13 Inspirational Black Men Who Are Leading Their Fields and Paving the Way for the Next Generation

At Men's Health we consider ourselves the equivalent of your big brother, offering a place you can turn to when you need help, guidance and advice. But we all need inspiration sometimes and there are definitely people who we look up to and who we take inspiration from.

This Black History month we're saluting the Black men who do that for us. They're pioneers, sports stars, community leaders, mentors, coaches, fashion chiefs and so much more, but whatever field they work in they're men who push boundaries and make their fields more vibrant and more inclusive places to be.

This list is by no means exhaustive, there are countless others who deserve to be included, but these are some of the Black men who inspire us. We hope they do the same for you.

A familiar face to fervent UFC fans, Adesanya — "the last stylebender" — has quickly risen to prominence following his remarkable bout against Paulo Costa in September 2020, winning by TKO in the second round. The five-time Performance of the Night winner is considered to be one of the best strikers in MMA. “Adesanya, if he’s able to keep this fight standing, which he has proven time and time again that he’s able to do, is a problem for not only Jon Jones, but all the way up to heavyweight with Stipe Miocic.," said Daniel Cormier of Adesanya. We're not here to disagree.

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US Army captain Chandler Smith, an elite-level CrossFit athlete, finished sixth in this year's CrossFit games, taking both Noah Ohlsen and reigning champ Mat Fraser to the line. Needless to say, he's already got his eyes on a podium finish in 2021, alongside a welcome slice of humility. "Distractions persist, but I never lose sight of the real goals: being able to say I was a better athlete than my dad was, and documenting my current fitness enough to where I can post throwback photos well into my childrens’ adolescence. We’re on the right path."

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Patrick Hutchinson, Jamaine Facey, Chris Otokito and Lee Russell make up UTCAI (United to Change and Inspire), a London-based collective looking to influence the next generation of Black men through education, discipline and MMA. "I'd love to see our young children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews have a better world than I've lived in, and a better world than my mother and her mother lived in," wrote Patrick on the formation of UTCAI. "We have an opportunity to be heard, and we're going to take it."

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25-year-old Raheem Stirling, England and Manchester City forward, is one footballer who isn't afraid to talk about the issue of racism in football and in society. In June, he backed Black Lives Matter protests in the UK, saying "the only disease right now is the racism that we are fighting", after thousands of people took part in #BLM marches across the UK. "This is the most important thing at this moment in time because this is something that is happening for years and years," said Sterling.

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Coach to sub-two-hour marathon holder Eliud Kipchoge and Geoffrey Kamworor, Patrick Sang started coaching in 1995 and has helped countless athletes win titles around the world.“It’s simple,” says Eliud Kipchoge, history's fastest marathon runner of Sang, “It’s being able to train, race and come back again for training at a high level every now and again. My coach Patrick Sang is very important. I lack the words to describe him but he is critical and crucial in my life. He is more than a coach: He is my manager, my life coach.”

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Set up by Terroll Lewis, Brixton Street Gym invites anyone and everyone down to train and exercise in an inclusive environment that's just as focused on the mental and societal benefits of fitness as it is with its physical benefits. With an entry cost that's cheaper than a London pint, the classes range from boxing to calisthenics and circuit training to Pilates.

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Former England rugby union full back, head coach of Bristol and 289-cap player Paul Hull was the last black Premiership rugby head coach in the sport. Now he's the first to encourage younger Black athletes in the sport to consider going into coaching: “I would always say to young black players coming through, especially those in the England set-up, to go into coaching in future years because they will have experienced and gained a lot of information from Premiership and England coaches,” said Hull in an interview with The Telegraph. “There are no easy answers but hopefully it will not be long before we see the next Black head coach in England.”

Having owned a studio on Portobello Road since 1986, Ozwald Boateng OBE has made waves in the world of menswear with well-made and polished tailoring. Boateng also founded UK non-profit Made in Africa Foundation, which was established to assist development of the African continent via funding initiatives and large-scale business infrastructure development to begin "reframing the dialogue and perception of Africa."

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Having equalled the all-time record for career Formula 1 victories by winning the Eifel Grand Prix, 35-year-old Hamilton is F1's only Black driver. In a recent interview with Men's Health, Hamilton said, "I was the first working-class Black F1 champion. I’m proud to have paved the way for others. One of my favourite phrases is: 'You can’t be what you don’t see.' Anyone who sees me on the podium, even if it’s a child, can be inspired to follow their dreams. If that happens, I’ll have done my job well. Diversity is a problem that Formula 1 has to face up to. I want to do my part in helping the sport make progress, not only by inspiring others but also by collaborating to create more opportunities for people from different communities."

At the height of the pandemic, Black men were three times more likely to die of COVID-19 than white men. Dr Winston Morgan was one of the first men to speak out about this injustice and explain why this disparity has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with societal inequalities. "To understand how structural racism drives health inequalities – and ultimately deaths from COVID-19 – we must remember that race comes out of racism, and not the other way around. Without racism, race has no significance and cannot exist in any meaningful way," he explains. "The artificiality of race and ethnicity, particularly as they apply to biological outcomes, often leads to confusion and contradictions. Race is defined by a limited number of physical characteristics, primarily skin colour, hair texture and facial features. Ethnicity can be linked to language, culture and religion."

Alongside roles as creator of the run crew Track Mafia and head coach of Nike Running, championing inclusivity is a huge part of the man better known as Beefy's MO. In an interview with Men's Health he said: “I think a lot of organisations feel, ‘If this person wasn’t taught the way I was taught, then they’re not for us. We’ll have to spend too much time showing them how to do things our way.’ But don’t you want to learn how to do things their way, too?"

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Zack George is officially CrossFit's Fittest Man in the UK. Having dominated the floor at a UK sanctional event, he was set to take part in the 2020 CrossFit Games before coronavirus stopped international travel. Needless to say, his training hasn't stopped — tap through to his account for the home workouts, dumbbell blasts and sweaty WODs that built his body.

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American designer, art director and entrepreneur Virgil Abloh founded Milan-based fashion label Off-White in 2013, and has since shifted the perspective on streetwear around the world with his additional role as Louis Vuitton's artistic director. Proving that street fashion can be worn and interpreted by any gender and any age, Abloh also made headlines in mid-2020 during the Black Lives Matter protest for donating five-figure sums to Black Lives Matter bail funds.