Activists
She utilized her music to directly address racism, Black identity, and social injustice through anthems like "To Be Young, Gifted and Black".
Nina Simone
She created her "own" television network after the longtime success of her talkshow that took place in Chicago, Ill.
Oprah Winfrey
Rosa Parks made her refusal to move from her bus seat in this year
1955
This 1969 autobiography describes the young and early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
She was the first female vice president in American history, the highest-ranking female official in US history.
Kamala Harris
She was the first black Congresswoman, and in 1972 she ran for President and won 151 delegates at the Democratic Convention.
Shirley Chisholm
This American singer's song "I Will Always Love You" is the best-selling single of all time by a woman.
Whitney Houston
Ketanji Brown Jackson made history as the first Black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in this year
2022
She was the first African American writer to have her poetry published.
Phillis Wheatley
She was the first African American woman to be appointed to Secretary of State.
Condoleezza Rice
This woman was a co-founder of many organizations such as the NAACP, National Association of College Women, and National Association of Colored Women - where she also served as its first president.
Mary Church Terrell
These tennis-playing sisters have won a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam doubles titles
Venus and Serena Williams
In this year, Charlotte E. Ray became the first African-American female lawyer to be accepted into the Bar in the United States.
1872
At the fore of the Harlem Renaissance, this artist was known for being a poet, painter, theater designer, and sculptor of the Black American experience.
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
She was the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field
Wilma Glodean Rudolph
Born in 1852, this journalist wrote many pieces investigating and documenting the injustices against African Americans along the East coast.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
She is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny's Child.
Beyonce Knowles
This school in New Orleans became the first to desegregate after Ruby Bridges attended in 1960.
William Frantz Elementary School
In 1982, she published the novel The Color Purple, for which she was awarded the National Book Award for hardcover fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Alice Walker
She became the first African-American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
Dr. Mae Jemison
The first Black African woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in environmental conservation
Wangari Maathai
With 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals, this athlete holds the title as being the single most decorated gymnast in history
Simone Biles
This law secured the right for black women to vote in the US.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
She helped black artists and disadvantaged children while winning 13 Grammys and being honored as the "First Lady of Song.
Ella Jane Fitzgerald
She was the first woman to be appointed director of the Peace Corps.
Carolyn R. Payton