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Smithsonian Hosts 'The Black List' Portraits In D.C.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Sean Combs and Serena Williams now have a place in the National Portrait Gallery in a new show featuring leading black figures from entertainment, politics, sports and business.

"The Black List" opens Friday featuring 50 large-scale photographs from Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' project that also included a 2008 HBO film.

The idea came from the historical term, "blacklist," referring to a marginalized group. But Greenfield-Sanders says he wanted to turn the phrase into a roll call of distinction to show the broad achievements of African-Americans that many people don't know about.

So beyond celebrities, it also includes influential but lesser-known figures.

A smaller exhibit has been shown in New York and Los Angeles. But the Smithsonian show is the first to feature all 50 of the portraits.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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