BottomLine Magazine

A native of South Carolina, Chadwick Boseman graduated from Howard University and attended the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford, after which he began his career as an actor, director and writer. Boseman starred as T'Challa/Black Panther in the worldwide phenomenon Marvel Studios' "Black Panther," which has shattered box-office records both domestically and internationally. Boseman made his debut as the African superhero Black Panther in Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Civil War,” in May 2016. He reprised the role for Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” in 2019.Boseman's breakout performance came in 2013 when he received rave reviews for his portrayal of the legendary Jackie Robinson in Warner Bros’ “42.” He previously starred in the title role of Open Road Films’ “Marshall,” which tells the story of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases as the Chief Counsel to the NAACP. His other feature film credits include: the revenge thriller “Message from the King,” Summit Entertainment's “Draft Day,” the independent psychological post-war drama, “The Kill Hole” and Gary Fleders’ drama, “The Express.”Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016. During his four-year battle with cancer, he continued his work, persevering through the production of several films between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. Boseman passed away in August of 2020, surrounded by his wife and family. 

Purpose is the essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.

Howard is a very culturally rich and diverse University and our students not only come from all over the country, but all over the world. However, even through that diversity, there is an undeniable culture that grounds us and connects us, showing us that while we may all be different, that is where our strength lies.

After graduating magna cum laude from Howard University in May 2022, Civil and Environmental Engineering alumna and Karsh STEM Scholar Cameryn Burnette began a career aimed at engineering low-tech solutions to positively impact developing areas. She is currently a Special Project Manager at Energicity Corp in Benin, West Africa; Energicity “is not just building solar grids, but cultivating electricity ‘ecosystems’ by implementing programs that influence trade, education, and communication in rural areas.”  

In January, Burnette received a Schwarzman Scholars fellowship. The second-ever Howard alum to receive this honor, Burnette is  part of the eighth cohort for one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships in the world. Through this fellowship, Burnette aims to earn her PhD in Material Science to create materials for safe, sustainable, modern infrastructure with an early focus on bio-inspired materials and biocomposites after matriculating from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. She plans to create polymers that have the functionality of petroleum plastics and enhanced degradation abilities so they can decompose, rather than accumulating on the Earth’s surface or break down into microplastics. She is also interested in exploring the potential of enhancing natural materials for use as building materials. 

In addition to the Schwarzman Scholars fellowship, Burnette also received a presentation award for her research “Nanoindentation of bovine meniscus for localized properties.” She expects to eventually lead her own lab and work as a professor to inspire students, similar to how her Howard professors motivated her. 

Living and working in Cotonou, Benin allows me to witness firsthand the obstacles and potential solutions involved in development engineering. I am honing my values and priorities while living in a different country, and my experience there has reaffirmed my dedication to a humanitarian engineering career. I have discovered a line of work that excites and energizes me.

Bisa Butler is a textile artist who creates vivid quilted portraits of African-American life. Born in 1973, Butler initially went into the arts as a painter, earning her BFA at Howard University and her MA in arts education at Montclair State University, where she took a fiber arts class. At Howard, Butler mentored members of the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (AfriCOBRA), which sought to define an art aesthetic that represents African Americans in a positive light.  Butler taught art at public high schools for 13 years, quilting in her free time, until she found representation with Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem and became an artist full-time. In her work, which is deeply rooted in the tradition of African-American quilting, Butler uses Ghanian fabrics, Nigerian batiks, and South African fabrics to capture her subjects’ African ancestry and their place in American history. She has exhibited her work in group and solo shows around the United States and the world. 

