BLACK Inventors
BLACK Artist
BLACK First
BLACK Entertainers
Black Who Shaped History
100
He invented the three-position traffic signal, which included a caution light, in 1923. He patented this design to improve safety at intersections and later sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000.
Who is Garrett Augustus Morgan Sr?
100
This R&B legend was killed by his father over a dispute about money.
Who is Marvin Gaye?
100
First Black President of the United States.
Who is Barack Hussein Obama II?
100
He is a go to narrator, voice over artist, and voice of God.
Who is Morgan Freeman?
100
First Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, representing New York’s 12th District; a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Women’s Political Caucus.
Who is Shirley Chisholm?
200
He developed refrigeration technology for trucks, enabling the transportation of perishable goods. His invention not only transformed logistics but also laid the groundwork for modern vehicle cooling systems.
Who is Frederick McKinley Jones?
200
He first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al Diaz, & rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement.
Who is Jean-Michel Basquiat?
200
He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice. A civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991.
Who is Thurgood Marshall?
200
Actress best known for portraying Black women who made history, including singer Tina Turner and civil rights activists Rosa Parks and Betty Shabazz
Who is Angela Bassett?
200
Civil rights activist and scholar, founding member of the NAACP and promoted socialist principles, believing that capitalism contributed to racial injustice, author, member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
Who is William Edward Burghardt Du Bois?
300
She created the Laserphaco probe, which is a device that uses a small laser to remove cataracts from the eye. This invention revolutionized cataract surgery and it led to her posthumous induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2021.
Who is Dr. Patricia Bath?
300
This award-winning hip hop artist was the first to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show as a solo act.
Who is Kendrick Lamar?
300
While not the first, is recognized as the first female self-made millionaire in the U.S.
Who is Madam C.J. Walker?
300
Filmmaker and actor whose work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues.
Who is Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee?
300
This is the celebrated conductor of the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses and secret routes that helped enslaved people escape to freedom.
Who is Harriet Tubman?
400
Living in a high-crime neighborhood in 1966, she was looking for a way to be safe. That’s when she invented a security system that would give her a view of her front door.
Who is Marie Van Brittan Brown?
400
She is best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes and was awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 1997, at the age of 28, becoming one of the youngest ever recipients of the award.
Who is Kara Elizabeth Walker?
400
Considered America's first Black millionaire, having accumulated wealth through commerce and real estate in the mid-19th century.
Who is William Alexander Leidesdorff?
400
In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Who is Sidney Poitier?
400
Who is the first African American woman Supreme Court Justice?
Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
500
An African American inventor, made significant contributions to the development of the light bulb, particularly by improving the carbon filament, which made incandescent lighting more practical and affordable.
Who is Lewis Howard Latimer?
500
She is a contemporary visual artist best known as a painter of complex works using rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel. Her Portrait of Mnonja is featured at Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Who is Mickalene Thomas?
500
The first African American actress to win an Academy Award for best actress.
Who is Halle Berry?
500
First Black woman to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and an EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony).
Who is Whoopi Goldberg?
500
Symbolized Black resistance, who leveraged strategy and community power. In 1966, alongside Bobby Seale, he co-founded the Black Panther Party.
Who is Huey P. Newton?
