The BET 100 Entertainers And Innovators Of The Year | Social Justice And LGBTQ+ Warriors

See who superseded our expectations.

BET 100 | | Social Justice And LGBTQ+ Warriors - Discrimination has been a global pandemic for millennia, but combatting a deadly virus, which disproportionately impacts Black Americans, has created an even more passionate push for justice by activists of color. Though they are from different backgrounds, cities, and generations, there is a shared goal: protect and elevate Black lives. Here we highlight the men, women, non-binary individuals, and teens who courageously fight the good fight. —Written by Demetria WambiaPlus, don't forget to check back each day this week to find out who else we've added to the BET 100 list...we're just getting started. (Photo by BET Digital Design/Getty)

1 / 11

BET 100 | | Social Justice And LGBTQ+ Warriors - Discrimination has been a global pandemic for millennia, but combatting a deadly virus, which disproportionately impacts Black Americans, has created an even more passionate push for justice by activists of color. Though they are from different backgrounds, cities, and generations, there is a shared goal: protect and elevate Black lives. Here we highlight the men, women, non-binary individuals, and teens who courageously fight the good fight. —Written by Demetria WambiaPlus, don't forget to check back each day this week to find out who else we've added to the BET 100 list...we're just getting started. (Photo by BET Digital Design/Getty)

Tamika Mallory - After co-chairing the history-making Women’s March in 2017, Tamika Mallory co-founded Until Freedom, which fights against racial injustice. The Harlem native has also been very active in the national elections, hosting numerous voter registration and education events. But her most profound moment of 2020 came during the George Floyd protests. “America has looted Black people! America looted the Native Americans when they first came here, so looting is what you do. We learned it from you,” she said during what has been called the speech of a generation. “We learned violence from you! So, if you want us to do better, then damn it, you do better!” (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images)

2 / 11

Tamika Mallory - After co-chairing the history-making Women’s March in 2017, Tamika Mallory co-founded Until Freedom, which fights against racial injustice. The Harlem native has also been very active in the national elections, hosting numerous voter registration and education events. But her most profound moment of 2020 came during the George Floyd protests. “America has looted Black people! America looted the Native Americans when they first came here, so looting is what you do. We learned it from you,” she said during what has been called the speech of a generation. “We learned violence from you! So, if you want us to do better, then damn it, you do better!” (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images)

Alicia Garza - In 2013, Alicia Garza co-founded Black Lives Matter, a dynamic movement created after Trayvon Martin’s murderer was acquitted. Alicia Garza continued her work by founding Super Majority, a woman-centered activism network, and Black Futures Lab, an organization dedicated to Black political power. In 2020, she launched two major projects: the “Lady Don’t Take No” podcast, where she has spirited conversations with heavy hitters such as Joy Ann Reid and Tarana Burke, and her book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart. Her courageous efforts made her the target of armed White supremacists, but thankfully, the FBI thwarted the plan and Garza remains dedicated to her mission. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

3 / 11

Alicia Garza - In 2013, Alicia Garza co-founded Black Lives Matter, a dynamic movement created after Trayvon Martin’s murderer was acquitted. Alicia Garza continued her work by founding Super Majority, a woman-centered activism network, and Black Futures Lab, an organization dedicated to Black political power. In 2020, she launched two major projects: the “Lady Don’t Take No” podcast, where she has spirited conversations with heavy hitters such as Joy Ann Reid and Tarana Burke, and her book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart. Her courageous efforts made her the target of armed White supremacists, but thankfully, the FBI thwarted the plan and Garza remains dedicated to her mission. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Ashton Mota - Ashton Mota is proof that even people who are too young to vote can still be changemakers. The 15-year-old Lowell, Massachusetts native came out to his parents as transgender when he was a pre-teen and went on to advocate for himself and other LGBTQ+ youth by fighting to be on the boys’ basketball team and to use the bathrooms and locker rooms in which he feels most safe and can be his authentic self. Mota’s work has been so impactful that he was named a 2020 Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassador. (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

4 / 11

Ashton Mota - Ashton Mota is proof that even people who are too young to vote can still be changemakers. The 15-year-old Lowell, Massachusetts native came out to his parents as transgender when he was a pre-teen and went on to advocate for himself and other LGBTQ+ youth by fighting to be on the boys’ basketball team and to use the bathrooms and locker rooms in which he feels most safe and can be his authentic self. Mota’s work has been so impactful that he was named a 2020 Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassador. (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

Indya Moore - Indya Moore came to national attention in their role as Angel on the award-winning, critically- acclaimed FX network show Pose. The transgender actor/model/activist identifies as Afro-Taino and frequently speaks out on intersecting issues. “When marginalized community members fall off the track they should not be disposed of, or defined for the rest of their lives by the worst mistakes that they have made,” they said in a Vice interview. Moore made history in 2020 as the first transgender model on the covers of Vogue India and Vogue España. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

5 / 11

Indya Moore - Indya Moore came to national attention in their role as Angel on the award-winning, critically- acclaimed FX network show Pose. The transgender actor/model/activist identifies as Afro-Taino and frequently speaks out on intersecting issues. “When marginalized community members fall off the track they should not be disposed of, or defined for the rest of their lives by the worst mistakes that they have made,” they said in a Vice interview. Moore made history in 2020 as the first transgender model on the covers of Vogue India and Vogue España. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

ADVERTISEMENT
Shaka Senghor - After serving 19 years in prison for second degree murder, Shaka Senghor transformed his life, becoming a criminal justice reform advocate and a symbol of hope to those still behind bars. He wrote the New York Times best-selling memoir Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison and became an Oprah favorite when he appeared on her Super Soul series. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he partnered with rappers Meek Mill and Jay-Z to send 100,000 surgical masks to correctional facilities all over the country. A sought-after lecturer, Senghor also appeared at BET’s 2020 Black Men Voting Forum. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/WireImage)

