Dr. John Wesley Carlos was born on June 5th 1945 in Harlem, New York. He is of Cuban descent and can understand Spanish. John Carlos’ father, Earl Carlos Sr., was a businessman and World War I Veteran. He was a man proud of his appearance in all circumstances and carried himself in a dignified way. He had to work hard from an early age (like most African-American children of his era, especially in the South of the country) and his parents were born as slaves. When he participated in World War I, he got wounded and received the Medal of Citation Award for his stoicism on the battlefield. When he returned back home, he had to face racial hatred, economic discrimination, the Roaring Twenties, the Stock Market Crash in 1929, the Dust Bowl in the mid-thirties and World War II. Despite the difficulties, he never became bitter. He met his future wife, Vioris Lawrence, in 1941, who was later John Carlos’ mother.

John Carlos’ childhood dream was to become an Olympic swimmer, but because of racism, he was prevented from practicing in NYC area pools. However, he didn’t let this shatter his dream of being an Olympian. Carlos therefore turned out to be a track and field athlete and professional football player. He won the Bronze-medal in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, on October 16. After the race, he and Gold medalist, Tommie Smith, raised their fists in a Black Power salute on the podium, while wearing Olympic Project for Human Right (OPHR) badges which provoked one of the largest political controversies in the history of the Olympic Games. His Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith who won the Gold medal (at the time) provoked tremendous political controversy, one of the biggest in the Olympics’ history. Silver medalist, Peter Norman from Australia also wore an OPHR badge to show his support for the two Americans. The athletes chose an international platform to protest and make sure that their grievances would not be ignored. It became a cause célèbre. Around the time of this Olympics in Mexico City, there were student protests, riots, and shootings in the capital.

Christian Paul was born in 1973 at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Hospital.  He has Haitian and Quebecer origins.  His birthday, May 18th, is an important date for Haiti -- the first Black republic in the Americas – as it represents the celebration of the country’s flag.  Christian Paul is a multilingual film and television actor.  He appeared in French and English productions in Canada since 1998, when he started to act professionally.  Prior to this, he was a tennis player.  His father taught him the sport at the age of 7, and tennis became a big part of his life till his mid-20s. He was a junior national doubles champion. At 17, he obtained a full tennis scholarship at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, and played NCAA tennis for four years, being named athlete of the year as a junior as well as a senior.  Christian Paul completed his undergraduate degree in Communications.  Hence, he developed an interest in film, television and theatre. He decided to come to Montreal to totally devote himself to theatre and acting. After attending the Dawson theatre program in Montreal, he began his career as an actor. In the late 90s, he became a frequent collaborator to Untimely Ripped Theatre, a Montreal based company that created original theatre in and out of the city. There, he penned, and co-directed his first play called 2000 televisions.

For the last few years, Michael Ealy has been red-hot, jumping from TV to film and back to TV, seamlessly. He recently starred in the sci-fi television series, “Almost Human,” for which he earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Drama Series.

Earlier this year, he starred in the remake of "About Last Night", and prior to that on the TV series “Common Law.” He also completed impactful, multi-episode arcs on CBS’ hit series “The Good Wife,” and on the Showtime series, “Californication,” while concurrently shooting the feature adaptation of the renowned theatre production, "For Colored Girl’s Only, Who Consider Committing Suicide When The Rainbow Is Not Enough" for Tyler Perry Studios and Lions Gate Films.

Prior to that, he was handpicked by Will Smith to co-star in "Seven Pounds", and by Spike Lee to join the ensemble of "The Miracle at St. Anna". Michael Ealy’s riveting performance was lauded in this true story of four Buffalo Soldiers who risked their lives to save a young Italian boy while behind enemy lines.

Born in Milwaukee on October 15, 1966, two-time Grammy-nominee Eric Benét is an actor, singer and songwriter whose music has been influenced by such R&B greats as Al Green, Sly Stone, Chaka Kahn and Marvin Gaye. His first professional break came back in the late Eighties while he was in a local group called Gerard.

Since then, Eric Benét has struck gold on the R&B charts and released albums like "True to Myself", "A Day in the Life" and "Love and Life". He has collaborated with a range of highly respected artists, including Something for the People; Earth, Wind, and Fire; and Wynonna Judd. As an actor, he’s enjoyed recurring roles on the TV series “For Your Love,” “Half & Half” and “Kaya.”

Here, he talks about starring opposite Erica Gluck in his new film, Trinity Goodheart, a heartwarming family drama about a strained father-daughter relationship. The movie premieres on the GMC-TV Network on Saturday, August 20th at 9 PM ET/PT (8 PM CT).

Dr.  Benjamin Solomon Carson was born in Detroit on September 18, 1951, where he and his big brother, Curtis Carson, were raised by a single-mom. Dr. Carson, who realized his childhood dream of becoming a physician, recently retired as the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a groundbreaking career of over 35 years.

Now a Washington Times columnist and Fox News contributor, he is also the author of numerous New York Times best-sellers, including Gifted Hands, an autobiography which was made into a feature-length film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. More recently, he co-wrote America the Beautiful and now One Nation with his wife Candy Carson.

A former member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, Dr. Carson is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. He and his wife founded the Carson Scholars Fund, an organization dedicated to recognizing the academic achievements of deserving young people.  

Tonya Williams was born in London, England.  Her parents are Jamaicans.  Her father is a deceased retired judge who used to serve at the Supreme Court for Saint Kitts, British Virgin Islands and most of the Leeward Islands.  Her mother is a retired registered nurse. Tonya Williams grew up in their beautiful West Indian island from the age of one until six.  During that time, she started ballet at three years old and piano when she was five.  Her parents legally separated when she was six.  Ms.  Williams moved back to England (in Birmingham) with her mother.  There she continued to study ballet and piano.  In addition, she started studying tap dancing.  At the age of 12, she settled down with her mother in Canada.  While in high school, she took a modeling course and when it ended, an agent started to represent her for fashion work and TV.  After high school, Ms.  Williams took a year off and continued to work as a model and actress.  She then auditioned and got into Toronto’s Ryerson University in the Drama program.  One of the policies of the program was that she could not continue to work in the entertainment industry.  After one year at Ryerson, Ms.  Williams booked the lead role in the play “Love and Politics”.  In order to be part of it, she left the Drama program and the rest was history.