Anthony R. Foxx (born April 30, 1971) is an American politician. He is the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. He was first elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2005, and was elected mayor on November 3, 2009, winning 51.5% of the vote and defeating his City Council colleague, Republican John Lassiter. He won a second term on November 8, 2011, winning more than two-thirds of the vote against Republican Scott Stone. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Originally elected at the age of 38, Foxx is the youngest mayor of Charlotte, and is the first Democrat to hold the office since Harvey Gantt left office in 1987. He is Charlotte's second African American mayor, as well as its first newly-elected mayor since 1995, when Pat McCrory began the first of his record seven terms in office.

Foxx was born on April 30, 1971 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was raised by his mother, Laura Foxx, and his grandparents, James and Mary Foxx, and graduated from West Charlotte High School. He graduated from Davidson College, where he was the first African American student body president, with a degree in history in 1993 and earned a law degree from New York University School of Law in 1996.

Patrick Lloyd "Pat" McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American politician and businessman. He was the 53rd Mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009, and is the Republican nominee for Governor of North Carolina in 2012

Mayor McCrory gained the city of Charlotte national prominence during his tenure as mayor. By the 1990's Charlotte emerged as a symbol of the New South by becoming a hub of transportation, banking, manufacturing, energy and tourism. McCrory implemented transportation and land use plans that have been seen nationally as templates for other municipalities. He received a presidential appointment to serve on the United States Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) from 2003-2006.

McCrory was the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina in the 2008 general election and was narrowly defeated by then-Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue.

After the 2008 election, McCrory returned to the private sector, becoming a national advocate for the economic benefits of mass transit. Additionally, McCrory was a co-host for WCNC-TV FlashPoint, a Charlotte-based Sunday morning talk show, and is a frequent guest host for News Talk 1110 WBT (AM) radio. On January 31 McCrory launched his 2012 campaign for governor. McCrory continues to give speeches and raise campaign funds on behalf of the North Carolina Republican Party.

Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009. Blitzer previously hosted Wolf Blitzer Reports, which was replaced by The Situation Room.

The son of Jewish refugees from Poland, Wolf Blitzer was born in Augsburg, Germany and raised in Buffalo, New York. Blitzer graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School and received a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University at Buffalo in 1970. While there, he was a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi. In 1972, he received a Master of Arts in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. While at Johns Hopkins, Blitzer studied abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he learned Hebrew.

Blitzer has said that he has frequently been asked about his name, which has been characterized as seemingly "made-for-TV". In a Wayne's World Saturday Night Live sketch which was aired during the Persian Gulf War, Wayne and Garth picked Blitzer as having the "worst name" of any war correspondent, with Garth remarking, "It's so obvious the guy made it up for the war!" Blitzer explains that his surname goes back for generations, and his first name, 'Wolf', is the same first name as his maternal grandfather.

African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States that have ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa.

African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States. Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States. However, some immigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations, or their descendants, may be identified or self-identify with the term.

African-American history starts in the 16th century with African slaves who quickly rose up against the Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón and progresses to the present day, with Barack Obama as the 44th and current President of the United States. Between those landmarks there have been events and issues, both resolved and ongoing, including slavery, racism, Reconstruction, development of the African-American community, participation in the great military conflicts of the United States, racial segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.