By: Stacy M. Brown, NNPA

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) represents the organized voice, survivor, and power of the Black Press in America. On the eve of Black History Month, we have chronicled the top Black newsmakers of the first quarter of the 21st century to honor Black impact through legacy, liberty, and justice. This list serves as a living record, centering Black leadership, innovation, and influence while ensuring today’s history is documented with clarity and intention for future generations.

Our staff researched and reviewed news headlines and news articles for the last 25 years from our catalog of more than 200 member Black-owned newspapers across the United States with a reach of 20 million readers from both our print and digital publications.
Since the Trayvon Martin case propelled him into the national consciousness, civil rights attorney Ben Crump has accumulated a distinction unmatched by any other Black American in the first quarter of the 21st century. A review of national media coverage shows Crump has appeared in more major headlines than any other Black figure over the last 25 years, according to NNPA sources, outpacing presidents, global entertainers, elite athletes, and cultural icons.

“Every time my name appears, it means we’re facing a constitutional crisis, winning a landmark case, or representing a family who is dealing with unimaginable loss,” Crump said. “The attention is not about me. It is about forcing America to confront what it too often wants to ignore.

Crump ranks first among Black Americans most cited in national headlines from 2000 to 2026. Former President Barack Obama ranks second, followed by Serena Williams, LeBron James, Vice President Kamala Harris, Simone Biles, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey—making up the top 10 newsmakers of the century. The list spans politics, business, sports, and entertainment, yet Crump’s presence differs in kind.

His name enters the news not through achievement tours or election cycles, but through courtrooms, jury verdicts, and public demands for justice. It goes without saying that President Obama, being the first Black president in U.S. history, dominated the headlines between 2000 and 2016. His rise from a mixed-race child who ascended to the Oval Office made him a global figure of democratic possibility. He and his wife, Michelle Obama, reshaped how power, grace, family, and intellect could coexist at the highest level.

Though he still garners a significant amount of news coverage, the former president seems resigned to enjoy his status as a private citizen not having to be a part of the 24-hour news media cycle.

Serena Williams, LeBron James, and Simone Biles dominated the headlines in their respective sports arenas. Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the open era, male or female. She did it across three different decades, proving longevity and adaptability rarely seen in any sport. LeBron James was a permanent fixture in the headlines for over two decades, being considered the best basketball player on the planet on his way to becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a milestone once thought untouchable.

Also there was Simone Biles, who dominated the sports headlines in the first quarter of the 21st century by becoming the greatest gymnast of all time, winning eleven Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals, making her the most decorated gymnast in history.

As the daughter of immigrants, Vice President Kamala Harris generated a significant amount of headlines by making history when she became the first woman to serve as Vice President of the United States after she already made history as the first Black woman to serve as a United States Senator from the state of California. In addition to dominating newspaper headlines, Oprah Winfrey also dominated television ratings by becoming one of the most powerful media figures in the world. She broke barriers as a Black woman who fully owned her voice, her platform, and her influence.

Her show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, ran in national syndication for 25 years from 1986 to 2011, making her the wealthiest female celebrity and the richest Black woman in the world.

Rounding out the top ten list is hip-hop musician Kanye West, who generated headlines because his public life appeared chaotic, sometimes controversial, and at times riveting.  His music releases, fashion ventures, political statements, social outbursts, anti-Semitic remarks, and his very public personal drama kept him in the news cycle constantly, for better or worse.

Nevertheless, it was Crump who dominated more news headlines in our newspapers since his emergence in 2012, when he represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old killed in Sanford, Florida. That case placed Crump at the center of a national reckoning and established a legal model he seemed to create by fusing litigation not only in the court of law but also in the court of public opinion. Since then, the cases represented have become household names across America and throughout the world.  He represented families connected to the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO (2014); children affected by the Flint Water Crisis (2016); he also brought a mass tort lawsuit representing women, mainly minorities, against Johnson and Johnson, alleging the company’s talcum powder products led to them being diagnosed with ovarian cancer (2018); he was appointed lead plaintiff co-counsel representing Black women users of chemical hair relaxers that led to them developing uterine cancer (2022); and he was omnipresent in the media representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery (2020).

Crump was also a champion for Black history and Black culture by winning historical landmark cases for Henrietta Lacks, and in her medical racism reparations case in 2023; by leading Tamara Lanier, the descendant of her enslaved great-great grandfather, Papa Renty, to victory in a 150-year old lawsuit against Harvard University before the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 2023 for slave photographs that were appraised to be worth $100 million dollars; And representing the family of Malcolm X in a wrongful death lawsuit against the NYPD, the FBI, and the CIA.

Crump, who has been dubbed Black America’s Attorney General by Rev. Al Sharpton, proclaims that he is on a mission to raise the value of Black life in America. Most recently, Crump secured one of the most consequential verdicts of his career. A Florida jury awarded a $779.3 million compensatory verdict to the family of Lewis Butler, a Black security guard killed during an armed robbery at an internet café in Havana, Florida. Evidence showed the business failed to report a prior armed robbery involving a stolen firearm later used in Butler’s killing. The verdict ranks among the largest negligent security wrongful death awards in American history.

“This verdict was about more than compensation,” Crump said at the time. “It was about making sure businesses understand that Black life is not disposable, not today, not ever.”

The Butler verdict joined other record recoveries that included a $310 million verdict for a Black child that died at an amusement park, which is believed to be the largest amount recovered for a child; a $98.5 million verdict on behalf of Botham Jean’s family; a $27 million settlement for the George Floyd family; a $12 million settlement for the Breonna Taylor family; a $641 million settlement for children poisoned by Flint’s water supply; and more than $250 million recovered in what he refers to as “banking while Black” discrimination cases.

Crump’s career has earned him national and international recognition. He has been named to the TIME100 list of the most influential people, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, Forbes Magazine’s Inaugural Top 100 Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers Top 100. Despite the visibility, Crump maintains that prominence was never the goal.

“I would trade every headline if that meant Black people and poor people could achieve equal justice under the law.” Crump said. “Until that day comes, I will keep showing up, because justice does not happen on its own.”

“It is obvious from our vast readership within the Black community that this list of individuals who have become trusted household names represents the hopes, aspirations, and accomplishments collectively of Black culture thus far in the 21st century,” concluded Dr. Ben Chavis, the executive director of NNPA.