Romare Bearden (1911-1988) is internationally recognized as one of America's greatest artists and was a recipient of the President's National Medal of Arts. Bearden worked in many media, but he is best known for his collages. His work is included in museums and galleries throughout the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies, and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American research at Harvard University. Among his many books are Colored People: A Memoir and Wonders of the African World. He won an American Book Award in 1989 for The Signifying Monkey.