Naomi Osaka, Ben Crump, Lil Nas X, More Make Time’s 100 Influential List

Each year for the past 18 years, TIME magazine releases a list of the 100 people deemed most influential. 

In the year 2021, we’ve seen the continued fight for social justice, adequate healthcare, representation in media and sports, and more. This year alone, we have faced the legalization of voter suppression, a global pandemic that has brutally exposed the centuries of injustice present at every institution of our nation, body camera footage of more police-involved killings, and record-breaking feats on the court and in the studio

The Black Information Network wanted to take a closer look at those pioneers, icons, and leaders carrying the torch of these initiatives for our communities and beyond. 

Here are all of the Black innovators, icons, pioneers, artists, titans, and leaders who made the 2021 Time 100 Most Influential People List.

Be sure to check out a televised special about this year’s list will air on ABC Monday (September 20). 

The Icons

Naomi Osaka

Tennis Champion

Photo: Getty Images

Sherrilyn Ifill

Lawyer, Professor, President of NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Photo: Getty Images

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

Cuban Performance Artist

The Pioneers

Ben Crump

Civil Rights Attorney

Photo: Getty Images

Felwine Sarr

Writer and Academic

Photo: Getty Images

Aurora James

Canadian Creative Director, Fashion Designer, Founder of Brother Vellies

Photo: Getty Images

Phyllis Omido

Kenyan environmental activist

Photo: Getty Images

The Titans

Simone Biles

Gymnastics Champion

Photo: Getty Images

Shonda Rhimes

TV producer, screenwriter, author

Photo: Getty Images

Timbaland and Swizz Beats

Hip-Hop producers, Creators of Verzuz

Photo: Getty Images

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Journalist, Creator of The 1619 Project

Photo: Getty Images

Allyson Felix

Track Champion

Photo: Getty Images

Angélique Kidjo

Beninese singer-songwriter, actress, and activist

Photo: Getty Images

Kenneth C. Fraizer and Kenneth I. Chenault

Former CEOs, American Express, Merck

Photo: Getty Images

The Artists

Lil Nas X

Rapper

Photo: Getty Images

Jessica B. Harris

Culinary historian, author of High On The Hog

Photo: Getty Images

Tracee Ellis Ross

Actress, Founder of Pattern Beauty

Photo: Getty Images

Mark Bradford

Artist

Photo: Getty Images

N.K. Jemisin

Science Fiction Writer

Daniel Kaluuya

Actor

Photo: Getty Images

Omar Sy

Actor

Photo: Getty Images

Kane Brown

Country Singer

Photo: Getty Images

The Leaders

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Director General of the World Trade Organization

Photo: Getty Images

Kamala Harris

Vice President of the United States of America

Photo: Getty Images

Stacey Abrams

Politician, Voting Rights Leader, Author

Photo: Getty Images

The Innovators

Adrienne Banfield Norris, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith

Hosts, Red Table Talk

Photo: Getty Images

John Nkengasong

Cameroonian Virologist, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Photo: Getty Images

Sara Menker

Entrepreneur, CEO of Gro Intelligence

Photo: Getty Images

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