All of my pieces are done in life scale to invite the viewer to engage in a dialogue—most figures look the viewers directly in their eyes. I am inviting a reimagining and a contemporary dialogue about age old issues, still problematic in our culture, through the comforting, embracing medium of the quilt. I am expressing what I believe is the equal value of all humans.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning novelist, essayist and journalist. Coates was born and raised among six siblings in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother was a teacher, while his father is the founder of Black Classic Press, a publishing company specializing in books by Black writers. Coates studied journalism at Howard University for five years, then went on to work as a reporter. His writing gained national attention in 2008 with the publication of his first piece for The Atlantic; in that same year, Coates published his first book, The Beautiful Struggle. In 2015, Coates’ second book, the memoir Between the World and Me, launched his work to best-seller status. Since then, Coates has published myriad articles, memoirs, and essays, as well as a bestselling novel. He is currently a writer in residence at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

My only Mecca was, is, and shall always be Howard University.

Christopher N. Cross, Ph.D. is a biomedical engineer with expertise in policy and non-profit development. During his graduate studies at Howard University, Cross became the first openly gay male student trustee in the University’s history. He also founded the Lavender Fund, a scholarship award established to provide academic financial support for Howard University students who demonstrate outstanding involvement in LGBT+ community issues. Cross has since worked in publishing, biomedical engineering, and public policy. Currently, he is a postdoctoral research fellow at Yale University’s Cancer Biology Training Program.

I am endowed by the Universe to be who I am. This foundational understanding gives me continued solace and guidance along my journey of growth and evolution.”

Born on December 18, 1917, in Cogdell, Georgia, Ossie Davis hitchhiked from Georgia to Washington, D.C., after high school, where he received the National Youth Administration scholarship and enrolled at Howard University in the fall of 1935. There, Davis found a nurturing environment to cultivate both his ideas and his talents. Impatient to try his luck on the actual stage, Davis left Howard for New York City, where in 1939, he became involved with the Rose McClendon Players. After his 1946 Broadway debut, Davis went on to perform in many Broadway productions, including “Anna Lucasta,” “The Wisteria Trees,” “Green Pastures,” “Jamaica, Ballad for Bimshire,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “The Zulu and the Zayda,” and the stage version of “I'm Not Rappaport.” Davis was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.Davis has written and directed numerous films, including “Countdown at Kusini,” the first American feature film shot entirely in Africa by Black professionals. Davis has received the Hall of Fame Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement; the U.S. National Medal for the Arts; the New York Urban League Frederick Douglas Award; NAACP Image Award; and the Screen Actor's Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.

Any form of art is a form of power. It has impact. It can affect change. It can not only move us; it makes us move.

Classically trained on the piano, GRAMMY Award-winning musician Roberta Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. She was discovered by jazz musician Les McCann while singing at the Washington, D.C. nightclub, Mr. Henry's, and was promptly signed to Atlantic with a string of hits, including, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Where Is the Love” (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “Feel Like Makin' Love,” “The Closer I Get to You,” “Tonight I Celebrate My Love,” and “Set the Night to Music.” In 1999, she received a star on Hollywood's legendary Walk of Fame. Flack regularly performs for audiences around the world, and has had the pleasure of appearing with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. In February 2009, Flack performed with critically acclaimed orchestras in Australia, including the Melbourne, Queensland, and Sydney Symphonies. She is currently involved with a new venture — an interpretive album of Beatles' classics. As a humanitarian and mentor, Flack founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, providing an innovative and inspiring music education program to underprivileged students free of charge.

My hope is that out of all the anger and seeming hostility that we hear in some of today's music will come some sort of coalition that will become politically involved.

Dr. Kandace L. Harris, with more than 15 years of experience in higher education, is extremely knowledgeable about an array of institutional priorities and best practices for teaching, learning, and preparing students for lifelong success. 

A media and communication studies scholar originally from Oakland, California, Dr. Harris is currently the interim assistant vice president of Undergraduate Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). In this role, her focus includes facilitating and administering curriculum development and approval processes, coordinating, and supporting academic advisement, leading the General Education Honors program, supporting faculty through Faculty Development, and implementing and managing academic policies. 

