Lewis was born on April 3, 1985 in the London Borough of Islington , to Aural Josiah "Joe" Lewis, a youth worker from Guyana of Black African descent and Maria Lewis, a British social worker of Welsh , Italian and Irish descent.

She rose to fame as the winner of the third series of The X Factor , and became the first female winner of the show. Lewis has gone on to become a multi-platinum selling artist and three time Grammy Award nominee. Her debut single " A Moment Like This ", went on to become the fastest selling UK single after it was downloaded over 50,000 times within thirty minutes of its release. Her second single, " Bleeding Love ", was released worldwide and reached over thirty number one positions in charts around the world.

Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 to a Barbadian father and a Guyanese mother in St. Michael, Barbados.

Rihanna: “My parents are so excited, so proud of me, and very supportive. My mom and all my family is from Guyana. Only up to my generation and down was born in Barbados, but everybody above me is Guyanese. I only moved here a week after I got my deal. So I was still living in Barbados after I met Jay-Z.”

Deborah Cox
Music Artist

Deborah was born on January 7, 1974 in Toronto, Canada to Guyanese parents with strong musical roots. She began singing for TV commercials at age 12, also entering various talent shows with her mother's help. Her 1999 smash hit "Nobody's Supposed to be Here" was the longest-running number one single in the history of Billboard magazine's R&B charts. She got into the music industry as a backup vocalist for Céline Dion, and after signing to Arista Records, released her self-titled debut album in 1994. The album made her a rising star, and set the stage for 1998's One Wish. The first single from that album, "Nobody's Supposed to be Here", spent a record 14 weeks atop the Billboard R&B charts. On February 17, 2004, Cox made her Broadway debut in the Elton John-Tim Rice musical Aida. Her third album, The Morning After, was released in November, 2002.

Dave Baksh
Music Artist

Dave Nizaam Baksh (born 26 July 1980) is the former lead guitarist in the Canadian punk rock band Sum 41. He now leads a band called, Brown Brigade. He was born in Ajax, Ontario, Canada.

Baksh was born to West Indian-Canadian immigrants from Guyana. He is married to Jenn (Janice) Baksh and enjoys bands such as Metallica, Led Zeppelin,The Eagles, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Baksh joined Sum 41 as the third member, after Deryck Whibley and Steve Jocz formed the band in the summer of 1996. He is the band's main musical driving force. In addition to being the lead guitarist, Baksh also provides back up-vocals. On May 11, 2006, Baksh announced in a statement through his management company that he was leaving Sum 41 for personal reasons.

Sol Raye
Music Artist

Sol Raye was born Neville Marshall-Corbin in Christianburg, Guyana in 1934. He was a Guyanese cabaret singer, composer and recording artist who moved to England in the 1960s and originally studied acting, performing with the English Stage Company.

His singing style was reflective of Nat 'King' Cole. A nine-time winner of the Brit TV talent contest "Opportunity Knocks," he recorded such popular songs as "Mona Lisa," "How Sweet It Is," and "Come Home Love." He performed several cabaret tributes to Nat Cole and also produced and directed the 1985 TV tribute to Cole entitled "A Nightingale Sang." He was the opening act for such performers as The Supremes and Eartha Kitt. His younger brother, Robert Corbin, is the Leader of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR), the Main Opposition political party, in Guyana.

Ken "Snakehips" Johnson
Music Artist

Kenrick Reginald Huymans Johnson was born in British Guiana on September 10, 1914. At the age of 15, Johnson's parents sent him to Britain, where he attended Sir William Borlase's Grammar School before studying medicine at Edinburgh University. Having gained an interest in dance, he sought lessons from American choreographer, Buddy Bradley. It was in dance work that he earned his nickname, 'Snakehips', from his "fluid and flexible style". Johnson was invited to lead Leslie Thompson's band, before going on to start his own, called Ken Johnson and his Rhythm Swingers (later renamed The West Indian Orchestra), which played jazz and swing music.

The band had a residency at the London nightclub Café de Paris. Ken Snakehips Johnson was Britain's first black swing bandleader.

Sean Patrick Thomas
Actor

Born December 17, 1970 in Wilmington, Delaware is a Guyanese-American actor. Originally went to the University of Virginia to study to be a lawyer. A chance audition for a part in "A Raisin In the Sun" changed his direction. He ultimately got his master's degree in drama from New York University in 1996. Thomas is best known for his roles in films such as Save the Last Dance and the Barbershop films.

