Authors
This acclaimed American poet, author, and activists was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. Her most famous work "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," was published in 1969. Who is she?
Who is Maya Angelou?
Black History Month is celebrated in February to coincide with the birthdays of two men in particular. Who are the two men?
Who is Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass?
She became the first female rapper to achieve six consecutive platinum-certified albums, proving sustained commercial success for women in hip hop. She pushed innovation forward. Her music and visuals felt futuristic, playful, and fearless. She proved that originality could still thrive at the highest level. Who is she?
Who is Missy Elliot?
Growing up in Massachusetts as part of the Black elite, it wasn’t until attending Fisk University in Tennessee that issues of racial prejudice came to his attention. He studied Black America and wrote some of the earliest scientific studies on Black communities, calling for an end to racism. His thesis, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870 remains an authoritative work on the subject. The horrific lynching of Sam Hose in 1899 prompted him to begin writing The Souls of Black Folk. Calling for organized action and an end to segregation, Jim Crow laws, and political disenfranchisement in America, the prophetic work was not well received at the time of its publication. He eventually went on to help to establish the NAACP where he became editor of its newspaper the Crisis, and a well-known spokesman for the cause. Who is he?
Who is W.E.B. Du Bois?
This American politician served as the 44th President of the United Stated from 209 to 201. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. He previously served as U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008. Who is he?
Who is Barack Obama?
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois her family faced housing segregation and racial discrimination, inspiring her lifelong commitment to activism. She published an array of short stories, essays, poetry, and plays. Her play " A Raisin in the Sun," broke barriers on Broadway when in premiered in March 1959. Who is she?
Who is Lorraine Hansberry?
Black History Month was made a national holiday in 1976, when which president recognized BHM, and it became the month-long celebration that we know today? Who is the president?
Who is Gerald Ford?
He had the first music video by a Black artist in heavy rotation on MTV with “Billie Jean,” helping break a major racial barrier in mainstream video exposure and changing how pop music was marketed. His ability to blend sound, performance, and visuals turned pop into a worldwide movement. Who is he?
Who is Michael Jackson?
He was known for pursuing universal truths through his writing. A literary critic, writer, and scholar, he taught at a variety of colleges and spent two years overseas as a Fellow of the American Academy. To transcend the starkly defined racial categories of the 1950s, he was sometimes criticized for choosing white society over his African American identity. Identifying as an artist first, he rejected the notion that one should stand for a particular ideology, refuting both Black and white stereotypes in his collection of political, social, and critical essays titled Shadow and Act. However, it was his first novel that established his place as an important literary figure in America. Published in 1952, the first lines of Invisible Man struck a chord with hundreds of thousands of readers. Who is he?
Who is Ralph Ellison?
Besides being one of the first African-American computer engineers in Silicon Valley, he also known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console, leading the team that refined ROM cartridges for durable use as commercial video game cartridges. His innovations in this area led to his being considered the father of the game cartridge. Who is he?
Who is Gerald Anderson Lawson?
Best known for his reflections on his experience as an openly gay Black man in white America, his novels, essays, and poetry make him a social critic who shared the pain and struggle of Black Americans. He caught the attention of fellow writer Richard Wright who helped him secure a grant to support himself as a writer. He left to live in Paris at age 24 and went on to write "Go Tell it on the Mountain", which was published in 1953, a novel unlike anything written to date. Who is he?
Who is James Baldwin?
Known for being one of the first African American regiments to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. After arriving in France their name was changed to the Black Rattlers by its commander Colonel William Hayward. Who were they and what was their original name?
What is the 369th Infantry Regiment?
He became the first Black artist ever to win the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by A Duo or Group with Vocal for “Purple Rain,” beating rock acts in a traditionally white genre category. He blurred the lines between rock, funk, pop, and soul while controlling his artistry on his own terms. His influence lives on in artists who refuse to be boxed in. Who is he?
Who is Prince?
His writing on the struggle of African Americans inspired nationwide interest in genealogy and popularized Black history. Best known for The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the novel Roots, he began his writing career freelancing. His big break came when Playboy magazine assigned him to interview Miles Davis. Who was he?
Who is Alex Haley?
She made call waiting in 1976 along with touch-tone phones, fax machines and even caller ID. Who is she?
Who is Shirley Ann Jackson?
In a genre known for being traditionally white and male, she broke new ground in science fiction as an African American woman. Born in California in 1947, she was an avid reader despite having dyslexia, was a storyteller by 4, and began writing at the age of 10. Drawn to science fiction because of its boundless possibilities for imagination, she was quickly frustrated by the lack of people she could identify with, so she decided to create her own identity. One of her best-known novels "Kindred," published in 1979, tells the story of a Black woman who must travel back in time to save her own life by saving a white, slaveholding ancestor. Who is she?
Who is Octavia Butler?
This American politician, businessman, and banker of great influence in Texas during the late nineteenth century. Part of the Black and Tan faction, by 1892 he was elected to the Republican Party of Texas's state executive committee, as a temporary chairman in 1896, and as a permanent state chairman in 1898. Historians say it was the first black-owned bank in Texas? Who was the owner of the bank and gentleman described?
Who is Willliam Madison McDonald?
He released what many music historians call one of the first true funk songs with “Cold Sweat,” a track that helped define funk as its own genre and laid the groundwork for hip-hop sampling culture. His hard drums, tight rhythms, and emphasis on groove created funk and quietly built the backbone of hip-hop. Who is he?
Who is James Brown?
A preeminent Black female writer in the United States. It’s said that her apartment was a popular spot for social gatherings with the well-known artists of the time like Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes. With more than 50 published novels, short stories, plays and essays, she wrote her most famous work Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937. Who is she?
Who is Zora Neale Hurston?
Not only was he the most iconic figure in jazz, but this artists’ evolution took him to rock, funk, and even hip hop. He represented the ever-changing musical landscape of America. Who is he?
Who is Miles Davis?
Born in 1934 this poet, writer and political activist used his writing as a weapon against racism and became one of the most widely published African American writers. Known for his social criticism and incendiary style, he explored the anger of Black Americans and advocated scientific socialism. His writing career spanned nearly fifty years. Who is he?
Who is Amiri Baraka?
The first African American and Native American sculptor to achieve national and then international prominence. She began to gain prominence in the United States during the Civil War at the end of the 19th century, she remained the only Black woman artist who had participated in and been recognized to any extent by the American artistic mainstream. In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante named her on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. Who is she?
Who is Edmonia Lewis?
She is most awarded artist in Grammy history (35 wins) and as of 2025, became the first Black woman to win Best Country Album, breaking barriers in country music and celebrating Black American roots. Who is she?
Who is Beyonce?
Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist considered the voice of African American women. she had published The Bluest Eye in 1970 and Sula in 1973, The Song of Solomon was the book that set her on the course of literary success. It became the first work by an African American author since Native Son by Richard Wright to be a featured selection in the Book-of-the-Month Club. Who is she?
Who is Toni Morrison?
Who is the founder of the vending machines most famous cookie? Founded in 1975 in LA, the brand began as a hobby. Using his aunt's chocolate cookie recipe to create cookies that were so popular he opened his first store with $25,000 start-up funds. Who is he?
Who is Wally Amos?