Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas in 1931 during the height of the Great Depression. In 1942, his mother brought him to Los Angeles to find work in the war effort. He attended a predominantly black high school in Los Angeles and became involved in the Glee Club. His interests were in music, language and poetry. He then started attending theaters in the city and developed an interest in dance.

In 1949, he was introduced to the great dance choreographer Lester Horton. He began his training in the art of dance. For a brief time, he left the dance studio to study romance languages and literature. In 1951, he met Maya Angelou in San Francisco and began performing with her in night clubs. By 1952, he returned to Horton’s studio and began his full-time career in dance with Horton’s company.

Suddenly, in November of 1953, Horton died and left the company without an artistic director. When no one else stepped forward to take the position, 22-year old Ailey stepped in to take the position. In 1954, he and his friend, dancer Carmen de Lavallade, travelled to New York to dance in the Truman Capote Broadway show “House of Flowers,” starring Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. He appeared in other Broadway musicals for the next three years.

In 1958, Ailey formed the “Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater” after becoming frustrated with what he perceived as poor and inferior modern dance techniques being used in New York. His style was revolutionary and incorporated his training in ballet, modern dance, jazz and African dance techniques. The musical accompaniment of his performances were intense with blues, spiritual and gospel tones. In 1960, he produced “Revelations,” the story of African-Americans struggle from slavery to freedom.

Throughout his career, Ailey created 79 works. His company continues to this day as one of the finest dance companies in the United States. The company earned the title of “Cultural Ambassador to the World” due to their extensive international performances. In 1977, Ailey was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. One year before his death, Ailey received the Kennedy Center Honors. Ailey died from complications from AIDS in 1989. In 2014, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Ailey with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ailey is considered one of the great artists of the 20th century and a great American.

Constance Motley was born in 1921 in New Haven, Connecticut. Her parents were immigrants from the island of Nevis in the Caribbean. Her mother was the founder of the New Haven National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Constance was a very bright student and at the age of fifteen, decided that law would be her career choice. She was the president of the local NAACP Youth Council.

With the help of a local white businessman, she was able to afford college at Fish University. She earned a degree in economics in 1943. From there, she went on to Columbia Law School in New York City. After law school, she became a law clerk for Thurgood Marshall. She also did work for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Her work there and her connection to Marshall established herself as a major contributor to the civil rights movement. In 1950, she drafted the first complaint for the landmark Brown v Board of Education case.

Motley’s legal career was on the rise. She represented multiple students known as “Freedom Fighters” and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so they could march in Albany, Georgia. She would argue and win nine out of ten cases before the United States Supreme Court.

In February of 1964, she she was the first black woman elected to the New York State Senate in a special election to fill a vacancy. She was reelected in the November general elections for a full term. However, she resigned the position in February of 1965 to become the first female Borough President of Manhattan. In September of 1966, President Lyndon Johnson nominated her to became the first African-American female federal judge. She served as a federal judge, including chief judge, until her death in 2005.

Constance Motley paved the way for women and African-Americans in the areas of civil rights and the judicial system. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993 and awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton in 2001. She was considered one of the most influential attorneys of the civil rights movement and her contributions to that cause made her a great American.