Inventor
Historic Events
Who am I?
Activists
Pop Culture
100
Alexander Miles got a patent for an important safety improvement to the elevator in 1887. What was it?
What is an automatic door closing mechanism? Prior to this, if a careless elevator operator forget to open or close or shaft, a passenger could fall through and be injured (or die).
100
This prosperous black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the turn of the 20th century consisted of 35 city blocks of black-owned businesses. What was it called?
What is Black Wall Street?
100
A graduate of Wellesley and Yale Law, she was sworn in as the first female Black American judge in 1939.
Who is Jane Bolin?
100
This journalist and activist exposed the unjust mob violence and lynchings of the South toward Black men.
Who is Ida B Wells?
100
Who was the first black woman to win Best Actress at the Oscars?
Who is Halle Berry? She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Monster’s Ball (2002). She is still the only black woman to win this award.
200
Lonnie Johnson invented what summer toy that no water fight should be without?
What is the Super Soaker? Lonnie Johnson was an engineer in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was attempting to make an environmentally friendly heat pump that used water instead of freon.
200
Black Wall Street would be destroyed after racial tensions boiled over, leading to this massacre which took over 300 lives.
What is the Tulsa Race Massacre?
200
What famous athlete publicly debunked Hitler’s Master Race Theory during the 1936 Olympic Games by winning four gold medals in track and field events?
Who is Jesse Owens?
200
Who is known as the "first lady of struggle"?
Mary McLeod Bethune was a civil rights activist, womanist, and educator. She worked with FDR and was invited to be a member of his cabinet.
200
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This Neo-Expressionist's Untitled sold for over $10 million, the largest sum ever paid at auction for work by an American artist.
Who is Jean Michel Basquiat? Basquiat died at the age of 27, leaving a significant stamp on the art world.
300
What types of products did Madam C.J. Walker invent?
What are hair care products? She was the first black millionaire due to her line of hair care products catered to black hair.
300
This holiday commemorates enslaved populations learning of the Emancipation Proclamation
What is Juneteenth?
300
For her work on the hit sitcom "Abbott Elementary," this actress now holds the title of the first Black woman (solo) to win an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in For a Comedy Series.
Who is Quinta Brunson?
300
Whose fight with the police led to Marsha P. Johnson throwing a brick that started the Stonewall Uprising?
Stormé DeLarverie was a lesbian activist and drag king. Her fight with the police on June 28, 1969 ignited the fight that led to Marsha P. Johnson to throw a brick in the Stonewall Uprising.
300
Who was the first to sing one of Elvis’s biggest hits, Hound Dog?
Who was Big Mama Thorton? She was the first to record the song Hound Dog. She also wrote and performed one of Janis Joplin’s biggest hits Ball and Chain.
400
Alice H. Parker is one reason your house stays warm during the winter. What did she invent?
What is the furnace? Her patent in 1919 used natural gas to control the temperature in each room of the house.
400
When was the last school desegregated in the US?
In May 2016, a federal judge ordered the town Cleveland, Mississippi to join the two high schools that were separated by race. The district attempted to appeal but failed, leading this school, Cleveland High, to be the last school to be desegregated.
400
Known as the first queen of drag, he was the first person to lead a queer resistance group in the US.
Who is William Dorsey Swann? He hosted drag balls and parties for formerly enslaved men in the 1880's and 1890's.
400
Congressman and Civil Rights activist John Lewis coined what phrase that became his rallying cry?
What is "good trouble"? Lewis died in 2020 after serving 33 years in Congress. He helped organize the March on Washington and was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
400
She put that thing down, flipped it, and reversed it. From Supa Dupa Fly to Supa Dupa goated, this artist has a record breaking six platinum albums.
Who is Missy Elliott?
500
Noticing how tough ice cream could be to serve, Alfred L. Cralle invented this to help the process.
What is the ice cream scoop?
500
This historic Supreme Court Case struck down laws banning interracial marriage.
What is Loving V. Virginia (1967)?
500
He was a groundbreaking director in Hollywood and photojournalist in the 60’s and 70’s.
Who is Gordon Parks? Notable films include Shaft and The Learning Tree. Prominent in the Civil Rights movement, his photojournalism revealed issues of racial inequality, poverty, and urban life.
500
This Time Magazine Person of the Year created the #MeToo movement and thus a community for survivors.
Who is Tarana Burke?
500
Audra is the only person to win a Tony Award in all four major acting categories. Name one of her award-winning roles or the show they were in.
What is Carousel (Carrie Pipperidge), Master Class (Sharon), Ragtime (Sarah), Raisin in the Sun (Ruth Younger), Porgy and Bess (Bess), Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (Billie Holiday)?