Five African Americans named ‘genius’ grant winners by MacArthur Foundation In their own way, each is working toward increasing understanding of black histories and communities | The Undefeated

10:02 AMThe MacArthur Foundation announced its “genius” grant winners Sept. 25. Formally known as MacArthur Fellows, this year’s recipients are artists, writers, scientists and academics who have demonstrated “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.” Out of the 26 fellows in the 2019 class, five are African American:

Emmanuel Pratt, 42, is an urban designer who lives and works in Chicago. He uses a resident-driven approach to community development that incorporates agriculture, education and design. His goal is to turn neglected urban neighborhoods into places of growth and vitality.

Saidiya Hartman, 58, works as a literary scholar and cultural historian at Columbia University. She studies the way slavery impacts modern American life and works to document the lives of individuals who were systemically left out of historical archives.