Sam Cooke and Nat “King” Cole should have been on here.

Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He- is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at- A_g_e_m_i_n_g_le @ c.o..m a nice and free place for Younger- Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to- interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends.

Where’s bob Marley???

Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington- men of the Harlem Renaissance- love them. Mathew Henson never got the accolades he deserved for being the first ever to make in an expedition to the N.Pole-the white boy that was with him did-major b.s. All of these men are beautiful. Great Post~

Duke Ellington songs I recommend

Rhapsody in Blue and Harlem Nocturne- amazing music~

I meant p.s.*

what no puffy or Jay z

that was sarcasm!

LOL, Rihanna’s Sharp I agree with you about all you said and I just love the Duke.

Yeah, I agree. Where’s Bob Marley? And King Cole…

Loved this!!! Of course we all know there are many black men who should be on this list — 20 Black Pioneers is just a taste.

fresh

@hey now

what no puffy or Jay z
_______________________________

No T-Pain either. Who woulda thunk it?

*had

Style and profile – I love black men they drive me wild. Good looking GQ!

I cant hate they doing it old school but puff def got that new age swag locked

@Waddie G..

I was thinking the same thing about Nat King Cole, who not only should have been on the list but should’ve been #1.

Sam Cooke pioneered black ownership and control in the entertainment industry. He was also the first entertainer to sport a full afro when others were still going for the perm, pomade, and conk.

You’re also forgetting Paul Robeson, Jack Johnson, and Malcolm X. And I’m sure there’s a lot more.
Enough with these silly lists

Miles my favorite, but James Baldwin should have definitely been on the list, think Marvin Gaye also

REAL BLACK MEN

REAL BLACK PRIDE

NON SELL OUT BLACKS TO THE WHITE INDUSTRY!!!

BLACKS STOOD FOR SOMETHING BACK THEN. THEY HAD INTEGRITY

OUR BLACK CELEBS NOW ARE JUST WHITE MAN MUSES OF WHAT BLACKS SHOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL BLACK MEN

REAL BLACK PRIDE

NON SELL OUT BLACKS TO THE WHITE INDUSTRY!!!

BLACKS STOOD FOR SOMETHING BACK THEN. THEY HAD INTEGRITY

OUR BLACK CELEBS NOW ARE JUST WHITE MAN MUSES OF WHAT BLACKS SHOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL BLACK MEN

REAL BLACK PRIDE

NON SELL OUT BLACKS TO THE WHITE INDUSTRY!!!

BLACKS STOOD FOR SOMETHING BACK THEN. THEY HAD INTEGRITY

OUR BLACK CELEBS NOW ARE JUST WHITE MAN MUSES OF WHAT BLACKS SHOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL BLACK MEN

REAL BLACK PRIDE

NON SELL OUT BLACKS TO THE WHITE INDUSTRY!!!

BLACKS STOOD FOR SOMETHING BACK THEN. THEY HAD INTEGRITY

OUR BLACK CELEBS NOW ARE JUST WHITE MAN MUSES OF WHAT BLACKS SHOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL BLACK MEN

REAL BLACK PRIDE

NON SELL OUT BLACKS TO THE WHITE INDUSTRY!!!

BLACKS STOOD FOR SOMETHING BACK THEN. THEY HAD INTEGRITY

OUR BLACK CELEBS NOW ARE JUST WHITE MAN MUSES OF WHAT BLACKS SHOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL BLACK MEN

REAL BLACK PRIDE

NON SELL OUT BLACKS TO THE WHITE INDUSTRY!!!

BLACKS STOOD FOR SOMETHING BACK THEN. THEY HAD INTEGRITY

OUR BLACK CELEBS NOW ARE JUST WHITE MAN MUSES OF WHAT BLACKS SHOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prince, MJ, Sam Cooke and Nat should have all made the list. And Nat king Cole should have easily been #1.

This is a good list. Hardly exhaustive, but a good list nonetheless…

Michael Jackson should obviously have been there…like DUH!!!!!….Did they not witness the “daperness” that was Mike??

Although the pictures are great, it only shows men. What about the stylish sisters back in the day? Coretta Scott King, Diana Ross, Earth Kitt, Grace Jones, Tammy Terrell, etc…

Beautiful black man

Man, do they make Black men like this anymore? Hold up, I’m having a son, I will definitely do my part. I agree, Robert Nestor Marley should have been on this list, as should James Baldwin, and Nat King Cole. Now these are the kinds of Black men I want to see more of!

Malcolm X and MLK could dress too, btw. Love Huey Newton too!

@ Nina,

GQ is a men’s magazine, and not of the King Magazine ilk, that is why this story is focused only on stylish men.

no one will probably see this since my post will be at the bottom, but i think you should do a post on Basquiat. he was hip hop, died mad young and paintings are worth millions of millions of dollars. i heard of him but really didn’t hear of him, if you know what i mean. Thanks

Charlie Parker should be on it!

Where is Billie Dee Wiliams? Where is Flip Wilson? Where is Gregory Hines? Where is Oscar Micheoux? (spelling)

Go ahead. How many of them were married to white women? blah blah blah…

I wish black men would dress like this now…

Where is Cab Calloway? Where is Billy Dee Williams? They should be on this list. You cannot limit this list to 20 when there are so many.

Have to add Dominique Wilkins to that list too.

Where is Lil Wayne and the shirtless Baby or Manny Fresh? hehe

MALCOM X Should have been on the list. he was fly and smart.

@ ratbastid, “You’re also forgetting Paul Robeson, Jack Johnson, and Malcolm X. And I’m sure there’s a lot more.”

They didn’t forget those three brothers. GQ was SCARED of those three brothers.

Malcom X, Muhammad Ali, P.Diddy…..the beat goes on.

BLACK MEN HAVE ALWAYS HAD A NATURAL “SWAG”. IT JUST FLOWS OFF THEM SO SMOOTH. THAT’S WHY OUR BLACK MEN ARE ALWAYS COPIED-FROM THE WAY THEY DRESS, TO THE WAY THEY WALK, TALK, AND NOW DAYS DOWN TO THE WAY THEY CUT THERE HAIR. IF ANY BODY BEING SWAGGER JACKED IT’S US-SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. EVERYBODY HATE ON US AND EVERYTHING WE DO UNTIL THEY STUDY HOW TO DO IT AND THEN IT’S HIP TO THEM.

I NEED TO MAKE A SHIRT THAT SAYS “WE THE REAL THING, YOU JUST A SIDELINE, HATING A$$- SWAG JACKER”- SOMETHING LIKE THAT LOL…

Malcolm x should defintely be on this list. That was a fly brotha right there. And so haaaandsoooome!

THESE are the REAL black men that young boys should be aspiring to be, not two-dimensional, materialistic, sub par, ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ fools like P Diddy, Soulja Boy and all the other swagga-jackin’ rappers who go around acting out and just being plain dumb.

[...] Forever Fly: GQ Takes A Look At 20 Black Pioneers Of Style … [...]

I LOVE MY BLACK PPL!

We need more chocolate/dark-skinned black kids in all the world!

because black kids it’s golds for this world

i’m so happy to be black men!

black is beautiful!

They should have put Minister Farrakhan on there.

He stays freshly dipped. I seen him with a single breasted cream colored suit on with some shoes to match. He came through the airport and erbody paused.