Danielle Pinnock's one woman show Body/Courage began as a Master's dissertation - a documentary theater piece. It turned into something much bigger than that. Body/Courage took Danielle from the Birmingham School of Acting in the UK to New York where she won "Best Actress" at the Strawberry Theater Festival and finally to Chicago.Since moving to Chicago Danielle Pinnock has understudied at the Goodman Theatre, acted in shows at Profiles Theatre and have had the amazing

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Tona Brown is an inspiring figure in many different ways, an accomplished violinist and mezzo-soprano recently made headlines becoming the first trans person to perform for a sitting president as well as the first trans person of color to perform at Carnegie Hall. As evidenced by the title “From Stonewall to Carnegie Hall” this artist doesn’t shy away from activism either, she was recently profiled in The Root as a transgender women using her visibility

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Actress, singer and dancer Ashley Blaine Featherson has appeared in “Dear White People”, “Glee” and is also the co-creator and star of Hello Cupid from Black & Sexy TV. Ashley is a well-rounded creator with her own lifestyle blog and active social media accounts. We can count on her for product recommendations, beautiful pictures of fashion and food as well as great entertainment? With a resume this fabulous and only destined to get better, Ashley

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Nia King is a freelance multimedia journalist who is definitely the Next Big Thing in journalism! Her book highlighting Queer and Trans Artist of Color and podcast We Want the Airwaves are captivating and give props to artists who don’t receive nearly enough praise for their work. Shout outs to people whose work you admire? We can definitely get behind that cause! You can subscribe to Nia’s podcast and get her book and zines at

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There's been a lot of talk about the lack of diverse characters in media - especially in comics. Not only is there a lack of women of color in comics, the few featured are highly sexualized. Independent creator Mildred Louis is working to change that. Her webcomic Agents of the Realm is full of beautiful depictions of diverse women of color who are smart and fierce! This commitment to diversity in comics is why we

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Chinaka Hodge is a writer, artist, activist and educator, originally from Oakland, CA, Chinaka’s talent has taken her around the country. From performing poetry on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam to appearing in rapper Atmosphere’s video for “Kanye West”, Chinaka is extremely talented and shows no signs of stopping. We definitely think Chinaka Hodge should be on your radar, let everyone know that you’ve been hip to this star since the jump. Chinaka Hodge is without

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In anticipation of the new season of “The Next Big Thing” we’ll be putting you on to some creators and influential people who we think will be the next big thing in culture! We’re starting out with Christina Elmore, an accomplished actress who has performed for stage and screen alike. Christina made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Fruitvale Station, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the

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