6 / 11

Shaka Senghor - After serving 19 years in prison for second degree murder, Shaka Senghor transformed his life, becoming a criminal justice reform advocate and a symbol of hope to those still behind bars. He wrote the New York Times best-selling memoir Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison and became an Oprah favorite when he appeared on her Super Soul series. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he partnered with rappers Meek Mill and Jay-Z to send 100,000 surgical masks to correctional facilities all over the country. A sought-after lecturer, Senghor also appeared at BET’s 2020 Black Men Voting Forum. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/WireImage)

Zyahna Bryant - Zyahna Bryant’s petition to remove confederate statues in Charlottesville enraged White supremacists so much that a violent race riot exploded in the North Carolina town in 2017. Undeterred, the now 19-year-old is a student at the University of Virginia and has continued her fight. “There will be no healing or reconciliation until we have equity, until we have fully dismantled the systems that oppress Black and Brown people,” she said at a press conference about the removal of a confederate statue in Richmond. Featured on BET’s Future 40 list, Bryant raised more than $12,000 in 2020 to support first-generation college students from Charlottesville. This Southern crusader is bound for greatness. (Photo by Norm Shafer/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

7 / 11

Zyahna Bryant - Zyahna Bryant’s petition to remove confederate statues in Charlottesville enraged White supremacists so much that a violent race riot exploded in the North Carolina town in 2017. Undeterred, the now 19-year-old is a student at the University of Virginia and has continued her fight. “There will be no healing or reconciliation until we have equity, until we have fully dismantled the systems that oppress Black and Brown people,” she said at a press conference about the removal of a confederate statue in Richmond. Featured on BET’s Future 40 list, Bryant raised more than $12,000 in 2020 to support first-generation college students from Charlottesville. This Southern crusader is bound for greatness. (Photo by Norm Shafer/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Benjamin Crump - He came to national prominence when he was hired as the legal counsel for Trayvon Martin’s parents in 2012 and then again for Michael Brown’s family in 2014. Since then, Benjamin Crump has become the go-to attorney for families facing the unimaginable. In 2020, he represented the family of George Floyd, whose death in the Spring at the hands of Minneapolis cops sparked nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. Sadly, Crump’s work hasn’t slowed. His most recent cases involve the families of two Black teenagers who were fatally shot by police officers in Florida in November. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

8 / 11

Benjamin Crump - He came to national prominence when he was hired as the legal counsel for Trayvon Martin’s parents in 2012 and then again for Michael Brown’s family in 2014. Since then, Benjamin Crump has become the go-to attorney for families facing the unimaginable. In 2020, he represented the family of George Floyd, whose death in the Spring at the hands of Minneapolis cops sparked nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. Sadly, Crump’s work hasn’t slowed. His most recent cases involve the families of two Black teenagers who were fatally shot by police officers in Florida in November. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph.D - This 34-year-old immunologist is leading a team at the National Institutes of Health that is working towards a COVID-19 vaccine, and she has been vocal about concerns with Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett tweeted, “The task force is largely people (white men) he appointed to their positions as director of blah blah institute. They are indebted to serve him, NOT the people.” We love a scientist who calls it like she sees it. (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

9 / 11

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph.D - This 34-year-old immunologist is leading a team at the National Institutes of Health that is working towards a COVID-19 vaccine, and she has been vocal about concerns with Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett tweeted, “The task force is largely people (white men) he appointed to their positions as director of blah blah institute. They are indebted to serve him, NOT the people.” We love a scientist who calls it like she sees it. (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

Reverend Dr. William Barber - Harvard University professor and author Cornell West calls Reverend Dr. William Barber, “The closest thing we have to a Martin Luther King, Jr.” It’s incredible praise and much deserved when you consider Barber’s work. In July, he released We Are Called to Be a Movement, an inspiring tome reminding us all of the power we have. As co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, he organized the 2020 Digital Mass Poor People’s Assembly and March on Washington. Approximately 2.5 million people joined the digital gathering, and 300,000 letters were sent to elected leaders demanding change. (Photo by Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

10 / 11

Reverend Dr. William Barber - Harvard University professor and author Cornell West calls Reverend Dr. William Barber, “The closest thing we have to a Martin Luther King, Jr.” It’s incredible praise and much deserved when you consider Barber’s work. In July, he released We Are Called to Be a Movement, an inspiring tome reminding us all of the power we have. As co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, he organized the 2020 Digital Mass Poor People’s Assembly and March on Washington. Approximately 2.5 million people joined the digital gathering, and 300,000 letters were sent to elected leaders demanding change. (Photo by Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Bryan Stevenson - An author, activist and lawyer, Bryan Stevenson took home the Outstanding Motion Picture prize at the 2020 NAACP Image Awards for the film Just Mercy. The movie (which won three other awards at the event and starred Michael B. Jordan) was based on his book of the same name and chronicled Stevenon's work helping the poor and the wrongly incarcerated. The Equal Justice Initiative founder also won the prestigious Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Stevenson's tireless work fighting racism in the criminal justice system has transformed countless lives. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

11 / 11

Bryan Stevenson - An author, activist and lawyer, Bryan Stevenson took home the Outstanding Motion Picture prize at the 2020 NAACP Image Awards for the film Just Mercy. The movie (which won three other awards at the event and starred Michael B. Jordan) was based on his book of the same name and chronicled Stevenon's work helping the poor and the wrongly incarcerated. The Equal Justice Initiative founder also won the prestigious Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Stevenson's tireless work fighting racism in the criminal justice system has transformed countless lives. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)