Black Firsts
It was this year that Barack Obama became the first African American to be RE-elected President of the United States.
What is 2012?
Go nuts for this culinary genius! Kids around the world (looking at you, Naeem) have this Black inventor to thank for the peanut butter in their beloved PB&J's.
Who is George Washington Carver?
"To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time."
Who is James Baldwin?
This prominent lawyer became the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967.
Who is Thurgood Marshall?
"Say it loud! I'm Black and I'm proud!"
Who is James Brown?
In 1869, this university became the country's first Black law school.
What is Howard University?
Benjamin Banneker was a prominent Black almanac author and land surveyor most known for helping design the city of Washington, DC, and for inventing this convenient device in 1753.
Hint: You might glance at it in a panic before rushing to work. Pre-Corona, that is.
What is the clock?
"The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman."
Who is Malcolm X?
This landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision ruled unanimously that segregation of public schools based on race was unconstitutional, marking a turning point for race relations in the US.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
Lauryn Hill was once a part of which group?
Who are the Fugees?
She was the first African American woman millionaire.
In 1923, a Black inventor and community leader named Garrett Morgan invented this traffic control system that you might want to use highways to avoid.
What are traffic lights?
"When children attend schools that place a greater value on discipline and security than on knowledge and intellectual development, they are attending prep schools for prison."
Hint: She's been a political activist since the 1970s and continues to call for prison reform & defunding of the police to this day.
Who is Dr. Angela Davis?
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an open letter to the public saying that people have the moral right to break unjust laws in the pursuit for justice from a jail in this southern city.
What is Birmingham?
During her record-breaking Coachella Homecoming performance, Beyonce brought out this fellow singer to dance with her to her hit song, "Get Me Bodied".
Who is Solange?
He was the first African American to have his own TV show.
Who is Nat King Cole?
Next time you're vacuuming your carpet, remember to thank this Black inventor, George Crum, for creating this tasty snack that tends to leave a mess behind.
What is the potato chip?
"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."
Hint: Athlete
Who is Kobe Bryant?
This 1862 Supreme Court decision ruled the notion of "separate but equal" to be constitutional, resulting in restrictive Jim Crow legislation and separate accommodations based on race becoming commonplace.
What is Plessy v. Ferguson?
This Jamaican DJ is best known as the "Father of Hip-Hop" for helping to originate hip-hop music in the Bronx in the 1970s through his "Back to School Jam," hosted at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue.
Who is DJ Kool Herc?
(Or Clive Campbell)
Heralded as the "Father of the Harlem Renaissance" and author of the 1925 publication The New Negro, he also holds the title of being the first Black Rhodes Scholar.
Who is Alain Locke?
Philip B. Downing, a Black inventor, is responsible for the invention of this drop box with a hinged door that closes to protect it's contents.
What is the mailbox?
"But race is the child of racism, not the father."
Hint: Writer and journalist
Who is Ta-Nehisi Coates?
Newly freed slaves in the late 1800s often found themselves trapped in yet another unjust system called convict leasing or "slavery by another name", which exploited Black prisoners for unpaid labor by leasing them out to private railways, mines, and large plantations to work under inhumane and often deadly conditions. This was made possible by the exploitation of the 13th Amendment, which prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, except in the case of these people.
What are criminals?
This "gang" made it big when their almost 15-minute long song became the first mainstream rap song in 1980.
Name the group and the song.
What is Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang?