Black History Music
This singer has the most grammy awards ever.
Beyoncé Knowles- Carter
He became the world heavyweight champion three times and was known for his bold personality and activism outside the ring, including his refusal to serve in the Vietnam War.
Muhammad Ali
Who is First Black Female U.S. Supreme Court Justice that was appointed in 2022?
Ketanji Brown Jackson
This NASA mathematician helped calculate flight paths for Apollo 11’s moon landing and was featured in the movie Hidden Figures.*
Katherine Johnson
In 2021, this rapper became the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album twice.
Megan Thee Stallion
Jazz was founded in this city, in the early 1900s, led by Black musicians like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. It became one of America’s first original music styles!
New Orleans
This tennis player has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, male or female. She is a pioneer in breaking barriers in the sport of tennis and has been a role model for athletes worldwide.
Serena Williams
Who is the first black woman to run for President?
Shirley Chisholm
This inventor created the three-light traffic signal and an early version of the gas mask.
Garrett Morgan
In 1983, this superstar performed his famous “Moonwalk” dance move for the first time during a performance of Billie Jean on Motown 25.
Michael Jackson
In this year, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) won the first-ever Grammy for Best Rap Performance with Parents Just Don’t Understand.
1989
considered one of the greatest female basketball players of all time and was the first player signed to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) when it was founded in 1997.
Sheryl Swoopes
The first black Astronaut that was sent into space in 1983 is named
Guion Bluford
This Black inventor improved Thomas Edison’s light bulb by creating a longer-lasting carbon filament.
Lewis Latimer
In 1968, this animated TV special became the first with a Black lead character, featuring a Christmas story about a boy named Buddy.
The Harlem Globetrotters
In this year DJ Kool Herc created hip-hop at a back-to-school party in the Bronx by mixing beats from different songs. That party started a global movement!
1973
The first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games, accomplishing this feat at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Her victories in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4x100 meter relay made her an international sports icon.
Wilma Rudolph
The first African American to win a Grammy Award for her spoken word album in 1942.
Hattie McDaniel
This former NASA engineer invented one of the best-selling toys ever, the Super Soaker water gun.
Lonnie Johnson
This 1980s-1990s sitcom, was one of the first to show a successful Black family on primetime TV.
The Cosby Show
This company was founded by Berry Gordy in 1959, helped to break racial barriers in the music industry and brought Black artists into mainstream popular music. Artists like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and The Supremes became icons, shaping the sound of the 1960s and beyond.
Motown Records
Broke barriers in tennis in the 1950s by becoming the first African American to compete in the U.S. National Championships (now the U.S. Open) and Wimbledon. She went on to win both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, making her the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam title.
Althea Gibson
Became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1959 for her play A Raisin in the Sun, which explored the challenges faced by Black families seeking better housing in a segregated America.
Lorraine Hansberry
This Black woman invented the first home security system, inspiring modern surveillance cameras.
Marie Van Brittan Brown
This 1915 silent film was groundbreaking in its technical achievements but widely criticized for its racist portrayal of Black people and its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Birth of a Nation