Skip to Main Content

Black Excellence Alliance and Black Halls of Fame: Welcome

About the Black Excellence Alliance

From the Black Excellence website: "Unique in its impact and purpose, the Black Excellence Alliance (BEA) celebrates those who exemplify excellence, and accelerates the growth of the exceptional through education, employment, and entrepreneurship. We honor past and present Black excellence through recognizing their accomplishments in the Black Halls of Fame."

The BEA is intent on educating, supporting, sustaining, and strengthening black communities and black-owned businesses. With a heavy emphasis on entrepreneurship, the BEA allows for connections to form by building bridges between mentor and trainee, new business owner with experienced workers. The BEA is crucial in ushering in the next generation of Black excellence in economy, art, and discovery.

Centenary University's own president, Dr. Dale Caldwell, is a co-founder of the BEA, allowing the school to act as an academic home for the BEA. Three of the organization's Halls of Fame--the Black Inventors Hall of Fame, Black Authors Hall of Fame, and Black Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame--have hosted events at Centenary's Taylor Memorial Library during the past year, and there will hopefully be many more to come.

For more information, visit the BEA website: https://blackexcellence.org/.

Previous Events

On February 21, 2024, the Black Authors Hall of Fame gathered virtually--with a screening at Taylor Memorial Library--to discuss the works of Louise Bennett-Coverley (or Miss Lou) and her impact on Jamaica and literature overall.

On February 27, 2024, Taylor Memorial Library hosted three influential leaders of the Black Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame to discuss the organization and how it benefits black businesses, as well as answer questions and give advice to attendees.

In April 2024, the Board members of BIHOF visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan--notably dubbed "America's coolest museum." The Henry Ford Museum offers endless opportunities to learn the stories and experience the objects that have helped shape the U.S. Here, the Board had the pleasure of conversing with their hosts about co-curating future events, loan acquisitions of artifacts, and the sharing of CMS data. Learn more about the visit here.

In April 2024, the Board members of BIHOF visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan--notably dubbed "America's coolest museum." The Henry Ford Museum offers endless opportunities to learn the stories and experience the objects that have helped shape the U.S. Here, the Board had the pleasure of conversing with their hosts about co-curating future events, loan acquisitions of artifacts, and the sharing of CMS data. This picture shows CEO of the BIHOF, James Howard, presenting. Learn more about the visit here.

In April 2024, the Board members of BIHOF visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan--notably dubbed "America's coolest museum." The Henry Ford Museum offers endless opportunities to learn the stories and experience the objects that have helped shape the U.S. Here, the Board had the pleasure of conversing with their hosts about co-curating future events, loan acquisitions of artifacts, and the sharing of CMS data. Featured in this photo is the refurbished bus Rosa Parks made history on. Learn more about the visit here.

In April 2024, the Board members of BIHOF visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan--notably dubbed "America's coolest museum." The Henry Ford Museum offers endless opportunities to learn the stories and experience the objects that have helped shape the U.S. Here, the Board had the pleasure of conversing with their hosts about co-curating future events, loan acquisitions of artifacts, and the sharing of CMS data. Featured in this photo is the refurbished bus Rosa Parks made history on. Learn more about the visit here.

In April 2024, the Board members of BIHOF visited the Charles Wright Museum in Detroit, Michigan, America’s preeminent museum for showcasing the African American journey. There, they met with staff to discuss everything from sharing BIM models for museum floor planning to co-curating relevant museum artifacts, as well as got a masterclass on how to run a museum efficiently and a private tour. Learn more about the visit here.

In April 2024, the Board members of BIHOF visited the Charles Wright Museum in Detroit, Michigan, America’s preeminent museum for showcasing the African American journey. There, they met with staff to discuss everything from sharing BIM models for museum floor planning to co-curating relevant museum artifacts, as well as got a masterclass on how to run a museum efficiently and a private tour. Learn more about the visit here.

Black Inventors Hall of Fame

Black inventors and their achievements have too often been overlooked by accounts of American history. The Black Inventors Hall of Fame (BIHOF) remedies this by inducting extraordinary Black inventors into their organization every year, permanently recognizing them and their contributions to an ever-changing world. The long list of inventions from inducted Black creators ranges from projects in academia, manufacturing, and agriculture to those in medicine and science. Connecting to the BEA goal of providing sustainability and progress, the BIHOF identifies entrepreneurs who produce groundbreaking technological advancements that benefit society and the world.

For more information on the organization, visit the website https://bihof.org/. 

If you want to hear from the leaders of BIHOF themselves through their interactions with the Centenary community, read about the recent BIHOF event at Taylor Memorial Library.

Black Authors Hall of Fame

The Black Authors Hall of Fame (BAHOF) honors the past, present, and future of Black authors, playwrights, and poets. It is through the words of these literary minds that change is made and accomplishments are celebrated. The BAHOF places a heavy emphasis on the next generation of Black writers, and so encourages young writers to submit their works to the BAHOF newsletter and Essay Writing Contest, where they have a chance to share their stories with the world. Previous inductees of the BAHOF have written children's books, contemporary works, poetry, and essays. Like the BEA, the BAHOF allows for connections to be built--between author and author, but also between writer and reader.

For more information on the organization, visit the website https://bahof.org/.

Black Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame

The objective of the Black Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame (BEHOF) is to recognize black business founders and all the hard work they put in to make their business succeed, breaking through boundaries of race, class, and prejudice to make history. The BEHOF revolves around the history of Black entrepreneurship and the strategies used to create Black businesses of the future. The organization's current endeavor is the creation of a Virtual Reality Museum of Black Entrepreneurship, allowing online visitors to tour a virtual museum of the accomplishments of all the BEHOF inductees, as well as photos, videos, and descriptive accounts of Black entrepreneurial history. 

For more information on the organization, visit the website https://behof.org/.