8) #BlackHistoryMonth B. Smith

Barbara Elaine Smith was an American restaurateur, model, author, businesswoman, and television host.

A Pennsylvania native, she was at the height of her celebrity when at the age of 64, she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. B and her husband Dan Gasby were public with the diagnosis and went on a campaign to raise awareness of the disease and its effects on the African-American community. Her poignant book “Before I Forget" shared the challenges of both having the disease and of caregiving. I highlighted B my film In Our Right Mind because of a controversy surrounding her husband’s revelation that he was in a relationship with another woman while caring for his ailing wife.

B Smith died from complications of Alzheimer’s in November of 2020.