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About The City Where I'm From

A Brief Background About My City

In case you all are not familiar with the City of Gary, I will give you a brief background about it. First of all, it is located in Northwest Indiana. It is around the Chicagoland area due to being about twenty minutes away from the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois. It is also a fact that 85% plus of its 100,000 plus population is African American. For any other additional information about Gary, outside of the information in this paragraph and/or this entire section of my homepage, please click here or here.

G.I.'s Most Notables

BUSINESS

John Raczka - Senior Vice President of Content for British Telecommunications Openworld in London, England
Danita Johnson-Hughes - CEO/President of Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living
Charlie Finley - Former Owner of the Major League Baseball Oakland Athletics
Veronica Curry - The American Airlines station manager of ground operations at the Washington, D.C. airport
Vivian Carter - Owner of the Former VeeJay Records and who also discovered the The Beatles
Robert A. "Bob" McDonald - CEO, Board Chairman, and President of Procter & Gamble
Artis Twyman - Senior Director of Communications for the NFL St. Louis Rams
Vernon A. Williams - Vice President of Communications for the Indiana Black Expo
Charmaine "Cake Diva" Jones - Owner of Cakediva.com
Robert Kearns - Intermittent Windshield Wiper Inventor
Chelsea Stallings - Former Corporate Communications Manager for Johnson Publishing Company
Marrisa Kendrick - Jewelry Designer
Ken Davis - Founder of Butta Slick Car Polisher
Thomas Jennings - Freelance Production Payroll Accountant
Eric Lamont Mayberry - Director of New Business Development for Philadelphia Newspapers, Incorporated

ENTERTAINMENT

The Jackson Family(Michael, Janet, etc.) - Musical Superstars
Bobby Samar - Actor, Dancer, and Producer
Lenee Adkins - Model and Professional Dancer
William L. Johnson, Jr. - Singer and Actor
Billie Jean Jackson - Comedian
Talicia Raggs - TV Episode Writer and Former "Amazing Race" Reality Star
James McCracken - Musician
Monica Dumas - Comedian
Akilia Terry McCain - Opera Singer and VTech Toys Voiceover
Tia Dantzler - Celebrity Make-Up Artist
Gail Pettis - Grammy Award-Nominated Jazz Musician
John Reed - BET.com Interactive Producer
Triphena Johnson - Model
The Powell Family(Jesse, Tamara, and Trina) - R & B Vocalists
Allyson Carey - "Bold and Beautiful" Soap Opera Make Up Artist
Tiffany Carter - Content Coordinator for Overbrook Entertainment
Alonzo Russell - Actor
Debbi (McKay) Diaz - Dancer
Big Daddy and The Kinsey Report - A Blues Singing Group
Troy "Tension" Charles - Rap Artist
Freddie Gibbs - Rap Artist
Jennia Watson - Actress
Fred Williamson - Actor (also a Former NFL Player)
Charles Murray - Film Director and Televison Writer
David Jennings - Actor and Musician
Donna Blakely-Jackson - 1995 Grammy Award Winning Gospel Singer
Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman - Former TNA/WWE Wrestling Superstar and Miss Black USA
Avery Brooks - Actor and Singer
Deniece Williams - Singer
Asia Dickens - Former Dancer with the NBA Chicago Bulls "Luvabulls" Dance Team
Steven Finch - Actor
Rebecca Crews - Reality Show Star from BET's "The Family Crews"
Buddy Lewis - Comedian
William Marshall - Actor
Phelda Johnson - Singer and Actor
Mike Epps - Actor
Jennia Fredrique - Celebrity Interviewer/Entertainer
Ernest Thomas - Actor
Stephani "SPark." Parker - Singer
Deon Taylor - CEO of Deon Taylor Enterprises
Kimberly "Kym Mazelle" Grisby - Singer
Ripples and The Waves - Former Singing Group
Saints With A Vision - Gospel Group
Monica Parker - Vocalist
Karl Malden - Emmy and Academy Award Winning Actor
Tommy Hicks - Actor
The Spaniels - Male Singing Group
Tony DeNiro - Entertainment Consultant and Music Producer (also a former NFL Player)
Chester M. Gregory, II - A Multi-Talented Entertainer
Bianca Taylor - Actress
Melony Prentice - Model
Tyrie Buchanan - Model/Actor
Michael Joiner - Actor
Princess Kellee Patterson NGA - Actress, Former Miss Gary, Indiana and Miss USA

