Civil Rights
This brave woman refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.
Rosa Parks
In 2008, he became the first African American president of the United States.
Barack Obama
Known as the “King of Pop,” he sang “Thriller.”
Micheal Jackson
He broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947.
Jackie Robinson
This poet wrote “Still I Rise.”
Mya Angelou
This American track star went to Ohio State won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Jesse Owens
This inventor improved the traffic light and the gas mask.
Garrett Morgan
He delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Martin Luther King Jr.
This man became the first African American Supreme Court Justice in 1967.
Thurgood Marshall
This singer is known as the “Queen of Soul.”
Aretha Franklin
She was the first African American woman in space.
Mae Jemison
This former enslaved person became a powerful speaker and writer who fought to end slavery.
Fredrick Douglass
This basketball star won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and wore the number 23
Micheal Jordan
She became the first American self-made millionaire by selling hair care products.
Madam C. J. Walker
This woman escaped slavery and went on to lead hundreds of others to freedom through a secret network called the Underground Railroad.
Harriett Tubman
Before becoming Vice President, this individual represented this state in the U.S. Senate from 2017 to 2021.
Kamala Harris
This singer was known as the “Godfather of Soul,” after his hit song in 1965 called, “I Got You (I Feel Good).”
James Brown
He was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Sidney Poitier
A key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, known for his poetry, plays, and novels.
Langston Hughs
This movie tells the true story of three Black women mathematicians who worked at NASA.
Hidden Figures
He created the ironing board and the lawn sprinkler and is responsible for the catchy phrase “the real McCoy”.
Elijah McCoy
After traveling to mecca this individual became a leader in a religious organization before leaving it in 1964.
Malcom X
The current House Minority Leader. He made history in 2023 as the first African American to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress.
Hakeem Jeffries
Before becoming a solo superstar, this singer was part of this popular girl group.
Beyonce
First Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School and the first to be appointed as a judge.
Jane Bolin
This civil rights leader co-founded the NAACP in 1909.
W.E.B. Dubois
This boxer was known for saying, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
Muhammed Ali
He invented the automatic elevator doors.
Alexander Miles
This activist and professor became well known in the 1970s for her work in civil rights and prison reform.
Angela Davis
The current Governor of Maryland, currently the only Black governor serving in the U.S.
Wes Moore
This iconic performer was the first artist to combine both R&B and gospel together, and was also the first Black artist to be given complete artistic control over their work by a mainstream record label.
Ray Charles
This woman became the first African American and first Native American woman to earn a pilot’s license.
Bessie Coleman
This author wrote the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Color Purple.
Alice Walker
The first Black person to win an Oscar (1940) for her role in Gone With the Wind.
Hattie McDaniels
He is to thank for the color PC monitor which led to all the advancements for our phones and computers today.
Mark Dean