Shontay Lundy, Founder and CEO of Black Girl Sunscreen, has been inducted into Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s 2026 TrailblazerΣ Honorary Membership Class—an honor recognizing women whose leadership and accomplishments create measurable impact across culture and community.

Announced July 29, 2026, the recognition places Lundy among 21 accomplished women celebrated for reshaping their industries through service, sisterhood, and scholarship. For Lundy, it’s a milestone that reflects not only entrepreneurial success, but also the broader advocacy work that has helped expand how the beauty and skincare world talks about inclusive sun care and representation.

What the TrailblazerΣ Honorary Membership Recognizes

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, founded in 1922, is a national collegiate sorority with more than 100,000 members across 500 chapters worldwide. Built on principles of leadership and service, the organization is known for its long-standing commitment to community outreach—captured in its slogan, “Greater Service, Greater Progress.”

Honorary membership is among Sigma Gamma Rho’s most prestigious distinctions. It is awarded to women whose work excels in their field while also positively influencing society at large. The TrailblazerΣ class, in particular, highlights leaders who redefine what’s possible and open doors for others.

A Recognition Linked to a Larger Mission

Lundy founded Black Girl Sunscreen in 2016 to address a persistent gap in the market: sun protection products that work well for people of color, without leaving an unwanted white cast. Since then, the brand has become a recognizable name in inclusive skincare—helping educate consumers on sun safety and shifting public perception around who sunscreen is “for.”

Her induction into Sigma Gamma Rho’s 2026 class connects that work to a larger legacy of women breaking barriers across industries. It also underscores the brand’s impact beyond product innovation—positioning Black Girl Sunscreen as part of a wider movement toward representation, health education, and community-driven leadership.

In a statement, Lundy emphasized that the honor reflects shared values and a commitment to creating opportunities for others:

“To be welcomed into Sigma Gamma Rho is incredibly meaningful because it represents more than recognition—it reflects a shared commitment to service, leadership, and creating opportunities for others. Throughout my journey, I’ve always believed success should open doors, not just for yourself, but for the women coming behind you. I’m honored to join a sisterhood whose legacy is rooted in that same purpose, and I look forward to continuing that work together.”

A Class of Leaders Across Industries

Lundy joins a group of honorees spanning business, sports, media, and public service—reflecting Sigma Gamma Rho’s tradition of recognizing women whose achievements extend beyond personal success to broader community impact.

As the beauty industry continues to evolve toward more inclusive products and messaging, Lundy’s recognition signals how far the conversation has come—and how much it still depends on leaders willing to challenge assumptions, educate consumers, and build brands with purpose.

About Black Girl Sunscreen

Black Girl Sunscreen is a beauty and skincare company founded by Shontay Lundy in 2016 to address the lack of sun protection products formulated for people of color. The brand’s mission centers on educating consumers about safe skin practices and sun protection, while providing premium sun care products formulated for melanated skin and designed to be exceptional for everyone.

For more information, visit blackgirlsunscreen.com.

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The first-generation Bronco was designed by McKinley Thompson Jr., who was the first African American designer hired at Ford Motor Company.

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Last Updated on April 10, 2026 by Daily News Staff

Craig Fehrman, Indiana University

Astronaut Victor Glover

In April 2026, four astronauts are scheduled to fly around the Moon. As part of NASA’s Artemis II mission, they will become the first humans to do so in half a century. One crew member, pilot Victor Glover, will become the first Black astronaut to ever orbit the Moon.

Glover’s achievement is worth celebrating. But it’s also worth remembering that he belongs to a long and underappreciated history. America’s first Black explorer didn’t fly an Apollo rocket or sail with the U.S. Exploring Expedition. He traveled with Lewis and Clark, and he was known by a single name: York.

I’m a historian who spent five years writing a book about Lewis and Clark, and I found new documents that show York was one of the most important people on their expedition. Even in a party that could number as many as 45 men, York stood out – for his courage, his skill and his sacrifices that helped the famous captains reach the Pacific Ocean.

York’s life as a slave

York was born in Virginia around 1770. Growing up, he was a creative and sociable child, unusually tall with dark hair and a dark complexion – “black as a bear,” a contemporary noted.

He was also enslaved by the Clarks. William Clark, who was around the same age, was also unusually tall, though his hair was a rusty red, and sometimes the boys played together. But the playing stopped once York turned 9 or 10. That’s when he joined the adult slaves in working full time. That’s also when he began to note the differences between his life and William’s – differences that became only clearer once William started ordering him around.

In the 1780s, the Clark household headed to Kentucky. York met a Black woman there and married her. He also became William’s “body servant.”