Valerie Amos, The Right Honourable Baroness Amos
Politician

The Baroness Amos was born on March 13, 1954 in Georgetown, Guyana. She is a British Labour Party politician and life peer, formerly serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council. When she was appointed Secretary of State for International Development on 12 May 2003, following the resignation of Clare Short, she became the first black woman to sit in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. She left the cabinet when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister. She was then nominated to become the European Union special representative to the African Union by Gordon Brown. However after an independent selection process, Belgian diplomat Koen Vervaeke was chosen to represent the EU in Addis Ababa. In 2007, Baroness Amos was voted the "Most Influential Black Woman in the UK" by the New Nation newspaper.

Maritza Correia
Olympic Athelete

Born December 23, 1981 to Guyanese parents in Puerto Rico. Became first black woman to qualify for an Olympic swim team in 2004. Correia is only the second black swimmer to make a US Olympic team, following Anthony Ervin. Correia started swimming as a seven-year-old when a doctor suggested the sport could help with her scoliosis, a curvature of the spine.

Jessica Angelique Caesar
Actress

Jessica was born on April 20, 1986 in Rockledge, Florida to a Guyanese mother and Antiguan father. After watching one of her older brothers, Jesse, in a Christmas play, she wanted to be an actress when she grew up. Although she did a couple of school plays in elementary school, she never really got serious about acting until she was in her teens. At that time she started performing at a local semi-professional theatre in her hometown. Pretty soon after finishing up her last stage performance, she re-located to Orlando, Florida. Orlando gave Jessica several opportunities to transition from the Theatre to Commercials, Television, and Film. After finding an agent, she started quickly booking local commercials and did several independent films. To improve her acting, she enrolled in classes at Art Sake's Film Acting Studio with teacher Yvonne Suhor and as another hobby, she danced at a Hip Hop studio in her spare time. Outgrowing the Orlando market, Caesar took the next step in her promising career and moved to Los Angeles, California.

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder
Actress

Born on Christmas Day in 1952 in Georgetown, Guyana she was raised on a sugar cane plantation. Her parents moved to the States while she was still a young girl, but she and her sister were sent to a convent boarding school in England where they were introduced to art and the classics. Following high school graduation she arrived in New York and studied at Ithaca College, where her acting talents were discovered. Her preference for a warmer climate led to her move to Hollywood in the late 70s. CCH's prominence came with television. Usually cast as a confident, strong-minded professional, she is known for her understated intensity and earned an Emmy nomination for her stint on the hospital drama "ER" (1994).

Shakira Baksh Caine
Model / Actress

Born Feb. 23, 1947 in Guyana. Named the Miss World's 'Most Beautiful 2nd Runner-Up Of All Times'. After graduating from high school, Shakira, influenced by her mothers talent as a dressmaker was inspired to become a fashion designer. She put aside her aspirations and went to work as a secretary, her boss encouraged her to enter the Miss Guyana contest, and went as far as to mail her application and photos in. She won Miss Guyana and placed third in the 1967 Miss World competition in London at the age of 19. After her appearance in the Miss World contest worked for four years as a professional model in advertisements for Maxwell House coffee, and other companies. She has been married to actor Michael Caine since 1973 they have a daughter, Natasha. She appeared in the film "The Man Who Would Be King," with her husband and Sean Connery and then choose to give up her showbiz career to raise her family.

Nicole Narain
Model / Actress

Born on July 28, 1974 in Aurora, Illinois to Guyanese parents. She was Playboy Magazine's Miss January Playmate of the Month. Currently living in Los Angeles persuing an acting career. Has appeared on 'Celebrity Fear Factor' and 'One On One'.

Dr. Mike Philips
Writer

Writer Mike Phillips was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and grew up in London. He was educated at the University of London (English), the University of Essex (Politics), and at Goldsmiths College London (Education). He worked for the BBC as a journalist and broadcaster before becoming a lecturer in media studies at the University of Westminster.

Mike has written full-time since 1992. Best-known for his crime fiction, his most recent novel, A Shadow of Myself (2000), is the first of a trilogy set in Eastern Europe. Mike Phillips co-wrote Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain (1998) to accompany a BBC television series. His most recent book, London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain (2001), is a series of interlinked essays and stories. Mike  writes for the Guardian, and is cross-cultural curator at the Tate. He is also a trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

E.R. Braithwaite
Writer

Born in Guyana on June 27,1920. He attended Queen's college there, City College (now City University of New York) in 1940, and Cambridge, in 1949, where he received a Master's degree in Physics. During World War II he also enlisted as a Royal Airforce Pilot. Despite his extensive training, however, Braithwaite like several other disillusioned black men after the war, could not find work in his field and reluctantly took up a job as a schoolteacher in London's East End. His experiences were memorialised in To Sir with Love (1959). Braithwaite had turned to social work, (while writing To Sir) and it was his job to find foster homes for non-white children for the London County office, Department of Child welfare. These harrowing experiences and resulted in his second novel Paid Servant (1962).