Vanessa Bell Calloway – actress, producer: She’s best known for a plethora of roles, including box-office, smash hits, “Coming to America,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Biker Boyz,” “Love Don’t Cost A Thing,” “The Inkwell,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Brothers,” “Cheaper By The Dozen,” “The Temptations,”
Michael DeLorenzo — actor, director: Interestingly, he was one of the dancers in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” music video. A knee injury propelled him into acting, with his first breakout role in Dick Wolf’s urban drama “New York Undercover.” His television credits include “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: New York,” “The Ghost Whisperer,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Resurrection Blvd.”
Erica Gimpel — actress, singer, songwriter: Erica Gimpel — actress, singer, songwriter
Erica Gimpel will forever live in the hearts and minds of audiences as Coco Hernandez on the television series, “Fame.” Her other television credits include “True Blood,” “Criminal Minds,” “Grey’s Anatomy,’ “Nikita,” “Rissoli & Isles” and “Veronica Mars”
Jimmy Jean-Louis – model, actor: Jean-Louis portrays Haitian Revolution leader in the epic film, “Toussaint L’ Ouverture.” His film credits include “Tears of the Sun,” “Hollywood Homicide,” “Phat Girlz,” “Diary of a Tired, Black Man,” “Sinking Sands,” and “One Night in Vegas.”
Dawnn Lewis – actress, singer: Although she’s best known for the role of Jelessa Vinson on the hit NBC show, “A Different World,” Lewis also composed the show’s theme song with Bill Cosby and Stu Gardner, and sang it for the show’s first season. Her television credits include “The Soul Man,” “CSI: Miami,” “One Tree Hill,” “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Nash Bridges,” “Spiderman,” “Girlfriends,” and “Hanging With Mr. Hooper.” Lewis has a recurring role as Dr. Knapp on the award-winning daytime series “Days of Our Lives.”
Tanjareen Martin – actress, producer: She is a series regular on “Zane’s the Jump Off,” airing Fridays on Cinemax and appeared in two sitcoms executive produced by Bentley Kyle Evans – namely, “Family Time” and “The Rev.” On the big screen, she’s appeared in “Johnson Family Vacation,” “Miss March,” “Love for Sale,” “Hurricane in a Rose Garden” and “Something Like a Business.”
Nicki Micheaux – actress: Whether she’s the tortured, drug-addicted sister of fellow police officer Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick) on “Six Feet Under;” the fearless, undercover detective Trish George on “The Shield;” or the sexy temptress on the acclaimed Showtime series, “Soul Food,” For four seasons, she portrayed the independent and supportive wife and mother on the ABC Family series, “Lincoln Heights.” Next up: she’ll appear in the feature film, “The Trials Of Cate McCall,” opposite Kate Beckinsale.
Dorian Missick – actor: Missick just wrapped up a successful season five on TNT’s hit cop-drama series “Southland” where he played Detective Ruben Robinson. Other television credits include, “Haven,” “The Cape” and “Six Degrees.” Look for Missick in an upcoming episode of BET’s “Being Mary Jane
Issa Rae – writer, actress, producer: In addition to “Awkward Black Girl,” Rae has created other web series, including “Dorm Diaries” “Ratchet Piece Theatre, “The F Word.” Her hands are pretty full, developing a new television show, called “I Hate LA Dudes,” with Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy, “Scandal,” “Private Practice”) for ABC and a half-hour comedy for HBO with Emmy-winning writer/producer Larry Wilmore.
Vanessa Williams — actress: An award-winning actress, Williams is best known for her roles as Rhonda Blair in “Melrose Place” and the sassy Maxine Chadway on Showtime’s “Soul Food,” which nabbed her an NAACP Image Award. Her television credits include “Raising Izzie,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” Lincoln Heights,” “Cold Case,” “Murder One,” “Chicago Hope,” “NYPD Blue,” “Living Single,” and the “Cosby Show” – just to name a few. On the big screen, she’s appeared in “A Woman of Color,” “Mother,” “Punks” and “New Jack City.”
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