About the Narrators
Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Cicely Tyson (1924–2021) was an actress, lecturer, activist, and one of the most respected talents in American theater and film history. From her starring role on Broadway in The Blacks (1961), to the Emmy-nominated 1999 HBO film A Lesson before Dying, her work garnered critical and commercial applause for more than sixty years. Her two Emmys for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman made her the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Best Actress. In 2013, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful. A capstone achievement came in 2018, when she became the first Black woman to receive an honorary Oscar. The Board of Governors voted unanimously to honor her with the award, which came forty-five years after her Academy Award nominated performance in Sounder.
Joseph Walker has written a weekly newspaper column since 1990 called ValueSpeak, which has appeared in more than two hundred newspapers nationally. Some of his columns were published in the bestselling Chicken Soup series. Joseph and his wife, Anita, have five children and four grandchildren. They reside in American Fork, Utah.
Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is a
world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. For
more than eighty years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian
experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic
resources, and digital products. The company’s products are sold in multiple formats,
worldwide in more than sixty countries, and translated into nearly two hundred
languages.
James Brown is a sports commentator and former athlete recognized by millions. He is best known as the host of CBS’s The NFL Today and Showtime’s Inside the NFL. Brown earned a scholarship to Harvard, where he got a degree in American government, and had a chance at a professional sports career before moving on to broadcast journalism. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Dorothy.
Kim Fields had her first job at age seven on the Mrs. Butterworth syrup commercial. Behind the camera, she directed episodes of Kenan & Kel, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns and House of Payne, and BET’s Let’s Stay Together. Between gigs her life has included theater, spoken word, music, and speaking engagements. She is a dedicated wife and proud mom of two boys.
LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award–winning actor, presenter, director, author, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is best known for his roles as the host of the long-running PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots. He has also directed a number of television episodes for various iterations of Star Trek, among other programs. He was named 2017’s Best Male Literary Citizen by Literary Hub and is a 2020 recipient of the Ember Award for unsung contributions to literature.
Ruby Dee (1922–2014) was a multi-award-winning actress, playwright, screenwriter, and activist. During her seven-decade career, she won a Grammy, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk award and was nominated for an Academy Award. She was also the recipient of a National Medal of Arts, a Kennedy Center Honor, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Ruth Younger in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun, but she also had roles in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever. She was also known for her civic work with husband Ossie Davis. She also wrote plays, fiction, and a column in New York’s Amsterdam News. Born in Cleveland, she worked initially with the American Negro Theater in Harlem, where she grew up.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
Tyler Perry is a
playwright, producer, director, composer, and actor. He is the creative force
behind ten theatrical productions that have toured nationally. He is also the
writer, producer, and star of the recent number-one hit movie Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her
Earrings is his first book.
Vanessa Williams is an American singer, actress, producer and former fashion model. She has appeared in both television and film, and currently stars in the supernatural drama series 666 Park Avenue. Williams released her personal memoir in 2012 in collaboration with her mother, Helen Williams.
Mo’Nique is an award-winning comedienne, actress, and author. A self-proclaimed voice for full-figured women, she wrote the bestselling books Skinny Women Are Evil and Skinny Cooks Can’t Be Trusted in which she shares her experiences and philosophies. She hosted the first televised beauty competition and boot camp for plus-sized women, Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance, giving Oxygen the highest-rated show in the history of the network.
Forest
Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a
reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as
ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the award-winning television series, The Shield. He won an Academy Award, a
Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in
the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland.
LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award–winning actor, presenter, director, author, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is best known for his roles as the host of the long-running PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots. He has also directed a number of television episodes for various iterations of Star Trek, among other programs. He was named 2017’s Best Male Literary Citizen by Literary Hub and is a 2020 recipient of the Ember Award for unsung contributions to literature.
Nick Cannon is a successful, multifaceted entertainer: film star,
comedian, musician, writer, and executive producer of his very own hit
television shows. Cited by People magazine as one of the top ten most successful
young people in Hollywood, Cannon is the host of America’s Got Talent.
He has also hosted hit shows on MTV and Nickelodeon and oversees film
and television projects currently in development through his own multimedia
company, NCredible Entertainment.
Mo’Nique is an award-winning comedienne, actress, and author. A self-proclaimed voice for full-figured women, she wrote the bestselling books Skinny Women Are Evil and Skinny Cooks Can’t Be Trusted in which she shares her experiences and philosophies. She hosted the first televised beauty competition and boot camp for plus-sized women, Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance, giving Oxygen the highest-rated show in the history of the network.
Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Adam Lazarre-White, best known for starring as Nathan Hastings on The Young & The Restless, also gained notoriety on Living Single, Girlfriends, Will & Grace, The Parkers, and in the Emmy Award–winning miniseries The Temptations. His other television and film credits include Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Deliver Us from Eva, Ocean’s 13, All about You, and Forgiveness. Lazarre-White has many credits as a voice artist on commercial radio, television, and film. He graduated from Harvard and then returned home to New York to train at Terry Schreiber Studios and continue his work on LA stages, notably in Romeo & Juliet, The Trojan Women, and Neil Labute’s This Is How It Goes.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award–winning actor, presenter, director, author, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is best known for his roles as the host of the long-running PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots. He has also directed a number of television episodes for various iterations of Star Trek, among other programs. He was named 2017’s Best Male Literary Citizen by Literary Hub and is a 2020 recipient of the Ember Award for unsung contributions to literature.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
Kim Fields had her first job at age seven on the Mrs. Butterworth syrup commercial. Behind the camera, she directed episodes of Kenan & Kel, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns and House of Payne, and BET’s Let’s Stay Together. Between gigs her life has included theater, spoken word, music, and speaking engagements. She is a dedicated wife and proud mom of two boys.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
James Brown is a sports commentator and former athlete recognized by millions. He is best known as the host of CBS’s The NFL Today and Showtime’s Inside the NFL. Brown earned a scholarship to Harvard, where he got a degree in American government, and had a chance at a professional sports career before moving on to broadcast journalism. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Dorothy.
Tyrese Gibson is a dynamic figure in entertainment today who has had huge success as a multiplatinum and Grammy-nominated R&B singer, songwriter, actor, bestselling author, and television producer. His 2011 music endeavor, Open Invitation, debuted at number one and included the hit single “Stay,” which remained number one for eleven consecutive weeks.
LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award–winning actor, presenter, director, author, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is best known for his roles as the host of the long-running PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots. He has also directed a number of television episodes for various iterations of Star Trek, among other programs. He was named 2017’s Best Male Literary Citizen by Literary Hub and is a 2020 recipient of the Ember Award for unsung contributions to literature.
Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is a
world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. For
more than eighty years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian
experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic
resources, and digital products. The company’s products are sold in multiple formats,
worldwide in more than sixty countries, and translated into nearly two hundred
languages.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Tyrese Gibson is a dynamic figure in entertainment today who has had huge success as a multiplatinum and Grammy-nominated R&B singer, songwriter, actor, bestselling author, and television producer. His 2011 music endeavor, Open Invitation, debuted at number one and included the hit single “Stay,” which remained number one for eleven consecutive weeks.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award–winning actor, presenter, director, author, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is best known for his roles as the host of the long-running PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots. He has also directed a number of television episodes for various iterations of Star Trek, among other programs. He was named 2017’s Best Male Literary Citizen by Literary Hub and is a 2020 recipient of the Ember Award for unsung contributions to literature.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.
LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award–winning actor, presenter, director, author, and Earphones Award–winning narrator. He is best known for his roles as the host of the long-running PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as the young Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots. He has also directed a number of television episodes for various iterations of Star Trek, among other programs. He was named 2017’s Best Male Literary Citizen by Literary Hub and is a 2020 recipient of the Ember Award for unsung contributions to literature.
James Brown is a sports commentator and former athlete recognized by millions. He is best known as the host of CBS’s The NFL Today and Showtime’s Inside the NFL. Brown earned a scholarship to Harvard, where he got a degree in American government, and had a chance at a professional sports career before moving on to broadcast journalism. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Dorothy.
Forest
Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a
reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as
ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the award-winning television series, The Shield. He won an Academy Award, a
Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in
the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland.
Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is a
world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. For
more than eighty years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian
experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic
resources, and digital products. The company’s products are sold in multiple formats,
worldwide in more than sixty countries, and translated into nearly two hundred
languages.
Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Forest
Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a
reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as
ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the award-winning television series, The Shield. He won an Academy Award, a
Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in
the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland.
Tamera Mowry-Housley is an actress and television personality known for her roles in Sister, Sister, Twitches, and Tia & Tamera and as a co-host on The Real and a host of Prime Video’s Dr. Seuss Baking Show.
Tia Mowry-Hardrict and Tamera Mowry-Housley have been in the public eye for over twenty years, beginning with their hit ABC/WB show Sister, Sister. They have starred in Disney Channel’s original movies Twitches and Twitches Too, as well as the Style Network’s #1 reality series, Tia & Tamera. Tia was the lead of The CW/BET’s show The Game and can be seen starring in and producing the Nickelodeon series Instant Mom and on Cooking Channel’s show Tia Mowry at Home. Tamera is a host and producer of the hit daytime talk show The Real, which airs on Fox, and starred in the Lifetime series Strong Medicine.
James Langton, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and later as a musician at the Guildhall School in London. He has worked in radio, film, and television, also appearing in theater in England and on Broadway. He is also a professional musician who led the internationally renowned Pasadena Roof Orchestra from 1996 to 2002.