My name is Cornel Bradford but alot of people call me Brad or Bradford. The people below have inspired me in some way or another. What do they all have in common? (being black (aaahh!), NO! it's that they prevailed in the face of adversity and continued to strive and maintain a level of perseverance that has inspired, motivated and empowered me to face my fears, believe in my dreams and be comfortable in my skin. FAVORITE QUOTE: "The real success of people like Powell should be talked about, too. We need to say out loud to urban communities that it's just as possible to become SECRETARY OF STATE as it is to be shot down in the street by some knucklehead."

Throughout her 30 years as a show-business entertainer, Janet Jackson has done things for music and music videos that can't be denied and she has put her success into other ventures. With 5 TV shows, 2 box-office movies, 10 albums, 50 singles, 46 music videos, 4 world tours, 2 DVD's, 5 Grammys, 12 American Music Awards, the MTV ICON award, 72 million albums and 61 million singles sold, it's easy to say that Janet Jackson is very much a musical pioneer with a trailblazing music career that has lasted more than 20 years when people thought it wouldn't last. "I still shit just like everyone else"--[JANET JACKSON].

Sean gordon is in the fascinating process of going from fad to fixture with timely bookings in Terry Richardson’s A/X campaign as well as a high profile gig with Walter Chin for American GQ. 1st African American Calvin Klein Model.

The Late Aaliyah; When One in a million came out I would listen to that album like she wrote it for me. People would tease me and say I was cheating on Janet Jackson. Aaliyah and eight other people were killed on August 25, 2001, when their chartered plane crashed shortly after takeoff. The group was returning to the United States from the Bahamas after having shot a music video for a song from her third album. An investigation into the incident revealed that the plane had been severely overloaded with luggage, thus causing what appears to have been an entirely avoidable and unmistakably tragic accident. As for Aaliyah, many reviewers overlooked her performance to comment on Jet Li's first American leading role, but those who didn't gave her more-than-passable marks. This attention helped her win parts in the Anne Rice vampire tale The Queen of the Damned -- which turned out to be her second and final film appearance (with the film still in post-production at the time of her death) -- and in The Matrix: Reloaded (the first sequel to the 1999 blockbuster The Matrix which was only one month away from beginning principal photography when her fatal accident occurred.

Model Will Lemay considers himself as having the best of both worlds! Born in Ontario, Canada, he "was turned down by nearly every major modeling agency in N.Y.Will Lemay, born in Canada to a white mother and black father is the hottest male to hit the runways. Starting from John Bartlett spring 1999 show to Sean John's spring 2000 show debut, and Sean John's Ads.

Halle Berry's work was overwhelmingly favorable in 1998, when she starred as a street smart young woman who comes to the aid of a bumbling politician in Warren Beatty's Bullworth. The following year, Berry won even greater acclaim -- and an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award -- for her turn as tragic screen siren Dorothy Dandridgein the made-for-cable Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. In 2000 she starred as Storm X-Men. Working alongside a cast that included Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman, Berry was hailed for her work as the first African-American comic book heroine on the screen. In (2001) Monster's Ball a romantic drama directed by Marc Forster that starred the actress as a woman who becomes involved with a racist ex-cop (Billy Bob Thornton) who oversaw the prison execution of her husband (Sean Combs). Berry earned wide critical praise for her work in the film, as well as Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actress. And though she may have lost out to Sissy Spacek in the Golden Globes, her night at the Oscars found Berry the favored performer as took home a statue for Best Actress. A momentous footnote in Academy Award history, Berry's win marked the first time an African American had been bestowed that particular honor.

Dorothy Dandridge what can I say. I really hate putting it like this but she was the black Marylin Monroe. She wasn't acknowledged as much as should. In 1954 Dorothy Dandridge beat out Lena Horne and Eartha Kitt for the lead role in Carmen Jones she received a "Best Actress" Oscar nomination, becoming the first black women to do so. Three years went by before her next role, in Islands in the Sun (1957), in which she again made history by being the first black actress cast romantically with a white actor in a film. For her work in Preminger's Porgy and Bess (1959) she won the Golden Globe Award as "Best Actress in a Musical." After a few more years she found it difficult to get lead roles in films, and went back to nightclubs. In 1965 she signed a new film contract, but her rebounding luck was short-lived -- she was found dead from an overdose of anti-depressants.Dorothy Dandridge once said " It [prejudice] is such a waste. It makes you logy and half-alive.It gives you nothing. It takes away.It's a shame It took 74 years to have the first black actress finally win the top oscar. Now we need Hispanics, Asian and more people of color getting the Gold.

My people were finally recognized--Halle Berry, best actress-Monster's Ball:"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. Thank you. I'm so honored. I'm so honored. And I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the vessel for which His blessing might flow..." Denzel Washington, best actor - Training Day: "I feel calm. I've been to the dance a few times. I knew that it was out of my hands.!

A different world is my favorite tv show.Jasmine Guy A multi-talented performer, Boston-born Guy began her career as a dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Best known as Whitley from The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World (1987-1993). The show empowers me to continue my education in college!

It's about time they gave him an Oscar! Did you see Training Day! One of Hollywood's greatest leading men, Denzel Washington is an actor whose intelligence permeates whatever film he is in, be it socially conscious drama, comedy, or suspense thriller. Washington went against type to play a corrupt policeman in Training Day 's gritty cop drama. Washington surprised both audiences and critics with his change of direction, although more than a few noted this change of direction made him a more compelling screen presence than ever in addition to earning him an Oscar for Best Actor. Only the second African American to win the top prize (Sidney Poitier Lillies of the field)

He does everything and hes making big strides that alot of black men only dream of. He is definetly my role model. Mr. P.Diddy Sean and Bad Boy's rising success has helped him follow through on his private vow to give back to the community that had supported him in his youth and career. Knowing the positive impact the consistent and careful guidance of his family, teachers and mentors had on his own life, Sean established Daddy's House Social Programs, Inc. in 1995 to create educational programs and initiatives in inner-city youth. Far exceeding a simple charitable gesture, Sean helps to create and fund innovative youth programs, including Wall Street training teams, college visit tours for high school seniors, international travel groups, summer camp programs and internships at Bad Boy which Combs himself instructs. Sean returned to Howard University to donate $1 million to help continue the institution's commitment to educating African-American youth. Furthering the cause, Combs' helped to bridge the digital divide in urban schools by donating more than 100 computers to 500 New York City public schools. On Thanksgiving in 2000, Daddy's House annual food drive for underprivileged families took on a more special and somber meaning. Learning of the passing of civil rights leader Rev. Hosea Williams, Combs' was asked by the late leader's daughter to carry on his legacy. Combs' carried the torch of Rev. William's mission by sponsoring the annual Hosea's Feed the Hungry and Homeless Thanksgiving Day dinner for more than 30,000 people in Atlanta.

Justin Timberlake your the man but Usher is undoubtley the next Michael Jackson

Three years ago, the release of the album 5 catapulted Kravitz to the front ranks of rock and roll’s prime movers, consolidating a lifetime of music-making into a furious burst of creativity that included the breakthrough hit “I Belong To You,” and double Grammy-winning follow-ups, “Fly Away”,“American Woman and "Again"..