---

And in recognition of Black History Month, remember the contributions of Black Americans to every area of our culture: 

writers Ralph Ellison, Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, and Georgia's own Alice Walker, a native of Eatonton;

actors Denzel Washington, Butterfly McQueen, Dorothy Dandridge, Halle Berry, Sidney Poitier, Oscar Winner Ruby Dee and her husband Ossie Davis, a Georgia native;

musicians Aretha Franklin, Scott Joplin, Ellis Marsalis and sons, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, and Georgia's Thomas L. Dorsey, who wrote "Precious Lord, Take My Hand;

visual artists photographer Gordon Parks, painters Henry Ossawa Tanner ("The Grateful Poor"), Jacob Lawrence, and Sam Gilliam, who designed art for the Atlanta Airport.