Dr. King said “… we will be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character.” This long and winding road began when our nation was born with a birth-defect, but historical figures, Booker T Washington, Fredrick Douglas, and Benjamin Banneker, legends in their day who helped bring us forward. 60 years earlier with George Washington Carver, the ‘Black Leonardo’ according to 1941 Time magazine. Then Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, who changed modern music; and Joe Louis, who changed the face of sports. Then Olympic champ, Jesse Owens, showed the world a superior race did not exist. After WWII, you could travel the world and find Elle Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday; and Jackie Robinson broke down walls in MLB. In the 50s, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, James Brown, and, Chuck Berry, were considered royalty around the world, proudly worshipped by every Rock ’n Roll and Pop-music idol since. Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and, Quincy Jones, united us with mind-expanding musical expression, that carried us through Civil Rights and the war in Viet Nam — as contemporaries of Dr. King and Malcolm X; and Thurgood Marshall ascended to the Supreme Court. Motown and Philly moved into every home around the world. Jim Brown, and, the Greatest of All Time, Mohammad Ali, became world heroes. Then Michael Jackson and Prince set the world on fire with new moves and thoughtful insights, while rap artists turned the world on end with exposes on ghetto life; Laurence Fishburne, magnificently played Othello; Physician, Mae Jemison, became the first African-American astronaut. Today, the once banned, Zoot Suit, is global fashion, and rappers around the world emulate our artists. In conclusion I suggest Black America owned the 20th Century and will continue to be major players.