In our ongoing celebration of Black History Month, we look back at some of the leaders, icons and pop culture juggernauts that helped to bring diversity, equity, inclusion and representation to the forefront of the American landscape — like these men and women who left their indelible mark on the 1970s.
“Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang is often lauded as one the earliest and most seminal works of hip hop, ushering in decades of popular Black music that followed its rise. But as music historians know, Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien would never have been able to create that track if it weren’t for the pioneering efforts of Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell, whom many consider the original godfather of hip-hop culture.
