Leaders
A community organizer, Editor of the Harvard Law Review, U.S. Senator, and the first African-American President of the United States.
Who is Barack Obama?
He has performed countless acts of charity through his family foundation including founding a school in Akron, OH. He won 4 NBA Championships and 4 MVP awards.
Lebron James
She founded a charity to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and a charity to empower girls through education and healthcare. She has sold over 200 million records worldwide. Her song "Single Ladies" is one of the best selling songs of all time.
Beyonce Knowles
Lewis Howard Latimer was a brilliant inventor who contributed to two of the most important inventions of the 20th century. One of the inventions lights up the room and the other allows people who are separated by great distances to talk to each other.
Light Bulb and Telephone
This rap group hails from the East 90's and St. Clair in Cleveland. They were discovered by Eazy-E and became one of the biggest musical groups of the 1990's. Their biggest hit was "Tha Crossroads".
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
A minister and peaceful protester who led the struggle for freedom and equality during the Civil Rights Movement.
Martin Luther King Jr.
He was widely considered an amazing father to his 4 daughters. He led the Lakers to 5 NBA Championships, and once scored 81 points in a single game.
Kobe Bryant
In 2017 he bailed fathers out of prison for Father's Day. He uses his $1 Billion fortune to support a lot of good causes including reforming prisons and the bail system. This rapper and businessman was raised in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn.
Jay-Z
Garrett Morgan was the son of freed slaves and only received an elementary school education. He liked learning about how machines worked which led him to invent a new sewing machine and a breathing device. He used his breathing device to make a heroic rescue in Cleveland. He is most famous for inventing this widely used device to control traffic.
Traffic Light
Larry Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1947 – three months after Jackie Robinson signed with the National League Brooklyn Dodgers – he broke the color barrier for the American League. He and teammate Satchel Paige were the first African-Americans to win what?
A World Series
He led a free drug rehabilitation program, preached black empowerment, and was a leader of the Nation of Islam during the Civil Rights Movement.
Malcolm X
He was a Civil Rights Leader, a protester against war, and a philosopher. He was Heavyweight Champion of the World. He is widely considered one of the greatest boxers ever.
Muhammad Ali
He was a poet, actor and rapper in the 1990's. He financed a center for at-risk youth, youth sports teams, and a helpline for youth. His most famous poem is 'The Rose That Grew from Concrete'.
Tupac Shakur
Madame C.J. Walker was born on a plantation to recently freed slaves, and was orphaned at the age of 7. She grew up to invent an extremely successful line of hair care products. She also was crucial in the Harlem Renaissance with her financial support, and she helped to financially empower many black women. She is the first African-American to reach this level of wealth.
Millionaire
Model, actress, film producer. The Cleveland native is the first African-American to win a best-actress Oscar, for "Monster's Ball." She has also appeared in "Die Another Day", "Catwoman", and the "X-Men" movies and paid tribute to another notable Clevelander in the film "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge."
Halle Berry
She was known as Moses of the Underground Railroad.
Harriet Tubman
He founded the Amer-I-Can program which helps young people who are struggling with gang violence. He is widely considered one of the greatest football players ever. He was a running back for the Cleveland Browns in the 1950's and 1960's.
Jim Brown
A spiritual inspiration to millions. He educated the world about Pan-Africanism and Rastafarianism through his music. He was an international reggae superstar in the 1970's.
Bob Marley
Lonnie Johnson won the Alabama state science fair in high school when he invented a robot. He went on to work on the stealth bomber with the Air Force, nuclear power with NASA, and making green energy more affordable. He is most famous for inventing one of the best selling toys of all time. It is this "super" water gun.
Super Soaker
Toni Morrison was originally a Lorain native and she was a novelist, editor and professor emeritus at Princeton University – as well as a Nobel and Pulitzer prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Some of her books include "Beloved", "Song of Solomon", and "The Bluest Eye". The Pulitzer Prize is the highest honor for what profession?
Author
She worked sewing clothes and as a secretary for the NAACP, until her brave actions sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and she is now remembered as the "Mother of the Freedom Movement."
Rosa Parks
She built a school in Kenya, developed a foundation that provides education and community development, and created a Nursing Scholarship. She is a tennis superstar. She has won 23 Grand Slam titles.
Serena Williams
She started a scholarship foundation in honor of her late brother. She is the first hip-hop artist to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, won a Grammy. This "Queen" began beat boxing and rapping in the 1980's.
Queen Latifah
He was born a slave, was kidnapped as an infant, and was repeatedly denied education. He was determined and became the first black student at Iowa State. He then became a brilliant botanist, an adviser to Teddy Roosevelt and Gandhi, as well as an educational leader. He is most famous for inventing over 300 different uses for the peanut.
George Washington Carver
Adolf Hitler's myth of "Aryan Supremacy" was smashed by a kid from Cleveland. A great runner, but also more than an athlete, the East Technical High School grad won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The feat spoiled Hitler's grand visions of the games as a showcase for the Third Reich and made him an international star.
Jesse Owens