Last week TheRoot.com published it’s first ever The Root 100. According to its editors:

The Root 100 is a newly minted honor intended to celebrate the leadership, service and excellence of African-American men and women whose passion, dedication and innovative work have set them apart. The Root 100 is the manifestation of a core component of The Root’s mission—to bring to light people and ideas who are quietly having an impact on our lives and our communities.

Interestingly, a quarter of those named to The Root 100 are lawyers, who are either politicians, law professors, pundits, nonprofit heads, media executives or members of Team Obama. See the breakdown below then in the comments section, tell us who you would add to this list and why.

Team Obama

Melody Barnes
Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council

Hill Harper
Actor, Obama campaigner and now a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee
Cassandra Butts
Deputy White House Counsel, Obama Administration

Derek Douglas
Special Assistant to the President for Urban Affairs

Tony West
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division

The Politicians

Cory A. Booker
Mayor of Newark

Artur Davis
Congressman from Alabama’s 7

Adrian Fenty
Youngest mayor of Washington, DC

Harold Ford, Jr.
Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council

Kamala Harris
San Francisco District Attorney

Craig Watkins
District Attorney, Dallas County

Yelberton “Yebbie” Watkins
Chief of Staff to House Majority Whip, Rep. James Clyburn

The Non-Profiteers

Debo Adegbile
Director of Litigation, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

Semhar Araia
Oxfam’s Horn of Africa Regional Policy Advisor, Founder, Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN)

Lateefah Simon
Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

Maya Harris
VP, Peace and Social Justice Program, Ford Foundation

Richard Buery, Jr.
First black president and CEO of the Children’s Aid Society

The Professors

Kimberle Crenshaw
Professor at UCLA School of Law

James Forman Jr.
Professor of Law at Georgetown University

Angela J. Davis
Professor of Law, American University, Washington College of Law

The Media Executives

Matthew Johnson
Entertainment Lawyer, Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP

Alfred Liggins III
CEO Radio One

Deirdre Stanley
Executive VP and General Counsel of Thomson Reuters

Dean Garfield
President/CEO, Information Technology Industry Council

The Pundits

Carlos Watson
Founder and publisher, The Stimulist; MSNBC contributor

Elie Mystal
Editor, Above the Law

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