Actress Viola Davis arrives at the 84th Annual Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton hotel on February 6, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Rihanna attends The BRIT Awards 2012 at the O2 Arena on February 21, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Musician Raphael Saadiq arrives at the 34th Kennedy Center Honors held at the Kennedy Center Hall of States on December 4, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Michael Tran/Getty Images)
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a visit to the Port of Tampa on April 13, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. The President, on his way to the Summit of the Americas in Colombia, used the visit to emphasis small business trade with countries in Latin America. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde® is greeted by Nigeria’s President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (L) at the Aso Rock Villa, State House ON December 19, 2011 in Abuja, Nigeria (Photo by Stephen Jaffe/IMF via Getty Images)
Prime Minister of Jamaica Portia Simpson-Miller smiles on the steps of Devon House on March 6, 2012 in Kingston, Jamaica (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, International Criminal Court
TIME magazine has released its list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World,” whom they say are those that “inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world.”
Among those entertainers, leaders, educators, and icons that made the list this year, several were prominent black figures in the U.S. and abroad. Singer Rihanna, Academy-award winner Viola Davis, musician Raphael Saadiq, University of Maryland educator Freeman Hrabowski, President Barack Obama, Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan, Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda, and Jamaica’s prime minister Portia Simpson Miller all made TIME list. Earning a place on their annual list is a big honor, and here at theGrio we’d like to spotlight the following people for a year full of accomplishment and success.
