Ladies
This woman is known as one of the prominent figures involved with The Underground Railroad, and led hundreds of people out of slavery. She later acted as a nurse, scout, and spy for the Union Army and fought for women's rights.
Harriet Tubman
This man was a major leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's, gave his famous "I have a dream" speech in 1963, and was assassinated in 1968.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
While Garrett Morgan invented many other useful items, such as the improved sewing machine and the gas mask, his most famous and long lasting invention is still in use today. It is made of three colored lights: red, yellow, and green.
The three light traffic signal
Published in 2023, Krystal Marquis's novel follows this titular family as they navigate high society life in early 1900s Chicago.
The Davenports
Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has been seen with many identities in the spider-verse. This one has unique powers such as invisibility and electricity and has a relationship with Spider-Gwen.
Miles Morales
This person, currently the Vice President, is both the first woman and the first person of color to hold that office.
Kamala Harris
This man was the first African American to play on a major league baseball league team, the Brooklyn Dodgers with jersey number 42.
Jackie Robinson
In 1966, Mary Van Brittan Brown invented an early version of this type of system that keeps unwanted visitors and criminals out of your house.
The Home Security System
Angie Thomas authored this book turned film about a girl named Starr who finds herself at the center of protest and controversy after she witnesses the death of her friend at the hands of a police officer. The title comes from an acronym made famous by Tupac Shakur.
The Hate U Give
This late actor started his career being featured on several television shows before starting a film career portraying Jackie Robinson in "42" and more recently, King T'Challa in Marvel's Black Panther before his death in August 2020.
Chadwick Boseman
This woman was the first woman of color to be promoted to Principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre. Since then, she has also been featured on the cover of Time magazine, performed on Broadway, and toured as a featured dancer with Prince.
Misty Copeland
This man won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany and had the first recorded instance of a male African-American athlete sponsoring a shoe brand when the founder of Adidas convinced him to wear shoes from his previous company.
Jesse Owens
In 1892, Sarah Boone became the first woman of color in U.S. history to be awarded a patent for this invention, still used today to keep clothes looking sharp. Be careful not to burn yourself while using it!
The ironing board
This book (later film, musical, and musical film) by Alice Walker follows the life of Celie as she marries and lives with Mister. Along the way she meets Harpo and Sophia, Shug Avery, and waits for the day she can see her sister, Nettie, again.
The Color Purple
This man started his career as part of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and was later in a television series using part of the same title. He has also appeared in films such as Independence Day, Men in Black, and The Pursuit of Happyness.
Will Smith
While Rosa Parks would become famous for refusing to give up her bus seat, this 15 year old girl was actually the first to do so in events that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Claudette Colvin
In Narrative of the Life of (this man,) we follow his early life as a slave learning to read by any means necessary and his escape to freedom. He became a famed activist and orator who fought for women's and civil rights.
Frederick Douglass
After his daughter almost took a fatal fall because of an improperly closed elevator door, Alexander Miles invented this in 1887. Going up?
Automatic Elevator Doors
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a powerful telling of this author's life from her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas in the 1930s, to one of the first female African American streetcar conductors in San Francisco, to graduation and motherhood.
Dr. Maya Angelou
Born in 1969 as Shawn Corey Carter, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by both Billboard and Vibe in 2023 and has won 24 Grammy Awards for his numerous albums such as The Blueprint, The Black Album, American Gangster, and Everything Is Love with his wife, Beyonce.
Jay-Z
The cells of this woman, who died of cervical cancer in 1951, are considered "immortal" and have been used to develop vaccines such as the polio vaccine and many of the cancer treatments we use today. The cells are named after her: HeLa
Henrietta Lacks
From Joplin, Missouri, this poet and playwright is known for works such as "I, too" and Montage of a Dream Deferred as well as his contributions to the Harlem Renaissance.
Langston Hughes
Chief Engineer at IBM in the 1980s, Mark Dean helped create this, leaving the old version that only showed black and white (or black and green) behind. We're actually using one right now!
Color Computer Monitor
This former National Youth Poet Laureate read her poem, "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021. Since then she has published several books, including Call Us What We Carry, Change Sings: A Children's Anthem, and Something, Someday.
Amanda Gorman
Gabriella Wilson, better known by this stage name, has released three albums. Recently, she also played Belle in the televised Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, and Squeak in The Color Purple (2023).
H.E.R.