Dr. Harris previously served as the associate dean in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication at CSUN and has served as an administrator at three HBCUs. Her most recent honors include selection as a 2022 HBCU Executive Leadership Institute Fellow and being recognized as a 2019 Pearls of Purpose Foundation, Inc.'s “Women Making a Difference: Sustaining the Legacy of HBCUs” Honoree. Also, Dr. Harris is a 2016 recipient of the Rex Crawley Outstanding Service Award from the National Communication Association’s Black Caucus. In 2019, she co-edited the book Being Mara Brock Akil: Representations of Black Womanhood on Television. 

Dr. Harris holds triple degrees from Howard University and is one of the first graduates to receive a Ph.D. in mass communications & media studies. Her servant leadership to her alma mater was recognized with a 2018 Crystal Bison Award from the Howard University Department of Alumni Relations and the 2018 and 2020 Region Chair of the Year Award. Dr. Harris has raised over $300k in scholarships for Howard students. In 2022, she was elected president of the Howard University Alumni Association.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Devin C. Martin is an electrical engineering and computer science student at Howard University. Martin played an instrumental role in developing a prototype for ConnexionAI, a first-of-its-kind accessibility application that can convert video input of American Sign Language to spoken languages. This innovative software won first place at HackDuke and third place at HackHarvard. Martin also helped to develop an award-winning prototype for Handoff, a ride-sharing and carpool application that helps connect people in need of transportation with volunteer drivers. Martin used his time during the coronavirus quarantine to develop a program to stop the spread of misinformation on COVID-19 on social media for MIT’s COVID-19 Datathon Challenge. He has interned in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Security Agency Data Science Research Internship, and the Google Computer Science Summer Institute.

Michaella Moore is a graduating senior majoring in biology with a double minor in sociology and theater arts. She is active in student governance and is the vice president of the Petey Greene Program, for which she has served as a tutor in prisons and jails.  Moore was selected by the British government as one of 46 national recipients of the 2020 Marshall scholarship, making her the third Marshall Scholar in Howard University history. She is pursuing medicine with the goal of informing public health, policy and practices on a global stage to increase heath equity in underserved communities.

We all have a divine beat that fits into the rhythm of the world. The experiences I have had abroad completely shifted my entire view of life, health, culture, faith and humanity. Its part of my mission to not only continue this exploration of our world, but to inspire and aid other young black adults in doing the same.

Jae Murphy is an international DJ, music producer, songwriter, and actor. He graduated from Howard University with a broadcast journalism degree in 2012. Murphy has toured in six continents and performed on countless stages, including performances on Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the 2017 NFL Thanksgiving Halftime Show. Murphy has worked with a wide range of artists, including Eric Bellinger, The Game, French Montana, Wale, Problem and Jason Derulo, for whom he is the official DJ. Murphy has consistently contributed to the Howard community, and refers to his musical journey as “Howard to Hollywood: The Beautiful Struggle.” He hopes to release his debut album this year.

Jessye Norman was a Grammy Award-winning operatic singer, humanitarian, and Howard alumna known for her powerful voice and stage presence. She was born in 1945 in Augusta, Georgia to a musical family that nurtured her budding talent. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Norman helped to integrate local businesses, participating in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. At the age of 16, Norman’s performance at a vocal competition earned her a full scholarship to Howard University. She graduated from Howard in 1967 with a degree in music, then went on to complete her graduate education at the Peabody Conservatory and later at the Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Over the course of her lifetime, she earned several honorary degrees from a number of other prestigious institutions.Norman’s opera career took off in Europe. She made her debut in 1969 in Germany, then continued to perform at famous opera houses around the world. Her worldwide success as a Black woman on the operatic stage was both rare and groundbreaking. Though billed as an operatic soprano, Norman had an impressive vocal range and a diverse range of musical interests, including popular music, gospel, blues, and more. As a humanitarian, Norman addressed hunger, homelessness, youth development, and arts education. In 2003, the Jessye Norman School of the Arts opened in her hometown of Augusta to provide free education in the arts to underprivileged children. After a long and successful career, she died of complications related to a spinal injury in 2019. Thanks in part to her trailblazing efforts, Norman left the opera world a more inclusive place than when she entered it.

One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.

Taylor Rainey is a Howard University alumna with a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in Spanish. In April 2021, she was named Howard University’s first Foreign Affairs IT (FAIT) Fellow by the United States Department of State. She currently works as an associate analyst for Hillard Heintze, a Jensen Hughes Company, and will be going on to pursue graduate studies in cybersecurity with the support of the FAIT Fellowship. While at Howard, Rainey participated in the Pre-Ph.D. Summer Enrichment Program (PPSEP), where she presented a paper on the preparation confidence of communities prone to hurricanes using a comparative analysis between Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Maria. Her international experience includes study abroad courses at the Université du Luxembourg Summer School and the IES Abroad Buenos Aires, as well as an internship at the Westminster Palace under Parliament member Helen Grant in London, England. Rainey also served as a Foreign Affairs Fellow in the United States House of Representatives for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

I am grateful for Howard University’s support to join the Foreign Service, both as a student and post-graduation. I will continue to live ‘in truth and service’ as I continue my professional career.

While pursuing a degree in electrical engineering at Howard, Gregory Robinson felt that in addition to excellent academic training, he received a broader understanding of navigating a diverse environment because of the population. He said that it was this environment that aided him to become innovative without fear of failure and grow his confidence so that he could thrive in competitive settings.

Before his assignment to NASA Headquarters in 1999, Robinson worked in different leadership positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He also served as the Systems Assurance Manager for projects like Global Geospace (1994), Earth Observing System (2002), and Aura Spacecraft (2004).

In 2005, Robinson moved to the role of Deputy Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters where he developed and implemented NASA’s Engineering Excellence and Engineering Technical Authority, and improved project management and systems across the agency.

In 2013, Robinson was named the deputy director at NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center. In that role, which he calls a highlight of his career, he played a role in furthering aeronautics and space technology. He also served as NASA deputy chief engineer, a role in which he got to work on approximately 22 shuttle launch missions that took place in the years after the Columbia shuttle disaster in 2003.

Since taking the role of Deputy Director at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Glenn Research Center in 2013, he has been managing a plethora of programs and projects.

Robinson has received numerous individual and group performance awards, including the Presidential Rank, Meritorious Senior Professionals and Executives Award. In February of 2022, Robinson was awarded the Roy L. Clay Sr Technology Pinnacle Award.

Portrait image courtesy of NASA.

Master your subject matter expertise, make sure you explore all that Howard has to offer, interact with all types of people on and off-campus, find what you love and run with it. When you leave Howard, you will be prepared for anything!

Alma Thomas was an artist and educator best known for her colorful abstract paintings. Born and raised in Columbus, GA., her family moved to Washington, D.C. when she was 15, seeking relief from the racial climate of the South. Thomas graduated from Howard University in 1924, becoming the first person to graduate from the newly-formed Department of Art. Though Thomas’s early artwork was realistic, her Howard professor James V. Herring and peer Lois Mailou Jones—both notable artists in their own right—encouraged her to experiment with abstract styles. Thomas taught art for 35 years and pursued painting in her free time. After retiring from teaching, Thomas developed her signature abstract style and debuted her first exhibition at Howard University at the age of 75. Her mosaic-like paintings translated art history, nature, and personal aesthetic in simple compositions influenced by the pointillism and abstract expressionism movements. Thomas was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American art. In 2015, 37 years after her death, Thomas's piece “Resurrection” (1966) became the first piece of artwork by a Black woman to hang in a public space in the White House and enter the permanent collection. 

My real belief is in my art, in beauty. I say everyone on earth should take note of the spring of the year coming back every year, blooming and gorgeous.

