Celebrities tell what moment in Black history changed their life

The foundation of our Black history is rich with important moments and events that have changed the course of our lives and our country. The following celebrities tell what moment in Black History changed their lives, and in the end made them better people.

Magic Johnson Basketball Hall of Famer

"There have been a lot of moments. Jackie Robinson being the first Black baseball player to play in the major leagues. It's important because he changed the way America viewed a Black athlete. And he made it possible for people like me to play in the NBA and be accepted and everything. I think that was important. Watching Martin Luther King on TV as a kid--I remember that, and every Black family tuned to the radio or to the TV to hear him speak."

Vivica A. Fox Actress

"To see Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice working with President Bush and to see them speaking for our country and representing our country makes me proud."

Nicole Ari Parker Actress

"I'm my mom's only child and I used to play in her closet. She used to have old Life magazines. I was 7 years old and remember reading about the first Black woman Rhodes Scholar Karen Stevenson. I thought that was such a fascinating thing, the excellence and celebration of that kind of achievement was really remarkable to me and I strove to do the best I could in school. I was moved by that story."

Boris Kodjoe Actor

"When Nelson was freed in 1990. That was very inspiring to me. With my father being African, just the greatness of a man to be incarcerated for 27 years because of something he believes, and he could have bailed out at any time. Just to stand firm and to overcome all these things and be elected president in the first free election in the history of South Africa, that to me was huge and put everything into perspective for me, because we worry about so many really unimportant things every day."

Chris Carter EX-NFL star HBO sports analyst

"I played for Dennis Green for 10 years. That had a profound effect on my life. Not growing up with a father, the things that he taught me as an African-American man ... also the pursuit of trying to make him become the first African-American coach in the Super Bowl ... the pursuit of that on a yearly basis had a great impact on my life."

Russell Simmons

Hip-Hop Music Mogul * "The Million Man March was a powerful, powerful event. It was one of the greatest events of the history of Black America. It was the greatest leader (Louis Farrakhan) we had since Martin Luther King. The March inspired Black people and affected their lives and saved lives more than all of the Black leaders who have been living since probably put together. The Minister moves people."

Holly Robinson Peete Actress

* "When Nelson Mandela got out of prison, I was in my late 20s. He was in prison before I was born, so I couldn't imagine the fact that the whole time I had been alive, he'd been in prison. To see him walk out, take those steps, it made my heart feel like anything was possible, I've always been inspired by him. I was fortunate enough to meet him once, and it was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my life."