Crystal Renée Emery grew up in the Brookside Housing Projects in New Haven, Connecticut. Philanthropy is part of Ms. Emery’s family tradition. Thus, her grandmother is a minister, likewise for her mother who is a Yale Divinity School minister. Her family members take care of their community.

During her childhood, Ms. Emery enjoyed directing her brothers and sisters in plays and imaginery television shows. She is an artist, authoress, documentarist, activist and playwright among other things. The lady is known for creating socially-conscious works and stories that highlight the triumph of the human spirit. Emery is also the CEO & founder of her nonprofit organization URU, The Right to Be, Inc., a content production company that tackles social issues via film, theatre, publishing, and other arts-based initiatives.

Karyn Layvonne White was born in Los Angeles and is the youngest of a family of five children.  She sang for her church choir during her formative years.  Later, at sixteen she performed for the group Legacy as one of the lead singers. This experience represented her first professional gig.  She was also a background vocalist on albums for artists such as O’Bryan in which she opened for Cameo.  In addition, she became a featured vocalist for Jeff Lober before she signed with the label Warner Bros.  Karyn White performed her debut on Lorber's 1986 album Private Passion where she appeared on the song "Facts of Love" and collaborated for the single “Back in Love” with Michael Jeffries.  The song turned into a success on pop and R&B radio, which won her a deal with Lorber's then-label Warner Bros. Records in 1986.

Dr. Glass, M.D., P.A. was born in America and grew up in New Jersey during the 1940s. He is a physician and forensic psychiatrist expert based in Houston, Texas. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Swarthmore College and later graduated from Northwestern University’s the Feinberg School of Medicine in 1967. He has over 48 years of clinical experience. He did his residency at Yale New Haven Hospital and presently works at George S Glass MD. In addition, he is associated with Houston Methodist Hospital. He received a Board Certification by the American Board of Psychiatry in 1976 as an addictionologist. Furthermore, he has been certified in Alcoholism and other Drugs of Dependence by the American Medical Society since 1986. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and the Cornell Weill Medical Program at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. He has been a professor for medical students and psychiatric residents.

Beauty Pageant-Winner Talks about Traumatic Rape and Dedicating Her Life to Helping Other Survivors

A national heroine in Israel, Linor Abargil was crowned Miss World in November of 1998. A month and a half before the Miss World competition, she had suffered a brutal rape while modeling in Italy. After the subsequent trial, which resulted in a 16-year prison sentence for her rapist, young Linor Abargil  made a public statement before the entire nation of Israel, counseling other women to not be afraid of reporting their rapes, and to seek punishment for the perpetrators.

She then returned to a private process of healing but resolved to one day do something about the crime of rape.

Abargil immersed herself in drama studies and was soon cast in leading roles on the Tel Aviv stage. In 2008, she launched a website, www.bravemissworld.com, and embarked on a speaking tour to encourage other victims of rape to speak out, to not blame themselves, and to not stay silent. She subsequently enrolled in law school, graduating with an honors degree in 2013 before beginning an internship at the Tel Aviv District Attorney's office.

Stephan James, a Canadian actor with Jamaican origins, was named a Rising Star at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival on the strength of his impressive performance in the TV mini-series The Book of Negroes as well as his portrayal of John Lewis in the civil rights saga, Selma. Mr. Lewis, the son of sharecroppers and an activist with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), later became a U.S. Congressman.

Here, James talks about his latest outing in Race as another African-American icon, namely, Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics staged in Berlin.

[Mega Diversities is the first Canadian media to post this interview].

Kam Williams: Hi Stephan [James], thanks for the interview.

Stephan James: Of course, Kam [Williams]. Thank you.

KW: I really enjoyed the film. I learned so much that I hadn't known about Jesse Owens, and I even cried at the end.

SJ: Really? Wow! I'm glad that you learned so much and that it touched you. That's what we'd hope to accomplish with this.

Born in Oxford in the United Kingdom, Gugu Mbatha-Raw trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her first professional role was in an Open Air production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” as Celia. Following this, she landed roles at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, where she performed in “Antony and Cleopatra” and the title role of Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet,” opposite Andrew Garfield, for which she was nominated for the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actress in 2005.

Gugu Mabatha-Raw's other stage credits include the critically-acclaimed “Big White Fog” at the Almeida Theatre and David Hare’s “Gethsemane,” a production at the National Theatre that later toured the UK. She made her West End debut as Ophelia in “Hamlet” opposite Jude Law.

Her British television credits include “M15/Spooks,” “Dr. Who,” “Marple – Ordeal by Innocence,” “Bonekickers,” and “Fallout.” She subsequently starred as Samantha Bloom in the JJ Abrams NBC series “Undercovers,” for which she was nominated for an NAACP award for best actress in a television series.