Maurice Jackson teaches African American history at Georgetown University and is the author of Rhythms of Resistance and Resilience: How Black Washingtonians Used Music and Sports in the Fight for Equality. He was the inaugural chair of the Washington, DC, Commission on African American Affairs, appointed by the mayor.

Blair Ruble was a distinguished fellow for programs at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the author of The Muse of Urban Delirium: How the Performing Arts Paradoxically Transform Conflict-Ridden Cities into Centers of Cultural Innovation and Washington's U Street: A Biography.