1. Matt James

For 24 melodramatic seasons, The Bachelor has been a white dude. Now James, 28, a real estate broker and former contestant on The Bachelorette, is walking down the aisle as the first Black Bachelor. A former Wake Forest football player who enjoyed a brief stint in the NFL, James is breaking the color barrier as anti-racism protests sweep the nation.

2. Funa Maduka

If you’ve watched an African film on Netflix, there’s a good chance this behind-the-scenes powerhouse made it happen. Now Maduka has left Netflix to embark on her own projects, starting with a historical drama about women — if rumors are to be believed. 

3. Muhammad Moiz

Performing as Miss Phudina Chatni, Moiz is Pakistan’s first drag queen dirty comic — smashing all sorts of taboos in the conservative society. The 29-year-old’s bawdy performances have become a sensation in Karachi. 

4. Pete Davidson

After six seasons on Saturday Night Live and one roller-coaster engagement to Ariana Grande, Davidson, 26, has a star turn moment all his own in Judd Apatow’s new film, The King of Staten Island. The quasi-autobiographical dramedy nods to Davidson losing his firefighter father on 9/11 and grappling with mental health problems. 

5. Bernardine Evaristo

The British author became the first Black female writer to top the paperback fiction rankings in the U.K. last week for Girl, Woman, Other, as more people read about race and its intersection with society. Already a pathbreaker for winning the Man Booker Prize last year, Evaristo, 61, is the writer of the moment.

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And speaking of doing good …

1. Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson

The former NBA players who launched the candid “All the Smoke” podcast now find themselves at the center of the news universe. Jackson, who was close friends with George Floyd, has emerged as a major figure in the nationwide protests. And Barnes broke the news last week (sourced, naturally, with the help of Snoop Dogg) that many NBA players were dissatisfied with the plans to resume the season in Orlando next month — putting the much-anticipated playoffs in doubt.

2. Tamika Catchings

This WNBA legend is on her way to becoming, possibly, the first female GM in the NBA. But that’s not her only game: Catchings, 40, has also opened a tea shop in Indianapolis, which she’s hoping will serve as a hub of activism and conversation amid the anti-racism protests.

3. Allen Sills

The NFL’s chief medical officer and a neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt University, Sills, 55, was brought in to grapple with the league’s concussion epidemic. Now he’s got an entirely different calculation to make as far as player safety: coronavirus. 

4. Sandeep Lamichhane

The 19-year-old leg spinner — he turns the ball away from right-handed batsmen — became Nepal’s first cricketer to be picked by an Indian Premier League team, cricket’s most lucrative franchise league, and has since been picked up by all the major cricket leagues. He is putting Nepal on the map in the sport for the first time to attempt to make the World Cup.

Standing out from the crowd comes naturally to those …

1. Terrisa Bukovinac

She doesn’t fit in, and she’s not about to apologize. The Democrat and vegan feminist is, against the odds, a devout pro-lifer who fights the “abortion industry in is own metaphorical backyard” in San Francisco.

2. Zelda Volkov

Orthodox Jewish women are expected to wear a sheitel, or wig, after getting married. Volkov, from Crown Heights, New York, found the traditional ones didn’t align with her youthful self image, so she created a fresher take to the traditional Jewish wig.

3. Hira Lupe

Lupe offers tattoos to female abuse victims. Originally from Milan, this artist is taking the male-dominated industry head-on while helping women through their emotional pain.

We do apologize, however, for delving into politics …

1. Keisha Lance Bottoms

The Atlanta mayor is facing a round of even more intense protests in the wake of the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot in the back by police after taking an officer’s Taser. Bottoms, 50, has spoken movingly about the need for calm in recent weeks while also frankly discussing her own fear for her children in encounters with the police. She is rocketing up the charts on watchlists as Joe Biden’s possible running mate.

2. Susan Rice

The former National Security Adviser to President Barack Obama has quietly become a top vice presidential contender as well. She worked closely with Biden in the White House, and Obama administration veterans reportedly are in her corner. Rice, 55, could serve up a tasty conspiracy cocktail for the right, given her involvement in both the aftermath of the Benghazi attack and the Michael Flynn investigation.

3. Tim Scott

The only Black Republican U.S. senator, Scott’s spearheading the GOP police reform bill that will be rolled out this week in response to the nationwide protests. Scott has sometimes found himself at odds with President Donald Trump over the president’s racist language, but has been supportive overall and used his leverage to win priorities such as “opportunity zones” in the tax reform bill.  

4. Bob Good

The former associate athletics director for Liberty University on Saturday became the Republican nominee for a Virginia congressional district by defeating incumbent Rep. Denver Riggleman. Good convinced local Republicans (who pick their nominees in low-turnout district conventions) that he was the pick as a “biblical conservative,” after Riggleman drew scorn for officiating a same-sex wedding of former campaign volunteers. We’re guessing they probably don’t like Justice Neil Gorsuch much either.