Key Figures in Black History,Political Leaders & Activists
He is a powerful Congressman who passed over 50 pieces of SOCIAL REFORM LEGISLATION
WHO IS- ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR.
She is the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry in the US; she linked high cholesterol to clogged arteries
10,000 African Americans MARCHED down Fifth Avenue in total silence to protest LYNCHINGS
What is- The Silent Parade (1917)
An artist and sculptor known for her powerful depictions of the Black Female experience
Who is- Elizabeth Catlett
She was a 17th-century monarch who resisted Portuguese colonization for decades
Who is - Queen Nzinga (Angola)
This is the cultural/religious belief that a funeral is a return home to a spiritual realm free of oppression
What is - A Homegoing Service
He was the first major African American feature filmmaker; he produced over 40 "race films."
Who is- Ocar Micheaux
He is the first person of color to be honored with the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Who is- Ralph Bunche
The first Black psychiatrist and pioneer in the study of Alzheimer's disease
Who is- Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller
This was the largest uprising of enslaved people in the British mainland colonies in South Carolina
What is- The Stono Rebellion (1739)
The first Black and Native American sculptor to achieve international fame in the 19th Century
Who is- Edmonia Lewis
Who is - The Maroons (Jamaica)
These were Domestic economies run by Black women during the Great Migration ot feed workers and fund Civil Rights
What is- Plate Markets
A cyclist who became the first African American world champion in any sport in 1899
Who is- Major Taylor
She is an author and scholar whose 1892 work is considered the foundation of Black Feminism
Who is- Anna Julia Cooper
The first person to prove that insects can hear and have the ability to learn
Who is - Dr. Charles Henry Turner
The first federal action to prohibit employment discrimination in the defense industry was in 1941
What is -Executive Order 8802
The First Black Rhodes Scholar and the "Dean" of the Harlem Renaissance
Who is - Alain Locke
A founding member of what became the African National Congress, known as ANC
Who is - Sol Plaatje
This is a wedding tradition used when legal marriage was denied to black couples during slavery
What is- Jumping The Broom
She was the first Black person to star in her own TV show in 1939, and receive an Emmy nomination
Who is- Ethel Waters
She was the first enslaved African American to file and win a Freedom Suit in Massachusetts in 1781; her case set the legal precedent that effectively ended slavery in that state
Who is- Elizabeth Freeman (Mum Bett)
A NASA scientist who invented the Illusion Transmitter, which is the basis for 3D Cinema
Who is- Valerie Thomas
The first general migration of Black people to Kansas following the Civil War to escape the Post-Reconstruction South
What is - the Exodusters
A historian whose library became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Who is- Arturo Schomburg
A historian who wrote The Black Jacobins, the definitive book on the Haitian Revolution
Who is - C.L.R. James (Trinidad)
This was Community-funded groups that provided "insurance" and burial costs for members in the 19th century
What is- Mutual Aid Societies
This person is known as the first African American to win a race in the NASCAR CUP Series
Who is- Wendell Scott
He was a Revolutionary War veteran who is considered the first African American elected to public office in the US. Like Paul Revere, he made an all-night ride to warn towns of the British arrival, but his story is rarely told
Who is- Wentworth Cheswell
A pioneer in chemotherapy who developed techniques for testing drugs on patient tissue cultures
Who is- Dr. Jane Cooke Wright
A period of intense racial violence and riots directed at Black communities in over 30 United States cities
What is- The Red Summer (1919)
The "Godmother of Rock and Roll" who pioneered heavy distortionon the electric guitar
Who is- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
A hero of Mexican independence and the country's first Black President
Who is- Vicnete Guerrero
What is - Hush Harbors
She was the first Black woman to direct a film for a major Hollywood Studio (A Dry White Season)
Who is- Euzhan Palcy
She is a 19th-century entrepreneur called the "Mother of Civil Rights in California." She used her fortune made in the Gold Rush to fund the Underground Railroad and successfully sued to overturn segregation on San Francisco streetcars in 1868
Who is- Mary Ellen Pleasant
A surgical technician who developed the life-saving procedureto treat "Blue Baby Syndrome."
Who is- Vivien Thomas
A munitions explosion and subsequent mutiny trial that exposed segregation in the NAVY
What is - The Port Chicago Disaster (1944)
A Senegalese scholar who proved the African origin of EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Who is- Cheikh Anta Diop
The priest who led the ceremony at Bois Caiman that sparked the Haitian Revolution
Who is - Dutty Boukman (Haiti)
These were 18th-century laws in Louisiana that forced Black Women to wear headwraps; the women responded by turning them into high-fashion symbols
What is- Tignon Laws
She was the first Black woman from any nation to win an Olympic Gold Medal
Who is- Alice Coachman (1948)
The first African American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, during the Battle of Fort Wagner, he rescued the American flag after the color guard was shot, famously saying, "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground!"
Who is - Sgt. William Harvey Carney
He was an enslaved man who introduced the concept of variolation (early inoculation) to Boston in 1721
Who is - Onesimus
Founded in 1898, this was the first nationwide Civil Rights organization in the United States
What is- The Afro- American Council
A Harlem Renaissance sculptor and educator who advocated for Black artists' rights
Who is - Augusta Savage
He led a successful 1570 slave revolt and founded a free Black settlement in Mexico
Who is- Gaspar Yanga
This is a West African tradition of the oral historian, which heavily influences modern Black Storytelling
What is - The Griot
This was the first all-Black movie production company, founded in 1916
What is- The Lincoln Motion Picture Company