For the past 45 years, Ebony magazine has chosen its Power 150, a list of the most influential black Americans. The issue is available on newsstands April 14.

Those with current ties to Georgia in bold

Luis M. Alvarez/AP (ENLARGE)
Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, was listed in the business category for co-launching a new
Gus Ruelas/AP (ENLARGE)
Sean 'Diddy' Combs also was cited in the business category for founding two companies, Sean John and Bad Boy.
Mary Altaffer/AP (ENLARGE)
Maya Angelou was recognized for her contributions to education. She is the Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
Warner Independent Pictures (ENLARGE)
Academy Award-nominated actor Don Cheadle was named for public service. He has actively worked as a human rights activist in Darfur and co-authored a book, 'Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond.'
MOST POPULAR STORIES 'Housewives' star forced to move from Duluth home Rosie's dreams of TV variety comeback are dashed Who are metro Atlanta's sexiest men? Woman sues Tyler Perry for copyright infringement Six Flags to auction part of Monster Plantation
EMAIL THIS PRINT THIS MOST POPULAR
RELATED LINKS: • Photos: Stars dot Power 150 list • Photos: Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige: Heart of the City • Blog: Fans go wild for Blige, Jay-Z (and his reported bride) • Blog: Perry's company honored at Image Gala • Photos: Perry's female characters strong, brash • Perry's women on film • Usher, Perry to help Angelou celebrate birthday • Marsalis to premiere first jazz Mass • The 40th anniversary of MLK's assassination

ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA

• Tyra Banks, talk show host, entrepreneur and television personality

• Mara Brock Akil, television show creator, executive producer and writer

• Halle Berry, Academy Award-winning actress, producer

• Reuben Cannon, casting director and producer

• Debra Martin Chase, film and television producer whose company, Martin Chase Productions, is an affiliate of the Walt Disney Company

• Suzanne DePasse, entrepreneur, CEO DePasse Entertainment

• Jermaine Dupri, music executive, producer, songwriter, recording artist, author and entrepreneur

• Lisa Ellis, senior vice president, Sony Music Label Group

• Kirk Franklin, gospel artist, author and entrepreneur

• Thelma Golden, curator, the Studio Museum in Harlem

• Steve Harvey, nationally syndicated radio personality and director of the Steve Harvey Foundation

• Reginald Hudlin, president of entertainment, BET

• Cheryl Boone Isaacs, governor, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

• Quincy Jones, musician, entertainment executive

• Tom Joyner, national syndicated radio personality, social activist and philanthropist

• Spike Lee, film producer, director and screenwriter, founder, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

• Paula Madison, executive vice president of diversity, NBC Universal, and company officer, General Electric

• Wynton Marsalis, trumpeter, composer, artistic director, Jazz at Lincoln Center

• Dana Owens (Queen Latifah), actress, entertainer, entrepreneur, philanthropist

• Tyler Perry, playwright, author, director, producer, actor

• Antonio (L.A.) Reid, chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group, and legendary music producer

• Shonda Rhimes, television show creator, writer and executive producer ("Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice")

• Sylvia Rhone, president of Universal Motown Records

• Johnathan Rodgers, CEO and president of TV One

• Tavis Smiley, author, activist and media personality

• Will Smith, actor, producer, recording artist

• Andre Leon Talley, fashion writer/editor, author and style guru

• Timbaland, music producer, composer and rap artist

• Denzel Washington, Academy Award-winning actor, director and producer

• Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, entrepreneur, entertainment executive and philanthropist

• Tiger Woods, championship golfer, entrepreneur and creator of the Tiger Woods Learning Center

BUSINESS

• Amsale Aberra, founder, AMSALE Design Group

• Don H. Barden, CEO, Barden Companies, Inc.

• Tony Brown, senior VP, Ford Motor Co.

• Shawn (Jay-Z) Carter, music producer, co-launched new advertising company

• Kenneth I. Chenault, CEO, American Express

• Sean (Diddy) Combs, founder, Sean John, Bad Boy

• Earl G. Graves, publisher, Black Enterprise magazine

• Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital

• Catherine L. Hughes, chairperson, Radio One

• Earvin (Magic) Johnson, CEO, Magic Johnson Enterprises

• Robert L. Johnson, owner, Charlotte Bobcats

• Sheila Johnson, owner, Washington Mystics of the WNBA

• Debra L. Lee, chairman, BET Networks

• Renetta McCann, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group

• Clarence Otis Jr., CEO of Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster)

• Linda Johnson Rice, CEO, Johnson Publishing Co.

