Hip-Hop Artists
Literature
Law & Politics
Civil Rights
Higher Education
100

An African American Pop/R&B singer, rose to fame in the 1990s as lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time.

Who is Beyonce?

100

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African-American to win this literary prize.

What is the Pulitzer?

100

This 1872 graduate of Howard University became the first African-American lawyer in the United States.

Who is Charlotte Ray?

100

Rosa Parks refused, in 1955, to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. She was arrested and these actions led to the rise of Dr. M. L. King, Jr. and “this” in Montgomery, Alabama.

What is the bus boycott?

100

The first African American woman to be named as president of Spellman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Who is Dr. Johnette B. Cole?

200

Beginning in 1997, Roc-A-Fella Records released a three-album series, In My Lifetime, that not only topped record charts but also, because of the generous deal between the label and Def Jam Records, quickly made him a multimillionaire. (Worth over $50 million by 2003.)

Who is Jay-Z?

200

Richard Wright is known for writing the 1940 novel, Native Son, and this autobiographical novel about growing up in the south.

What is “Black Boy?”

200

Harold Washington was the first African-American mayor of this windy city in the mid-west.

What is Chicago?

200

This organization, founded in 1905, maintained that African-Americans should press for the immediate implementation of their civil rights. The “movement” developed into The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.

What is The Niagara Movement?

200

In 1970, he became chief executive of the largest school ever presided over by a black man when he became president of Michigan State University.

Who is Dr. Clifton R. Wharton?

300

The “Young Money” female lead had seven entries listed as Nielsen Soundscan’s 200 best-selling songs in 2010. Her songs at the time generated a total of $4,298,000 in sales.

Who is Nikki Minaj?

300

This novelist and playwright authored Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time, Amen Corner, and Blues for Mr. Charlie.

Who is James Baldwin?

300

This U.S. Supreme Court “decision” in 1857, named for a slave upon whom it was based, ruled that slaves were not citizens, and did not become free when taken into free territory.

What is the Dred Scott decision?

300

S-N-C-C, pronounced “SNICK,” formed in 1960 and led by such men as Marion Berry, John Lewis, and Stokely Carmichael, this nonviolent committee coordinated the activities of a “group of individuals” who were engaged in direct action protests such as sit-ins and jail-ins in the South.

    

What are students?

300

Founded May 21, 1833, to train teachers - among other fields of study; after almost going bankrupt, it became the first college in the United States to admit African Americans.

What is Oberlin College?

400

One of today's most acclaimed hip hop artists and rappers, in 1991, at the age of nine, he joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label. He has since released thirteen studio albums, nine reaching Platinum status.

Who is Lil’ Wayne?

400

This African-American Poet recited her poem at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

Who is Maya Angelou?

400

The Amendment to the Constitution that legally ended slavery in the United States.

What is the 13th Amendment?

400

This civil rights leader, minister, and former Democratic presidential candidate worked with SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and Dr. King during the 60’s. He later founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity).

Who is Reverend Jesse Jackson?

400

In 1876, he became the first African American awarded a Ph.D. by an American University. Name the man and the school.

Who was Edward A. Bouchet – Yale University?

500

An "American Idol" in 2004, when her song, "I Believe" topped Billboard Hot 100 on July 1, 2004, she became the first solo artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at number one with her very first chart appearance.

Who is Fantasia?

500

Langston Hughes is best remembered for this style of creative writing.

What is poetry?

500

Lawrence Douglas Wilder, in 1989, became the first African-American in U.S. history to be elected governor, when he was elected Governor of this state.  

What is Virginia?

500

As president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, he threatened to organize a mass march on Washington, D.C. at the beginning of World War II to protest job discrimination against African-Americans.

Who is A. Phillip Randolph?

500

Nicknamed the “First Lady of Firsts,” she was the first African American woman to: graduate from the Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School in 1927, pass the Penn. bar exam, practice law in Penn., earn a Ph.D. in economics, and receive a Ph.D. from the Univ. of Penn.

Who was Sadie Tanner Mosell Alexander?

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