“The inaugural inductees were all selected because they are connected to the Kansas City area,” says Shawn Edwards. “We felt that since the Hall of Fame will be located in Kansas City we should honor our hometown cinematic trailblazers first.”

Oscar Micheaux

(Buried in Great Bend, Kansas): The grandfather of black cinema. The first black person to direct and produce a feature film — “The Homesteader” in 1909. Credited with directing, producing and distributing more than 40 movies.

Hattie McDaniel

(Wichita, Kansas): The first black person to win and Oscar. Won Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mammy in “Gone With the Wind” in 1940.

Gordon Parks

(Ft. Scott, Kansas): Pioneering filmmaker, photographer and novelist. Directed “Shaft” which popularized the Blaxploitation genre in 1971 and broke ground with his seminal film “The Learning Tree” in 1969.

Tressie Souders

(Frankfurt, Kansas): The first known black woman to direct and produce a feature film — 1922’s “A Woman’s Error.”

Janelle Monae

(Kansas City, Kansas): Actress, singer and fashionista.

Kevin Willmott

(Junction City, Kansas): Oscar winning Screenwriter and Director.

Don Cheadle

(Kansas City,Missouri) : Actor and Director. 

Harry Belafonte

Played notorious real-life Kansas City gangster Seldom Seen in Robert Altman’s “Kansas City.”

Chadwick Boseman

Played legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who got his start on the Kansas City Monarchs before breaking MLB’s color barrier, in the movie “42.”

Forest Whitaker

Played famed saxophonist and Kansas City native Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood’s “Bird.”