A body servant was a slave who stayed close to his owner and prioritized his comfort, laying out his clothes and serving his meals. When Meriwether Lewis asked Clark to join his expedition, in 1803, Clark ordered York to accompany him.

Perhaps York was excited for this adventure. Perhaps he was not – it would be punishing, and he would be separated from his wife.

Either way, York didn’t have a choice.

The Corps of Discovery

York proved his worth from the start. Once they reached St. Louis, the soldiers, later known as the Corps of Discovery, rushed to raise winter quarters. Working in hail and snow, York and the others built log huts. They needed rough planks for their tables and bunks, but the carpenters had only a single whipsaw to make them. They chose two men to operate this crucial tool. One of them was York.

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On May 14, 1804, the corps began ascending the Missouri River. York helped row and tow the party’s barge, which was the size of a semi-truck trailer. He carried a rifle and hunted – according to the expedition’s journals, he was only the fifth named member to bring down a buffalo. York cooked for the captains. He collected scientific specimens. He nursed the sick, including several soldiers and, later on, Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who would also prove essential to the expedition’s success.

The soldiers were not always kind in return. During this period, officers rarely brought along enslaved body servants. York’s race probably made some of the men angry or uncomfortable. One day, someone threw so much sand in his face that it nearly blinded him. Clark claimed it was “in fun,” but he also wrote that York was “very near losing his eyes,” and no one else got cruelly sprayed with sand.

That fall, during councils with Native leaders, York played a surprising and vital role. The Arikara, Mandan and Hidatsa all crowded in to see him and to touch his skin. They had never met a Black person before, and York showed off his strength and played with the Native children. Later, the Arikara said York was “the most marvelous” thing about the corps.

The next year, the expedition crossed the Rockies and the Continental Divide. York’s most important – and most overlooked – contributions came soon after. On the Columbia River and its tributaries, the party had to dig out five new canoes and then paddle them through treacherous rapids.

Lewis and Clark allowed only their best rivermen on these foaming, rock-riven waters. One of them was almost certainly York. During my research, I found an unpublished letter in which Clark praised York’s ability to “manage the boats.”

Just as important, York was a strong swimmer, a rare thing in an era when many people never learned to swim.

York’s life as an explorer

On the Columbia River, the corps survived a series of terrifying choke points – soggy hazards they referred to as the “Long Narrows” and the “Great Chute.” After that came the ocean. They had traveled together for more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers), and when the captains asked the men to vote on where to put their final winter quarters, they made sure to ask York, too.

It was the latest sign that his role had changed during this epic journey. But those changes began with York. In the West, he found ways to make choices and assert himself. He sent a buffalo robe to his wife in Kentucky. When Clark told him to scale back his performances for Native people, York ignored him – because he wanted to, and because he could.

York’s vote was also evidence that, like Victor Glover today, he was an official American explorer, a key member of a sprawling, federally funded mission. From 1804 to 1806, the government devoted a larger percentage of its budget to the corps than it devotes to NASA today.

Part of that money was earmarked for York. The Army gave officers who brought along their slaves a monthly ration or its cash equivalent. When the corps made it home, the government paid US$274.57 for York’s labor, a sum similar to what the privates received. But that money didn’t go to York. It went to Clark.

The hidden history of Black explorers

There have been many Black explorers in American history. Thomas Jefferson launched other expeditions besides Lewis and Clark’s, and those expeditions also included enslaved people, though their names have not survived. Isaiah Brown served on the Wheeler Survey, which mapped the West in greater detail after the Civil War. Matthew Henson accompanied Robert Peary on his Arctic expeditions, which received some federal support. More recently, NASA has depended on Black astronauts such as Guy Bluford, Mae Jemison and Jeanette Epps, among others.

York and Victor Glover are, for now, the first and most recent examples of this inspiring tradition. But their contributions go beyond that. When the captains asked York to vote on the winter quarters, they were acknowledging in some small way that he’d proven he was more than a body servant.

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Of course, York had always been more than that. It just took 4,000 miles for Lewis and Clark to see it.

Craig Fehrman, Adjunct instructor at the Media School, Indiana University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

🧠 Forgotten Genius Fridays

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Every Friday, STM Daily News shines a light on brilliant minds history overlooked.

Forgotten Genius Fridays is a weekly collection of short videos and articles dedicated to inventors, innovators, scientists, and creators whose impact changed the world—but whose names were often left out of the textbooks.

From life-saving inventions and cultural breakthroughs to game-changing ideas buried by bias, our series digs up the truth behind the minds that mattered.

Each episode of The Knowledge runs 30–90 seconds, designed for curious minds on the go—perfect for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Reels, and quick reads.

Because remembering these stories isn’t just about the past—it’s about restoring credit where it’s long overdue.

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