The top black keynote speakers have powerful voices and share inspiring narratives on center stage. We take immense pride in presenting a curated selection of African-American thought leaders, influencers, and trailblazers who have shattered barriers and left an indelible mark on society. These select names of the very best black keynote speakers provide motivational keynotes, impactful presentations, and thought-provoking talks that embrace diversity, foster inclusion, and inspire positive change.
Whether you're hosting corporate events, conferences, educational institutions, or community gatherings, our African-American speakers deliver captivating and inclusive presentations that empower audiences to shape an equitable future.
Jason Riley Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute & Columnist for the Wall Street Journal
Jason Riley is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal where he worked for more than 20 years writing opinion pieces on politics economics education immigration and race among other subjects. He
Gloria Ladson-Billings Retired Professor of Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin
Gloria Ladson-Billings was the Kellner Family Distinguished Professor in Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and is Faculty Affiliate in the Departments of Educational Po... Read More
Dr. Ruth Simmons Former University President and Advisor to the President at Harvard on HBCU Initiatives
Ruth J. Simmons is a Distinguished Presidential Fellow at Rice University and Adviser to the President of Harvard University on HBCU Initiatives. She served as President of Prairie View A& M... Read More
Kadir Nelson Painter and Illustrator Best Known for His New Yorker Covers and Album Work
Kadir Nelson is an award-winning American artist whose works have been exhibited in major national and international publications institutions art galleries and museums. Nelson earned a Bachelor
Mark Anthony Neal Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University
Mark holds a Doctorate in American Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo. A native of the "Boogie Down" Bronx, New York, Neal's work has appeared in The Washington Post, Emerge M... Read More
Antwone Fisher Best-Selling Author & Screenwriter
Fisher became a ward of the state and was placed in foster care. He spent two years in a loving foster home, but when Social Services deemed the foster mother to have become too attached to him, he wa... Read More
Brit Bennett Writer & New York Times Best-Selling Author
Brit Bennett is a writer and author based in Los Angeles. Her work is featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel. Her debut novel The Mothers (2016) was a N... Read More
Yusef Salaam One of the Central Park 5 and Speaker on the Criminal Justice System
In one of New York City's most recognizable locations, Central Park, a young lady in the prime of her life was viciously raped and left for dead on April 19, 1989. Four black and one Latino juvenile f... Read More
Roland Martin Well Known Political Journalist and Media Personality
Over the course of a journalistic career that has seen him interview multiple U.S. presidents to the top athletes and entertainers in Hollywood, Roland S. Martin is a journalist who has always maintai... Read More
Carol Anderson African-American Studies Professor and Award-Winning Author
Carol Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation's Divide, a New York Times Bestseller,... Read More