• John W. Rogers Jr., CEO, Ariel Capital Management

• Kimora Lee Simmons, entrepreneur and TV personality

• Russell Simmons, CEO, Rush Communications

• David L. Steward, founder and chairman, World Wide Technology

• Don Thompson, president, McDonald's USA

• John W. Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp. and part owner of the NBA's Golden State Warriors

• Edward T. Welburn, vice president, General Motors

• Carol H. Williams, CEO, Carol H. Williams Advertising

• Ronald A. Williams, chairman and CEO AETNA, Inc.

EDUCATION

• Maya Angelou, poet, author and lifetime chair, Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of American Studies, Wake Forest University

• Lerone Bennett Jr., author, historian, lecturer and Ebony magazine executive editor emeritus

• Geoffrey Canada, president/CEO Harlem Children's Zone

• Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, scholar, author and professor at Georgetown University

• Dr. John Hope Franklin, historian and James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History, Duke University

• Dr. Henry Louis (Skip) Gates Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University, author and researcher of African-American history

• Dr. Julia Hare, national executive director of The Black Think Tank

• Charles Ogletree, founding executive director of Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice

• Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History

• Dr. Cornel West, author, scholar, Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion at Princeton University

RELIGION

• Bishop Charles E. Blake, presiding bishop, Church of God In Christ, Inc.

• The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and president of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury

• Pastor Creflo A. Dollar, founder and senior pastor, World Changers Church International

• Minister Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam leader

• Bishop William H. Graves, senior bishop and CEO of the CME Church

• Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, Sixth Archbishop of Atlanta (Catholic)

• Bishop T.D. Jakes, bishop, pastor and founder of The Potter's House, author, entrepreneur

• Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, presiding bishop of the 13th Episcopal District

• Dr. Frederick K.C. Price, pastor and founder, Crenshaw Christian Center

• The Rev. Dr. William J. Shaw, president, National Baptist Convention USA Inc.

• Dr. T. Dewitt Smith, president, Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc.

• Bishop George W.C. Walker, senior bishop, AME Zion Church

• The Rev. Cecil Williams, CEO and minister of national and international ministries, Glide Memorial United Methodist Church

• Bishop McKinley Young, general board president, AME Church

POLITICS & LAW

• U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (Ga.)

• U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown (Fla.)

• U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.)

• Donna Christian-Christensen, Congressional Delegate (Virgin Islands)

• U.S. Rep. William Clay Jr. (Mo.)

• U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (N.Y.)

• U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (Mo.)

• U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn (S.C.)

• U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.)

• U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.)

• U.S. Rep. Artur Davis (Ala.)

• U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (Ill.)

• U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.)

• U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.)

• U.S. Rep. Al Green (Texas)

• U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (Fla.)

• Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressional Delegate (D.C.)

• U.S. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (Ill.)

• U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas)

• U.S. Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.)

• U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas)

• U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (Ga.)

• U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (Ohio)

• U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (Mich.)

• U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.)

• U.S. Rep. John Lewis (Ga.)

• U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (Fla.)

• U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.)

• U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (Wis.)

• U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.)

• U.S. Rep. Donald M. Payne (N.J.)

• U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.)

• U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson (Calif.)

• U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (Ill.)

• U.S. Rep. David Scott (Ga.)

• U.S. Rep. Robert C. (Bobby) Scott (Va.)

• U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (Miss.)

• U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns (N.Y.)

• U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.)

• U.S. Rep. Diane E. Watson (Calif.)

• U.S. Rep. Melvin L. Watt (N.C.)

• U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn (Md.)

• U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

• Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

• Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts

• Emil Jones, President, Illinois Senate

• Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, N.J.

• Sheila A. Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore

• Adrian Fenty, Mayor of Washington, D.C.

• Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta

• C. Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans

• David A. Paterson, Governor of New York

• L. Douglas Wilder, Mayor of Richmond, Va.

• Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia

• Kamala Harris, San Francisco District Attorney

• Billy Martin, defense attorney, Washington, D.C.

• Ted Wells, defense attorney, New York City

• Willie E. Gary, senior partner, Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis, Watson & Sperando, P.L.

• Donna Brazile, political strategist

• Greg Moore, executive director, NAACP Voter Fund

MILITARY

• Army Gen. William E. (Kip) Ward, leader of the U.S. Africa Command

• Air Force Lt. Gen. Edward Rice, Commander of U.S. Forces in Japan

PUBLIC SERVICE

• Julian Bond, chairman, NAACP Board of Directors

• Dr. William (Bill) H. Cosby Jr., entertainer, actor, activist, philanthropist

• Don Cheadle, actor and human rights activist

• Dorothy I. Height, president emerita, National Council of Negro Women

• The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., president, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and civil rights activist

• Marc H. Morial, president, National Urban League

• The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder, National Action Network, civil rights activist

• Susan Taylor, founder National Cares Mentoring Movement

What do you think of Ebony's list? Are there any notable names you would add? Or are there people who you don't think should have been included?