Posted by | Ray Cornelius

Congratulations to award winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay, music star John Legend, hip hop icon Nas and Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles. Each of them represent “POWER” on the newest issue of EBONY.

According to the magazine’s website, this year’s Power 100 “celebrates our doers, risk takers and makers of things. These men and women will carry the promise of the Obama era into the future, and their accomplishments and innovations reassure us that change isn’t coming—it’s here.”

Others talents include Tracee Ellis Ross, Ryan Coogler, DeVon Franklin, Solange, Issa Rae, Kevin Hart, Chance the Rapper and my friend Jarrett Hill, who became an overnight media sensation after he tweeted that Melania Trump had plagerized First Lady Michelle Obama‘s speech.

Check out all four covers below + excerpts from each superstar:

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“We’re just trying to get better at everything we do,” he says about the forthcoming project, which features Miguel and Chance the Rapper. “A lot of the difference is just my own evolution as a person, as a father and as a husband. This will be the first time I’ve made an album, given those life changes that I’ve gone through. And I think you can hear it in the music.”

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“I feel grateful for all of it, but I’m also putting it all into context. This year was a beautiful year for me professionally, but also I lost my father,” she says just before dissolving into tears. “When you’re sitting on top of the world, you want to be sitting there with the people who you love. I’d rather him be here than any of this happening,” she concedes.

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“I like things in the world that are appealing to the eye. So why lie about it?” he acknowledges, mentioning his penchant for Italian shoes. “One thing that kills me is these holier than thou, super clean phonies who walk around like they live in heaven and they’re a step above everybody else. No, we’re human beings striving to be the best we can be. We’re striving for greatness all the time.”

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“To me, it still feels normal because it’s what I do,” she tells EBONY while on the road with Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions. “I feel privileged and honored to go out there and represent the United States every single time.”

Photo Credits: EBONY.com

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