He graduated cum laude from Kentucky State College (now Kentucky State University), a historically black college, in 1947 and went on to obtain a master's degree in journalism from New York University. Sleet began working for Ebony magazine in 1955. Over the next 41 years, he captured photos of young Muhammad Ali, Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, and Billie Holiday. Besides his photo of Coretta Scott King, he also captured grieving widow Betty Shabazz at the funeral of Malcolm X. His collection Special Moments in African American History:
Stevie Wonder
Coretta Scott King