Lean’tin Bracks, is chair of the department of arts and languages at Fisk University and has published numerous biographies, critical reviews, and scholarly perspectives, including, African American National Biography, The Black Scholar, Contemporary African-American Novelists, Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture, and Notable African American Men. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Jessie Carney Smith is a William and Camille Cosby Professor at Fisk University and has published more than 20 books. Her works include, Black Firsts, Black Genealogy, Black Heroes, Encyclopedia of African American Business, Epic Lives, Freedom Facts, Notable Black American Men, Notable Black American Women, and Powerful Black Women, She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