Roz White is a vocal musician, actor, motivational speaker, and educator. She is currently starring in and receiving stellar reviews for her self-penned cabaret “Pearl Bailey… by Request”. A Washington, DC native, Roz graduated from Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and Howard University. At Howard University Roz made history when she became the first and the only Miss Howard University to win the nationally televised Miss Collegiate African- American Pageant. She has worked as a featured vocalist with Yolanda Adams, Stevie Wonder, and the late Michael Jackson. In theatre, she has become widely recognized for her versatility, boasting a resume that includes leading roles in a variety of productions throughout the US and abroad. Her newest venture is a music movement called “Griot Soul” which merges her storytelling gift with the warmth and earthiness of her vocal styling. Roz is a trailblazer, and has performed in venues such as Madison Square Garden, The Kennedy Center, Ashford and Simpson’s Sugar Bar, The Apollo Theatre, Constitution Hall, The Shrine Theatre, and The White House. TV appearances include The Soul Train Christmas Spectacular, Lou Rawls Tribute to the Stars, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The View, and Quincy Jones’ VIBE. Roz recorded two hit dance singles which gained recognition in Billboard magazine’s New and Noteworthy column. She can be heard as the sexy featured vocalist on the R&B smash “The Moon” by independent soul star Eric Roberson. Roz is a devoted mother to two brilliant sons, Anthony and King. Roz is a member of D.I.V.A Incorporated, the Society for Women in the Arts -- Founded at Howard University.

My experience at Howard in the College of Fine Arts was, in a word, charmed. From the invaluable technique, training and nurturing I gleaned from my amazing mentors-Mike Malone, TG Cooper, Dr. Carole Singleton, Joe Selmon, Reggie Ray, Al Freeman Jr. Vera Katz, and Henri Edmonds--to my reigns as Miss Howard (crowned by the one and only Debbie Allen) and Miss Collegiate African America, I couldn’t have dreamed a more fulfilling and powerful journey into my passion and chosen profession as a performing and teaching artist.

Wilmer Wilson IV was born in Richmond, VA in 1989. As an artist of multiple mediums, including performance, photography, sculpture, collage, painting, and installation, he is critically recognized for performative investigations of Black presence in public spaces. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Howard University in 2012 and received his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. Wilson is the recipient of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship and The American Academy in Rome Fellowship. His work has been presented at galleries and museums around the United States and the world.

Art came to me at a time when other modes of communication had failed me. It gave me permission to do gestures that might be able to hold the contradictions of embodied experience.

Dr. Woods received his Bachelor of Music degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, Master of Music from Howard University, the Performer’s Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, and Doctor of Arts in Music Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado. 

Woods is a Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts, and Diversity) fellow. Sphinx LEAD is a two-year fellowship designed to evolve the industry landscape by empowering the next generation of executive leaders of Color. This is achieved through participation in executive leadership retreats, mentorship, and networking at top institutions at the national level.

Dr. Woods has received several teaching awards including the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the Peabody Preparatory of The Johns Hopkins University’s Diversity in Teaching Award. 

Dr. Woods has held teaching positions at the University of Northern Colorado, Coppin State University, the Levine School of Music, and the Peabody Preparatory of Music. Dr. Woods has enjoyed performing and teaching throughout the U.S., Japan, China, and Thailand.  

Woods has performed as principal trumpet with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra. The Sphinx Symphony Orchestra is based in Detroit MI and is a premiere organization that is strongly dedicated to diversity in the arts and is completely comprised of members who are of African American and Latinx descent. This ensemble includes performers with full-time positions in the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit, Seattle, and Phoenix Symphonies, and university professorships.

Source: International Trumpet Guild

Simone Yhap is a Senior Pre-Med Biology Major, and a Political Science and Chemistry double minor from West Moreland, Jamaica by way of Brooklyn, New York. Since her senior year of high school, she has been active in the non-profit sector by volunteering with the Family on Three Foundation, a 501©3 non-profit organization focused on youth empowerment, enrichment and mentorship through basketball and motivational workshops.

Can’t does not exist in your vocabulary ... the only limitations are the ones you impose on yourself; if you go into something already believing that you cannot do it, then you will not do it.