Mr. Shaffer Chimere Smith AKA “Ne-Yo”
Grammy Award-Winning Singer, songwriter, Actor

Shaffer Chimere Smith was born on October 18, 1982, in Camden, Arkansas, but was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. Better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, he is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor, and occasional rapper. Since his debut, Ne-Yo has had five top ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200. Ne-Yo has also amassed a catalog of chart-topping songs that he has written or co-authored for other artists such as...(more)

Annie M. Abrams
Political/ Social/ Civic and Community Leader

Annie M. Abrams was born September 25, 1931 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Because of limited educational opportunities for African-Americans in this small rural town she moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where she finished Dunbar High School, Dunbar Junior College, and Philander Smith College.

Her years of grassroots level activism and civic connections with historical personalities from around the world has made her an Icon in her own right. She has been interviewed by hundreds of local and national media outlets because of he...(more)

Mr. Reece “Goose” Tatum
Original Harlem Globetrotters Clown Prince
(Posthumous)

Goose Tatum was born in Calion, Arkansas, on May 3, 1921. He attended El Dorado High School in El Dorado, Arkansas.

Goose was discovered by Abe Saperstein, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters, in 1941 at a Negro League Baseball game. Saperstein was the scout who signed Satchel Paige to a contract in Cleveland. Goose was considered one of the Top First Basemen in Negro baseball. His clowning talent was recognized while playing baseball on a sawmill in the Ozarks, he eventually became a Clown on the Indianapol...(more)

Brig. General William Johnson
High Ranking Military Leader

Brigadier General William J. Johnson, a native son of Arkansas, has served in the Arkansas National Guard for more than 30 years. On January 1, 2008, Brigadier General William Johnson assumed duties as Deputy Adjutant General, Arkansas National Guard. As the Deputy Adjutant General, he serves as the full-time chief advisor and principal assistant to The Adjutant General and provides leadership to over 10,000 Army soldiers and airmen. Additionally, General Johnson serves as one of the organization’s strategic leaders who work dilige...(more)

Honorable Timothy C. Evans
Noted Jurist and Judicial Leader

Timothy C. Evans serves as the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the largest of the 22 judicial circuits in Illinois and also one of the largest unified court systems in the world. He is a 1965 graduate of the University of Illinois and received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, in 1969.

Chief Judge Evans oversees the circuit’s approximately 420 judges who are assigned to the court’s nine divisions and six geographic districts. He also oversees an annual budget of approximately $210 m...(more)

ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Award Winning Author/ Journalist

Growing up in Smackover and El Dorado, Arkansas, National Bestselling Author ReShonda Tate-Billingsley spent her days making up stories (her mother used to call it lying). Little did her family know that active imagination would lead to a prosperous and successful literary career; and today, she is considered one of the top Inspirational Fiction authors in the country.

A former television and radio news reporter, ReShonda is also an award-winning journalist. Currently, she is the co-host of From Cover to Cover literary talk rad...(more)