100 MOST FASCINATING BLACK WOMEN OF THE 20th CENTURY

Ebony, March, 1999

MAXINE WATERS

The four-term congresswoman from California rose to national prominence as the leading spokeswoman for her Los Angeles district, which was ravaged in the wake of the riots that followed the 1992 acquittal of the four White police officers charged in the Rodney King beating. She has emerged as a passionate advocate for the nation's often neglected inner cities.

FAYE WATTLETON (Left)

The former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she eloquently articulated critical women's issues in the '70s and '80s, and became a leading figure in the women's movement.

VANESSA WILLIAMS

The first Black woman to wear the Miss America crown had her reign abbreviated by scandal in 1984. Yet she rose like a phoenix to conquer Broadway and Hollywood while simultaneously establishing a chart-topping recording career.