MassMutual: Who Matters Most

Influential Blacks who have broken barriers in their work.

Breaking Barriers - Queen Latifah, Eunice Johnson, Nelson Mandela and Deryl McKissack are influential Blacks who have broken barriers within their lines of work.

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Breaking Barriers - Queen Latifah, Eunice Johnson, Nelson Mandela and Deryl McKissack are influential Blacks who have broken barriers within their lines of work.

Queen Latifah on domestic violence: - “It’s sad to me that this problem is headline news because some football players are involved, because this is something that’s always around… 21 years ago, I wrote the song ‘U.N.I.T.Y.’ about disrespect and violence towards women… I wish the message in that song wasn’t even relevant today. But it is.”(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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Queen Latifah - Queen Latifah wears many hats, including recording artist and producer, actress, host, mogul and comedienne. The 43-year-old was born in Newark, New Jersey on March 18, 1970. In 1989, she rose to fame when her debut album, All Hail the Queen, sold more than one million copies. The multi-faceted entertainer has received a Grammy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for her work.  (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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Eunice Johnson - As the founder and creator of Ebony Fashion Fair, Eunice Johnson broke barriers for Blacks in the world of style and cosmetics in the 1950s. Her annual tour highlighted African-American models and designers. As the wife of John H. Johnson, founder of the iconic magazine, she served as an executive at Johnson Publishing Company. Eunice died at the age of 93 in her Chicago home on Jan. 3, 2010. (Photo: JC/RCS/Reuters)

Biggest Inspiration: Nelson Mandela - When Mandela fell gravely ill earlier this year, the world came face-to-face with the beloved leader's mortality. Sadly, the civil rights icon passed away at 95 on December 5, 2013. Thankfully, we have a cornucopia of films, interviews, writings and more to continue the Mandela legacy. (Photo: AP Foto/Schalk van Zuydam, Archivo)

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Nelson Mandela - Nelson Mandela was an iconic leader in fighting against the racially discriminating Apartheid South African government, a movement that spread internationally. After years of protests, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990. Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1994. The 95-year-old passed away on Dec. 5, 2013 and was buried in his childhood village of Qunu. (Photo: AP Foto/Schalk van Zuydam, Archivo)

Photo By AP Foto/Schalk van Zuydam

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Deryl McKissack - Deryl McKissack is the founder/CEO and President of McKissack & McKissack of Washington, Inc. Her firm was part of the design team hired to execute the plans for the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial that was unveiled in 2011. McKissack received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Howard University.(Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post/Getty Images)