accompanying The Lion King: The Gift.
Beyoncé — Cowboy Carter
2024 Beyoncé album reclaiming the Black roots of American country music.
Beyoncé — Lemonade
2016 visual album rooted in Houston, New Orleans, and the Black Southern Gothic tradition.
Beyoncé — Renaissance
2022 Beyoncé album celebrating Black house music history.
Black Panther
Ryan Coogler's 2018 Marvel feature — first Black-led superhero blockbuster.
Boyz II Men — II
Boyz II Men's 1994 album that produced "I'll Make Love to You" and "On Bended Knee."
Boyz n the Hood
1991 John Singleton coming-of-age film set in South Central LA.
Childish Gambino — Atavista
Donald Glover's 2024 reissue of 3.15.20 with new tracks under the Childish Gambino name.
Childish Gambino — Awaken My Love
2016 album that pivoted Donald Glover from rap into psychedelic-funk territory.
Childish Gambino — This Is America
2018 song and video by Donald Glover that became the year's most-debated piece of American pop art.
Curtis Mayfield — Super Fly
1972 soundtrack album that was simultaneously a critique and a hit.
D'Angelo — Voodoo
2000 D'Angelo album that re-set R&B production.
Daniel Kaluuya — Judas and the Black Messiah
Daniel Kaluuya's 2021 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Fred Hampton.
Daughters of the Dust
Julie Dash's 1991 film about a Gullah Geechee family on the Sea Islands of South Carolina at the turn of the 20th century.
Dave Chappelle — Killin' Them Softly
2000 Dave Chappelle HBO comedy special that launched his major-stage career.
De La Soul — 3 Feet High and Rising
1989 De La Soul debut album — a bright counterweight to NWA's gangsta rap.
Dolly Parton — Tennessee Mountain Home (cover by Linda Martell)
Linda Martell — the first Black woman to perform at the Grand Ole Opry — paved the way for Mickey Guyton and beyond.