Help us find and improve next week's Connection Finder profiles: Modern Black Notables [closed]

+20 votes
720 views

With the recent death of Colin Powell, we're focusing on Black Notables of our current era this week in the Connection Finder, including Colin as our Example Profile of the Week.

We're looking for other modern Black notables to feature with him.

Here's who we're getting started on:

Can you help with these profiles, or expand their families? Adding relatives in any direction helps with connections. Every missing relative you add will make our connections to them closer.

Who else should we feature? Do they need a profile?

All profiles we feature need a good biography and a connection to the big tree. We also want each one to have an image, and the image needs to have proper source attribution explaining why it's in the public domain or why we have the right to display it.

We can't feature everyone mentioned (we only have room for eleven per week), but if we don't feature a profile you work on, we may use it sometime in the future. And, of course, all contributions help improve our shared tree.

We'll make a final decision on which ones to feature early next week.

Please reply here with what you're working on so that we don't duplicate our efforts. Thank you!

To help us plan future themes, see the 2021 Example Profile Plans post here.

closed with the note: feature
in The Tree House by Abby Glann G2G6 Pilot (729k points)
closed by Abby Glann
Not to say I'm "exclusively" looking into Hank Aaron's family tree, but I am starting to poke around a bit to see if there might be a connection somewhere. Last time I got involved with one like this, it was Jackie Robinson and it took a year and several hundred profiles before a connection emerged, so no promises. And with that, I can use all the help I can get.

And to be honest, while I built a large number of the profiles added to Jackie's tree, it was someone else who found the connection, so I might have helped get him there, but someone else carried him across the finish line.
It would be great to get Hank connected one day. I think I may have tinkered on it some time ago, but haven't had any time to get back to it. Even if it doesn't happen for this feature, we'll definitely have more categories he'd fit in in the future, so it's worth the effort! Thanks, Scott :-)

13 Answers

+20 votes
by Mark Burch G2G6 Pilot (218k points)
Thanks, Mark. If you have a few moments, Chris's bio could use some beefing up.
+16 votes

I was able to recently connect Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance to the Global Tree. Since they're married, we could pick one of them.

by Scott Fulkerson G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)

Actress Cicely Tyson has a nice profile and is connected.

Actor Morgan Freeman has a nice profile and is connected.

Actress Halle Berry has an OK biography, but she is connected.

Actor Denzel Washington has an OK biography and is connected.

Actress Whoopi Goldberg has a very small biography and is connected.

Former President Barack Obama has a small biography and is connected.

Several more who have a profile but it's not connected:

- Condi Rice

- Samuel L. Jackson

- Michael Jordan

Several others who don't have a profile:

- Louis Gossett

- Dennis Haysbert

- Serena Williams

Not sure if we've ever used Apollo mathematician Katherine Johnson before, but she is connected.

You're a super star, Scott! Thank you!
I am soooo excited we can now start featuring our living notables. Now the challenge will be to beef up all the profiles!
Excellent, Scott. We do need to start working on the biographies of these newly available living Notables. As I've been helping Scott, I have wished for more minutes in the day to pitch in. It's great having them available for features now.
+18 votes
Miles Davis is connected with bio and pic:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Davis-7197

Bob Marley: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Marley-220

I believe James Brown is also connected.
by Mark Burch G2G6 Pilot (218k points)
edited by Mark Burch
Thanks, Mark!
+17 votes

Gil Scott-Heron - just connected, with photo, though he could do with an improved bio.

Scott-Heron is best known for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, & his Pieces of a Man is, to my mind, one of, if not the greatest album ever produced. 

by Thomas Koehnline G2G6 Pilot (102k points)

I have just connected Bob Moses, whose profile is already set up & more than ready to go- he was an activist & educator who died earlier this year

Nice work Thomas!
Thanks, Thomas!
+19 votes
Lena Horne was recently connected and has a good bio and a fascinating family.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Horne-902
by Kate Schmidt G2G6 Pilot (121k points)
Thanks, Kate; great profile!
+15 votes
Dear Team,

   I created a profile and small tree for [[Pinkney-418|Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021)]],  famous illustrator.  He is not connected to the big tree.  Gathered the information from the New York Times obituary a few weeks back.  Needs a lot more work, if anyone is interested. -NGP

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pinkney-418
by Nanette Pezzutti G2G6 Pilot (126k points)
Thanks, Nanette. I added him to USBH since he's a notable.
Dear Emma,

   Thank you for adding him.  I am never sure how "notable" is notable, and I forgot to check in WikiPedia for him.  In the old days, a NYTimes obit meant notable, to me.  -NGP
Thanks, Nanette. Hopefully once a connection is found, we can feature him in the future.
+16 votes
Lately I have been working on some of Colin Powell's relatives.

Colin Powell was a first cousin of Ambassador [[Lewis-47829|Arthur Winston Lewis]], who was the maternal grandfather of musician, [[Wentz-764|Pete Wentz]] (Fall Out Boy), who married [[Simpson-11248|Ashlee Simpson]]. Those are all connected.

Pete's mother says they are related to author [[Gladwell-186|Malcolm Gladwell]]
whom I have not been able to connect yet.
by N Gauthier G2G6 Pilot (293k points)
Very good!
Thanks, N. More/better connections are always needed and welcomed.
+13 votes

A few famous "Pittsburghers" I've been working on - 

August WilsonRobert Lee VanBilly StrayhornJosh Gibson

Part of a larger project - 50 Greatest Pittsburghers

by John Schalcosky G2G6 Mach 1 (10.2k points)
Thanks, John! Hopefully once they're connected, we can use the in a future feature.
+13 votes

He needs more in his biography and he is connected.

Quincy Jones

by Eileen Robinson G2G6 Pilot (202k points)
Thanks, Eileen!
+11 votes

Arthur Ashe has an OK profile (could be better!) with a photo, and he is connected.

by Ellen Smith G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)
Thanks, Ellen!
+12 votes

Could I please nominate Amelia Elizabeth King (1917-1995) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/King-45972 . Melanie Paul has produced a really nice profile for this young lady who was rejected 4 times in her application to join the UK Women’s Land Army in the early 1940’s. The logic, that her Colour would cause farmers to reject her employment, was demonstrated nonsense by the farmers themselves who cut through this by preemptively offering a position. The decision was reversed.

Mike

by Michael Christmas G2G6 Mach 1 (11.1k points)
Great profile; thanks, Michael!
+10 votes
We had Australian television legend Bert Newton die on Saturday. With a little bit of quick work, we could have his profile ready. I'm sure he wasn't particularly famous around the world, but he was probably, debateably, the most famous performer in Australia. Could we consider including him, or having an upcoming week for him. Perhaps we could gather a list of people to include for an Australian famous television personalities who have recently passed.
by Ben Molesworth G2G6 Pilot (162k points)
I'm guessing you're referring to this profile?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Newton-10400
Yes. Sorry, it does make sense to actually include who I was talking about. hmmm....
Thanks, Ben.
+10 votes
Dovey Roundtree (1914-2018), has photo, not connected -- https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnson-70937

Rep. Ron Dellums (1935-2018), has photo not connected -- https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dellums-7
by E. Compton G2G6 Pilot (194k points)
Thanks, E. Hopefully with some connections, we can feature them in the future.

Related questions

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...