Crump and Obama: Top Black News Makers Of The 21st Century

Special to NNPA Newswire

On the eve of Black History Month, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) chronicled the top Black newsmakers of the first quarter of the 21st century to honor Black impact through legacy, liberty, and justice.

NNPA staff researched and reviewed news headlines and news articles for the last 25 years from its catalog of more than 200 member Black-owned newspapers across the United States with a reach of 20 million weekly readers from both our print and digital publications.

Since the Trayvon Martin case propelled him into the national consciousness, civil rights attorney Ben Crump has accumulated a distinction unmatched by any other Black American in the first quarter of the 21st century. A review of national media coverage shows Crump has appeared in more major headlines than any other Black figure over the last 25 years, according to NNPA sources, outpacing presidents, global entertainers, elite athletes, and cultural icons.

“Every time my name appears, it means we’re facing a constitutional crisis, winning a landmark case, or representing a family who is dealing with unimaginable loss,” Crump said. “The attention is not about me. It is about forcing America to confront what it too often wants to ignore.”

Former President Barack Obama ranks second, followed by Serena Williams, LeBron James, Vice President Kamala Harris, Simone Biles, Kanye West, Beyoncй, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey—making up the top 10 newsmakers of the century. The list spans politics, business, sports, and entertainment, yet Crump’s presence differs in kind.

His name enters the news not through achievement tours or election cycles, but through courtrooms, jury verdicts, and public demands for justice.

It goes without saying that President Obama, being the first Black president in U.S. history, dominated the headlines between 2008 and 2016.  He and his wife, Michelle Obama, reshaped how power, grace, family, and intellect could coexist at the highest level.

Serena Williams, LeBron James, and Simone Biles dominated the headlines in their respective sports arenas., along with LeBron James, on his way to becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Vice President Kamala Harris generated a significant amount of headlines by making history when she became the first woman to serve as Vice President of the United States.

Advertisement

In addition to dominating newspaper headlines, Oprah Winfrey also dominated television ratings by becoming one of the most powerful media figures in the world and the richest Black woman in the world.

Nevertheless, it was Crump who dominated more news headlines in NNPA newspapers since his emergence in 2012, when he represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old killed in Sanford, Florida. That case placed Crump at the center of a national reckoning and established a legal model he seemed to create by fusing litigation not only in the court of law but also in the court of public opinion.

Since then, the cases represented have become household names across America and throughout the world. Among them, he represented families connected to the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO (2014), children affected by the Flint Water Crisis (2016), and women, mainly minorities, in a mass tort lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson alleging the company’s talcum powder products led to them being diagnosed with ovarian cancer (2018).

He was appointed lead plaintiff co-counsel representing Black women users of chemical hair relaxers that led to them developing uterine cancer (2022), and he was omnipresent in the media representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery (2020).

Crump was also a champion for Black history and Black culture by winning historical landmark cases, including for Henrietta Lacks in her medical racism reparations case in 2023; and he assisted the Black Farmers in reaching a 2.2 billion dollar settlement with the federal government in 2024.

“I would trade every headline if that meant Black people and poor people could achieve equal justice under the law.” Crump said. “Until that day comes, I will keep showing up, because justice does not happen on its own.