Creators
Inventor & Businessman &
an Influential Political Leader
•Invented the 3-position traffic signal
•Invented the Safety Hood (Gas Masks)
•Invented Hair Relaxer (straightening solution)
His consistent challenging of the status quo helped spearhead the push for civil activism shining light on socioeconomic intolerance. Ending enforcement of Jim Crow laws.
Who is Malcolm X
Influential radio personality allowing up and coming artists to showcase their talent (ie Chance the Rapper, Eminem, etc)
Hosts 1 of Most successful talk shows in black culture “Sway in the Morning”
Who is Sway Calloway
Created an affordable shoe line selling over 120 million pairs
NBA MVP in 2000
Earned over $300 mil during 19-year basketball career - $700 mil Pro career
Owner of several chains: Auntie Annie’s Pretzels, Krispy Kreme, CityPlex 12, Big Chicken, Shaquille’s burger place, car washes, fitness centers, shopping center, nightclubs, joint owner Five Guys,
Investor in Google, Apple,
Board Member Papa Johns’s
Minority owner Sacramento Kings, Ring Doorbell Camera (Amazon purchased for over $1 Bil)
Who is Shaquille O'Neal
Awarded Navy Cross for his courageous conduct & devotion on duty during attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.
Who is Doris "Dorie" Miller
An American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, and film-maker who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work.
Who is Kara Walker
March 2, 1955 (9 months before Rosa Parks) she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat with three other black students for a white woman and put on INDEFINITE probation
Who is Claudette Colvin
Owner of Parkwood Entertainment, a billion-dollar production company
Celebrity Brand endorsements, including Pepsi
International modeling career
Worth $1.4 Billion
CEO Scandinavian Streaming Service
Owns full-service entertainment company called Roc Nation
Who is Beyonce and Jay-Z
Co-Discoverer of the North Pole
Honorary member to Explorers Club in NY
1944 awarded Congressional Medal
Said to be related to Taraji P. Henson
Who is Matthew Henson
First African-American Female Judge in U.S.
Served on the Family Court Bench for 4 decades
Who is Matlida Bolin
Author, Actress, Screenwriter, Dancer, Poet, & Civil Rights Activist
First NonFiction Bestselling memoir in 1969 “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
Who is Maya Angelou
Advocated for underprivileged children and against racial injustice until her passing in 2003
Had her son Emmett’s body displayed during his funeral creating the largest single civil rights demonstration in American History
Who is Mamie Mobley
Founder of Carol’s Daughter, first African American owned product lines with a flagship store.
Clientele include celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Halle Berry, Chaka Khan & Oprah Winfrey.
Who is Lisa Price
Greatest Gymnast Ever
30 Olympic & World Championship Medals
Who is Simone Biles
Being her classes top graduate she went on to make history as the US Marine Corps’ first African American Female Pilot
First Black Playwright and Youngest American to win the New York Critics’ Circle award
Who is Lorraine Hansberry
The first pastor to inspire Dr. King to merge Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance with the civil rights movement
Thurman’s concepts about nonviolence are peppered throughout Dr. King’s writings
Who is Howard Thurman
Founder of Motown Records
Highest Earning African-American Business for decades
Inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998
Who is Barry Gordy
5 TIME NBA CHAMP
18 TIME ALLSTAR
LAKER’S FRANCHISE LEADER IN POINTS
WON BEST ANIMATED SHORT OSCAR IN 2018 FOR 5 MIN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FILM “Dear Basketball”
Who is Kobe Bryant
1st African American Female General & First African American Chief of US Army, Army National Guard & Army Reserves
Who is Hazel Winifred Johnson-Brown
Highest grossing black woman director in American Box Office History
Some of her work included Selma, 13th, Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time.
Founder of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club
Official Founder of NAACP
Urban Reform in Chicago
Who is Ida B Wells-Barnett
CEO of Christopher Gardner International Holdings & autobiography of New York Times & Washington Post #1 Best-Seller The Pursuit of Happyness
One of the most highly respected fighter groups of WWII – Paving the way for FULL Integration of the US Military
Who is Tuskeegee Airmen
First African American woman to be admitted into NASA’s astronaut training program
First African American woman in space
Who is Mae Jamison