Inspirational Words by African Americans
Who said: “It isn’t where you come from; it’s where you’re going that counts.”
Who is: Ella Fitzgerald, singer, The Queen of Jazz, First Lady of Song, famous for "scatting"
He became the first African American to graduate from West Point Military Academy in 1877
Who is: Henry O. Flipper, from Georgia
This 1954 unanimous U.S. Supreme Court case struck down the doctrine of "separate but equal" in the U.S. and ended racial segregation of public schools in U.S.
What is: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeaka, Kansas
This NYC postal worker created a guide booklet in 1936 (to 1966) to help African American travelers find safe places to eat, sleep, play and relax when traveling that would not subject them to the degrading treatment of racial segregation that existed in U.S.
Who is: Victor Hugo Green; the booklet: The Green Book
She is an African American elected to Summit's Common Council governing board in 2019
Who is: Susan Hairston
He wrote: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat?
Who is: James Mercer Langston Hughes, poet, social activist, and influential writer during the Harlem Renaissance
He became the first African American billionaire in the U.S., amassing his fortune with business holdings such as BET
Who is: Robert Johnson
This term describes the efforts to compensate individuals and groups for injustices caused by government practices, discriminatory laws and other injustices
What are: Reparations
He invented the clothes dryer in 1892
Who is: George T. Sampson... He earned 1st patent for automatic clothes dryer that did not use flames; this paved the way for today's electric dryer
He was the first African American police officer in Summit, N.J.
Who is: Julius Dillingham...He is also the father of Susan Hairston, member of the Summit Common Counil governing body
Who said: “Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
Who is: John Lewis, United States Representative to Congress, influential civil rights leader, freedom fighter, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) President
In 1978, she became the first African American female pilot to fly a commercial airliner
Who is: Jill Elaine Brown, Texas International Airlines
In 1955, Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat in the segregated section of a Montgomery, Alabama bus led to this historic event and fight against racial segregation
What is: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
This aerospace engineer invented the "Power Drencher," also known as The Super Soaker, in 1990
Who is: Lonnie G. Johnson
He was Summit's 1st Black Chief of Police and a lifelong resident of Summit. Joining the Summit Police Department as a patrol officer in 1955, he rose through the ranks, becoming Chief in 1993
Who is : Chief Lonnie Davis
Who said: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Who is: Barack Hussein Obama, lawyer, senator, son of America, first African American President of United States, #44, served 2009-2017
They became the first African American soldiers to successfully train and become one of the most skilled and heroic aviator pilots in U.S. military history
Who are: The Tuskegee Airmen
What is the significance of June 19, 1865 for African Americans living in Galvaston, Texas
What is: The date that the last remaining slaves in Texas found they had been freed - two years after the Civil War had ended. We now celebrate this day as Juneteenth.
The inventor of the first outdoor mailbox
Who is: Phillip Downing, in 1899
Her fiber optics research and experiments helped lead the way for the invention of the touch tone telephone and the fax machine
Who is: Shirley Anne Jackson, former Fountain Baptist member; she is also first African American women to earn a doctorate in nuclear physics at MIT
Who said: "One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one’s own."
Who is: James Baldwin, author, literary activist, play write, novelist - Go Tell it on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time
Author of the book, "Unbought and Unbossed," a Democrat, in 1972 she became the first African American woman to run for U.S. President
Who is: Ms. Shirley Chisholm. A fiery, outspoken advocate for justice and equality.
Why was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so important?
What is: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, color, or national origin in public places, schools, and employment.
In the 1930's, he invented automatic refrigerated air-cooling units for trucks, trains, ships, and planes, which helped in the preservation of food.
Who is: Frederick McKinley Jones. His work allows people to eat fresh food year-round, and also helped preserve blood and medicine during WW2.
This phenomenal woman and humble servant was a domestic worker who fought for racial equality, social justice, and voter rights. She was the founder of Summit, NJ's Fountain Baptist Church in 1898
Who is: Ms. Violet Johnson