January 2013

Virgil Abloh founded Off-White in Milan, creating a luxury streetwear brand that within five years became among the hottest labels in global fashion. Abloh, who had been Kanye West's creative director, shattered the barrier between street culture and high fashion and later became artistic director at Louis Vuitton menswear.

Ryan Coogler's debut feature Fruitvale Station, depicting the last day of Oscar Grant's life before his killing by BART police, won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and the Prize of the Future at Cannes. Made when Coogler was 26, the film announced him as a major filmmaking talent and helped galvanize the emerging movement against police killings of Black Americans that would become Black Lives Matter.

Governor Nikki Haley appointed Tim Scott to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint, making Scott the first Black senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction and the first Black Republican senator in the Senate since 1979. He subsequently won election to full terms in 2014 and 2016.

Richard Sherman anchored the Seattle Seahawks defense that set multiple NFL records in the 2013 season, allowing the fewest points in league history. Sherman's post-game interview following the NFC Championship became one of the most viewed clips in NFL history and sparked a national conversation about how Black athletes are perceived and policed in public expression.