From urban news to the latest Hollywood news sites, representation matters in popular media (and urban news represents only just one facet of that). After all, the United States is really and truly a melting pot, made up of people of all different backgrounds, all different ethnicities, and all different races. With more than three and a half million African American people living in the city of New York alone, let alone all throughout the rest of the country, it is important for children to see representations of themselves all throughout the media, in urban news and on entertainment news sites alike.

There have been many successful African American people in the entertainment industry, with many of them still currently working in that world, as has been reported by many urban news sites. When it comes to famous African American actors, urban news sites have no lack of people to report on.

Denzel Washington is one such famous African American actor, so talented that he has won not just one but two Academy Awards throughout the course of his career. While this is an astonishing accomplishment on its own, he also became only the second African American man to do so when he won the first one. And Denzel Washington is certainly far from alone.

Will Smith has also made quite the name for himself in the world of movies and film making. In fact, Will Smith and his entire family have found incredibly success, his two youngest children having entered the world of entertainment in recent years as well. Will Smith’s movies have always been vastly popular, and the vast majority of them have grossed over one hundred million dollars in the box office. As urban news outlets have often reported, Will Smith is currently considered to be one of the most prominent and highly paid actors in the entertainment world today.

Of course, there have been many successful African American musicians as well. Take the power couple of Beyonce and Jay-Z, who made music together long before they were a married couple with three healthy and happy children. And though they have often worked together, both have become successful in their own right as well. Beyonce is one of the top female musicians not only here in the United States but all throughout the world as well. Her estimated net worth currently sits around four hundred and fifty million dollars. When you add in Jay-Z’s estimated net worth of six hundred and fifty million dollars you find that together, this power couple is worth an astounding sum of more than one billion dollars.

And Jay-Z has had much of his own success separate from the success he has had with his wife, though that alone is an impressive thing. On his own, however, Jay-Z has had a current total of eleven number one albums on the Billboard charts. This means that he has now had more number one albums than the king himself, Elvis Presley.

Tyra Banks and Oprah Winfrey are just two examples of successful talk show hosts. Oprah, of course, is a household name. Everyone knows who Oprah is, as she had a successful television show for an astounding twenty five seasons. Oprah still works in the entertainment world and performs many charitable acts as well, something that urban news and other news outlets report on frequently.

Tyra Banks has been a trailblazer in a number of ways, becoming the first black model to become a cover model for a number of publications, ranging from Sport’s Illustrated to the Victoria’s Secret Swimsuit catalog. She also went on to host a popular day time television talk show as well as America’s Next Top Model, which ran for many seasons.

From urban news outlets to celeb gossip sites, representation matters. After all, it is important for everyday people and especially children and teenagers to see people like them reflected in all aspects of life, including in the entertainment world. And from the movies to music, African American artists have proved themselves more than worthy of such representation here in the United States.