As a dancer, choreographer, director and speaker, Jamison's distinguished career leaped over barriers of race and gender.

By Andrew Meldrum, Associated Press

Watch more of the interview with Judith Jamison, performance pieces and a 1990 segment about her by former NewsHour correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault.

By Tom LeGro

After more than 20 years at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, director Judith Jamison is preparing to step down. In a profile by Jeffrey Brown, Jamison discusses how a mantra of "pray, prepare, and proceed" had guided her both…