LITERATURE

Gwyn F. McGee - Novelist
Craig Marberry - Author
Robert Greer - A "Chester Himes Black Mystery Writer" Award-winning Author
Wayne Young - Magazine Publisher

MILITARY

Quentin Smith - A Former Tuskegee Airman
Rixie McCarroll - A Former Tuskegee Airman
John Bushemi - Former World War II Veteran and Well Known Military Photographer
Frank Borman - Former NASA Astronaut and U.S. Air Force Serviceman

POLITICS

Richard Gordon Hatcher - Gary's First Ever African American Mayor
Karen Freeman-Wilson - Gary's First Ever Female Mayor
Robert D. Rucker - First African American Appellate Judge in Indiana
Katie Hall - Commissioner for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, and Indiana's First African American and Female Congresswoman

SPORTS

Mark Atkins - Former Professional Basketball Player
Winston Garland - Former NBA Player
Ron Kittle - Former Major League Baseball Player
Charles Atkins - Former Olympic Boxer
Opal Courtney - Former Harlem Globetrotter
Rusty Setzer - A 1988 University of Notre Dame Football NCAA National Championship Team Member
George Taliaferro - Former NFL Player
Lee Calhoun - Former Olympic Track and Field Standout
Jerome Harmon - Former NBA Player
Orsten Artis - A 1966 Texas Western University Men's Basketball NCAA National Championship Team Member
Harry Flournoy - A 1966 Texas Western University Men's Basketball NCAA National Championship Team Member
Tom Harmon - A 1940 Heisman Trophy Winning University of Michigan Running Back
Angela Hamblin - Former WNBA Player
Bill Tosheff - Former NBA Player
Davage Minor - Former Professional Basketball Player
James Jewell - Former Draft Pick of Major League Baseball Toronto Blue Jays
Nick Strincevich - Former Major League Baseball Player
Danielle McCulley - A Former WNBA Player
Ike Griffin - A Former Professional Football Player
Gerald Irons - A Former NFL Player
Tellis Frank - Former NBA Player
Angel Manfredy - Former Boxer
Jaymar Johnson - Wide Receiver for the NFL Arizona Cardinals
Hank Stram - Hall of Fame NFL Head Coach
Bobby Brooks - A 1950 University of Kentucky NCAA Football National Championship Team Member
Jim Mackenzie - A 1950 University of Kentucky NCAA Football National Championship Team Member
Bob Wodtke - A 1950 University of Kentucky NCAA Football National Championship Team Member
Lonnie Jones - All-Star Center for the CBA Michigan Mayhem
Jemeil Rich - Guard for the NBA D-League Fort Worth Flyers
LaTroy Hawkins - Former Major League Baseball Right-Handed Pitcher
Brandon Moore - Former NFL Pro Bowl Offensive Guard
Dan Plesac - Former Major League Baseball All-Star Pitcher
Dick Barnett - Former NBA Player
The Karras Family(Alex, Lou, Ted) - Former NFL Players
Rhonda Anderson - Former 1976 Women's Track Team Olympian
Glenn Robinson - Former NBA All-Star Player
Tony Zale - Former Boxer
Lloyd McClendon - Former Major League Baseball Player, Coach and Manager
Chris Hunter - Forward/Center for the NBA Golden State Warriors
Terry "Tank" Johnson - Former NFL Player
Vic Bubas - Former Duke University Men's Basketball Coach
Wallace Johnson - A Former Major League Baseball Player and Coach

OTHER / MISCELLANEOUS

Katie Washington - First African American Valedictorian at the University of Notre Dame
Joseph Stiglitz - A 2001 Nobel Prize Winner
Paul Samuelson - A 1970 Nobel Prize Winner
Walt Bogdarich - A 2005 Pulitzer Prize Winning National Reporter for the New York Times
Shalon Le'Fain Smith - Fashion Designer
Fred Mitchell - First African American sports writer for the Chicago Tribune
Tommy Williams - ESPN 1000 Radio Anchor
Felicia Middlebrooks - WBBM Radio News Archor and President/CEO of SaltShaker Productions
Pamela Jones - A Reporter For CBS Channel 2 Chicago News
Victor V - Power 92 Radio Personality
Jim Raggs - Soul 106 Radio Personality
David "D-Nice" Walker - Radio Personality and Producer for Crawford Broadcasting Company
Marcus Geeter - Celebrity Make-Up Artist
Andrew D. Meyers a.k.a. "Footloose" - Fictional Character From Hasbro's G.I. JOE Toy Series