| POWELL | Future rock star: This celebrated general majored in geology long before he became the first Black secretary of state |
| EDWARDFORAMERICA | Nonprofit that "evolved into an arm of the charter school movement," per a 2019 ProPublica headline ("I knew him long before he was Blackbeard.") |
| ALI | Before he became "the Greatest," this boxer won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games |
| ELTON | Mr Reginald Kenneth Dwight before he became the famous "___ John" (5) |
| ANNADELVEY | Famed con artist who's seeking a new start by appearing on "Dancing With the Stars" this season; she scored an 18/30 in her debut last week |
| PROVERBS | Book after Psalms ... or, read as one, two or three parts (as indicated by the stars), this puzzle's theme |
| BOAR | When Jason reached manhood, he participated in this celebrated hunt for this creature in Aetolia. |
| ANCESTOR | Jockey cares not for one who ran his race long before him (8) |
| HALLOWEEN | Make changes in one hall we use for this celebrated evening |
| DIVA | This celebrated female singer is also a variety of both geranium and Daphne arbuscula (4) |
| GORDONPARKS | In 1948 he became the first Black staff photographer for Life magazine. In the 1970s, he directed Shaft. |
| BUDNELSON | Alongside his human companion Horatio Nelson Jackson, he became the first dog to cross the United States in an automobile in 1903. He wore goggles that ended up at the Smithsonian Museum of American H |
| ASHE | As he became the first black person to win the US, Wimbledon and Australian tennis championships |
| JONRAHM | In 2021, he became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Open. (3,4) |
| CHEMISTRY | Before serving in Congress after an 11-year NBA career, Tom McMillen majored in this at the University of Maryland; it's an important quality for a basketball team |
| AMARLATIF | He became the first ever blind contestant to take part in Celebrity MasterChef in 2020 (4,5) |
| JEANAUGUSTINE | The Honourable ___ ___ (Member of the Order of Canada who in 1993 became the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons) |
| INCE | In 2008, Paul ____ became the first black British manager in England's top football division |
| ELMO | He became the first puppet to testify before Congress in 2002 |
| BARDEM | For his performance in No Country For Old Men, he became the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar; Ja |
