Firsts
In 1993, this person became the first Black person and second woman to be appointed as U.S. surgeon general.
Dr. Jocelyn Elders
This world-famous, pioneering brain surgeon from Detroit, Michigan ran for U.S President in 2016 and served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Donald Trump.
Dr. Ben Carson
This dish dates to the Civil War and was one of the few edible things left behind by raiding soldiers. Thought to be “lucky” enough to be left behind, it would make its way to Southern tables, especially the tables of Southern slaves who celebrated emancipation as ordered by President Abraham Lincoln on New Year’s Day, January 1, 1863.
Black eyed peas
Fitness guru Billy Blanks created this fitness craze in the 1990s, which incorporated elements of karate and Taekwondo into the routine.
Tae Bo
Co-founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in 1966, this group established over a dozen free community health clinics nationwide and implemented a free breakfast program for children, one of the first organized school breakfast programs in the United States.
The Black Panthers
Former First Lady Michelle Obama championed this initiative, which brought attention to childhood obesity and encouraged young people to exercise and eat nutritious food.
Let's Move
Although she is most famous for being the first Black woman to go into space in 1992, this NASA astronaut and former Peace Corps volunteer is also a physician dedicated to improving global health.
Dr. Mae Jemison
In 1865, red foods such as red cake, barbecue, punch and fruit became an important fixture during this now Federal Holiday where the color red was seen as the embodiment of spiritual power and transformation.
Juneteenth
Born in New Jersey, this fitness trainer is best known for his home fitness programs for adults and children which include T25, Insanity, Hip-Hop Abs, and Cize.
Shaun T
Though her cells were taken without her consent, they were responsible for what scientists know as HeLa cells, or the first immortal cell line. This was critical in medical research and the creation of vaccines for polio, advances in cloning, vitro fertilization, and much more.
Henrietta Lacks
Born as an enslaved person in New York in 1813, this man became the first to Black physician to own his own medical practice in the United States.
Dr. James McCune Smith
With a PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this National Institutes of Health scientist has been widely praised by top infectious disease experts for her role in developing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett
Known for inventing over 300 practical uses of an edible seed, this American agricultural scientist has also met with three American presidents and in 1921 testified before Congress on the importance of protecting agricultural products from international competition through the use of tariffs.
George Washington Carver
Exercise helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Two major risk factors for what type of disease?
Heart Disease
This historical figure helped pioneer “scientific sociology,” and used census reports, vital statistics, and insurance company records to provide empirical evidence linking the legacy of slavery and the inherent racism of American society to the poor health of blacks.
W.E.B. Du Bois
In 1988, she became the first African American female doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention, the Laserphaco probe, a device and method for cataract treatments.
Dr. Patricia Bath
Conducted by the United States Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1932-1972, this now infamous experiment unethically examined over 400 Black men with untreated venereal disease.
Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
This social media personality and motivational speaker is most well known for her video content making vegan soul food, which she credits for helping her autoimmune disease symptoms and chronic depression.
Tabitha Brown
This type of exercise is the most popular way that Americans stay active.
Walking
This historic African American Herbalist used herbalism, botany, and knowledge of the natural world to help others during the passage to freedom. Plants used by this herbalist helped calm babies and provided food and medicine to many enslaved Africans on the journey to escape.
Harriet Tubman
Provident Hospital, the first Black owned and operated medical institution in the United States, opened in this midwestern city in 1891. The hospital primarily served the needs of Black patients, but it also provided many Black health professionals with their first opportunities in the field--and was also the first racially integrated hospital in the country.
Chicago
Serving as the US Attorney General under former President Barack Obama, he became widely known for his raids on state-licensed medical marijuana operations. He is also the nation's first Black Attorney General.
Eric Holder
Known as a prolific inventor with more than 60 inventions patented, this inventor created an automatic system for long-haul trucks and railroad cars in 1935 that would go on to radically alter the American consumer's eating habits where people could eat fresh produce across the United States during the middle of summer or winter.
Frederick McKinley Jones
Research has found that exercise is more effective than this at increasing both short and long term energy levels.
Coffee
This inventor holds more patents than any other Black woman in history and is best known for being the inventor of the sanitary pad for menstruation. However, due to racism and sexism, it took 30 years for her invention to be developed and manufactured for mainstream markets.
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner