Strong, 66, the grandson of a slave, is a judge at the criminal division of the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County. He is a founding member of the Association of Black Judges of Michigan.
Other history makers who will give motivational speeches in Detroit-area schools are actor and musician Josh White Jr., construction executive Cullen Dubose, chemist Billy Joe Evans, former journalist and nonprofit executive Luther Keith, real estate and commercial lawyer Reuben Munday, art dealer and educator George N'Namdi and opera singer George Irving Shirley.
"My whole purpose is to get (students) to be in court not as a criminal defendant, but as someone who is either a lawyer or a judge," Strong said. "And I always throw some fashion in there, about always being appropriately attired for the occasion no matter what your style is."
HistoryMakers founder and Executive Director Julieanna Richardson said the speakers are important role models. "By bringing these living leaders into today's educational system, we are raising awareness about the achievements of the accomplished African Americans in local communities."
Keith, the first black newsroom editor at the Detroit News, said it's just as important for local leaders to be exposed to students.
"I think what HistoryMakers is doing is reminding us all that we have an obligation not just to be successful ... (but) we have an obligation to make sure these young people are successful."
Keith, 62, of Detroit, plans to tell students to find a subject they love and stick with it.
"I considered myself very ordinary in school," he said. "I committed to education but I didn't call it education. I called it reading. I committed to something I loved and because I loved it, I became educated."
Art gallery owner N'Namdi will visit Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse, a school he and his wife founded 35 years ago.
N'Namdi believes his gallery, the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, founded 31 years ago, is the oldest African-American-owned gallery in the country.
"We'll do a talk on 50 years of abstract art primarily — an art history lesson of sorts," N'Namdi said.
White started singing at the age of 3 with his father, blues legend and civil rights activist Josh White Sr. White, 72, of Novi, began his acting career in the Broadway play, "How Long 'Til Summer?" and won a Tony in 1949 at age 8.
His message to students will be simple: Education benefits everyone in the community.
"Use your education to further yourself," he said. "When you do it for you, you're doing it for us."
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