TV and Film
This 2016 film became the first Best Picture winner at the Oscars with an all Black cast
Moonlight
This author and activist became the youngest inaugural poet in United States history at just 22 years old
Amanda Gorman
This prominent Black family in Bloomington who made history at IU for four generations recently had an avenue dedicated in their honor
the Eagleson Family
This lawyer and activist is the author of the critically acclaimed non-fiction book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness
Michelle Alexander
This inventor created a filament to extend the life of the lightbulb since Thomas Edison's would only last a few days
Lewis Latimer
This actress who appeared on the TV shows "Pose" and "American Horror Story" became the first the first transgender actress to secure two series regular roles on broadcast TV
Angelica Ross
This Morehouse College alum became Georgia's first Black senator in 2021
Raphael Warnock
This football player led IU to its first Big Ten championship in 1945 and was the first Black man drafted in the NFL
George Taliaferro
____ is the first book in a seven volume autobiographical series written by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
This entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist was the first female self made millionaire in the United States
Madam C.J. Walker
This director and screenwriter known for 2021's "Candyman" is the first Black woman to direct a Marvel film
Nia DaCosta
This attorney and former member of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice since May 2021 and became the first Black woman to do so
Kristen Clarke
This 1962 graduate was the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Indiana University
Nancy Streets-Lyons
___ is a 1982 novel written by Alice Walker that follows a young girl named Celie growing up in the segregated South that was later adapted into film directed by Steven Spielberg
The Color Purple
This chemist pioneered the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills
Percy Julian
This musical variety show that featured famous entertainers like Aretha Franklin and James Brown was the longest running Black owned TV show airing from 1971 to 2006
Soul Train
This activist founded the Me Too Movement in 2006 to offer solidarity to girls of color who had experienced sexual abuse
Tarana Burke
This 1961 graduate was the first Black student body president of IU and a Big Ten university
Thomas Atkins
____ is a New York Times best seller contemporary romance novel written by Tia Williams following writers Eva and Shane who are given a second chance at love while healing from their past
Seven Days in June
This NASA astronaut was the first Black woman to travel in space in 1992
Mae Carol Jemison
This 1988 romantic comedy starring Eddie Murphy is one of the highest grossing Black films in history earning almost 300 million dollars at the box office
Coming to America
This famous longtime activist and author was named Time's Woman of the Year in 1971 and continues to fight for Black liberation and prison abolition to this day
Angela Davis
This IU alum was the first Black woman in the United States to serve as a state Supreme Court justice
Juanita Kidd Stout
___ is a young adult, non-fiction memoir written by journalist and activist George M. Johnson that follows his experiences as a queer Black man
All Boys Aren't Blue
This mathematician invented an accurate model of the Earth which was used as the foundation to create the GPS system
Gladys West