Born: January 9, 1935, Brooklyn, NY

Education: Morgan State University, B.A., 1958

A leading spokesman and publisher on black business, Graves created a conglomerate of market research, broadcast, and beverage corporations.

He pursued opportunities. Raised in Brooklyn, he reached adulthood during the civil rights struggle, terming it “the beginning of the end of a system that pushed African Americans to make the shots but refused to let us call them” www.thefreelibrary.com/Putting+together+the+Top+50+blacks+in+sports.a0129169811). College prepared him for key jobs: army officer, treasury agent, and member of Senator Robert F. Kennedy's staff. After the senator's assassination, he used a grant and Small Business Administration (SBA) loan to start what became a $53 million media empire by 2002.

Its hub is Black Enterprise (BE), the premier magazine about black-owned businesses and market activity. It has 475,000 subscribers and an international readership of more than 4 million. Readers include 100,000 members of religious, civic, and economic organizations, including the NAACP, National Urban League, and National Bankers Association. BE annually ranks the top-100 black companies and analyzes policy issues facing the Minority Advisory Council of SBA. It reports consumer income and spending trends by race, class, gender, and region. Its growing network of supporters includes Fortune 500 corporate executives, social philanthropists, sports figures, and others who help to underwrite “equality of opportunity.”