Politicians and Activists
This politician moved to Chicago in 1985 to work for a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.
In 1991 he, graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.
United States senator for the state of Illinois.
On January 14, 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that he hd begun assembling a team for a 2008 presidential campaign to be headquartered in Chicago.
Who is Barack Obama
Trumpeter, bandleader, singer, soloist, film star and comedian. Considered one of the most influential artists in jazz history, he is known for songs like "Star Dust," "La Vie En Rose" and "What a Wonderful World."
Who is Louie Armstrong
Delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech first in Detroit, before taking it to Washington
Who is Martin Luther King Jr.
Former talk show host. LIFE magazine listed her as both the most influential woman and the most influential black person of her generation
Who is Oprah Winfrey
The first African-American to play in the Major League Baseball in the modern era. He played with the Dodgers.
Who is Jackie Robinson
Dubbed by the U.S. Congress as the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement"
Started the Montgomery bus riot
Who is Rosa Parks
Poet, writer, play write. Born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. This man published his first poem, ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ (1921), his first book, The Weary Blues (1926), to launch his career as a writer
Who is Langston Hughes
This man invented an automatic lubricator for oiling steam engines in 1872
Who is Elijah McCoy
Blind at birth, famous singer, song-writer, record producer, musician and social activist. Famous songs such as "Isn't she lovely" and "Sir Duke."
Who is Stevie Wonder
Also a social activist and philanthropist, he was the first boxer to win the world heavyweight championship three times.
Who is Muhammad Ali
Civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential candidate (1941–) became one of the most influential African-Americans of the late 20th century. He rose to prominence working within Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and was at the Memphis hotel with King when he was assassinated.
Who is Jesse Jackson
A writer, best known for her first work, an autobiography, called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
The first African-American woman admitted to the Directors Guild of America.
Who is Maya Angelou
Founded by Barry Gordy in 1959, this company became one of the most successful black-owned companies in the nation, and cultivated the careers of music greats such as Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
What is Motown Records
This actor has appeared in several notable films throughout the 1990s, including Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), Philadelphia (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Courage Under Fire (1996) and The Hurricane (1999), for which he received a Golden Globe for Best Actor and another Oscar nomination.
Who is Denzel Washington
This female athlete has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic Gold Medal in women’s doubles.
Who is Serena Williams
first black congresswoman and began the first of seven terms. She became one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969
Who is Shirley Chisholm
This artist was given the name "the godfather of soul"
Who is James Brown
This event lasted five days and left 43 dead and 467 injured; it is reputed to have deepened the divide between whites and blacks in Detroit, instigate a frantic spike in “white flight” out of the city, and created extremist groups within each racial group.
What are the 1943 riots
Award-winning comedian, actress and human rights advocate, as well as the longtime host of the daytime talk show 'The View.'
Whoopi Goldberg
This track and field athlete, born in Danville, Alabama had a 26 ft 8 in long jump that was not broken until 1960. At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, he disproved for the world Adolf Hitler's proclamation of ‘Aryan supremacy’ by achieving the finest one-day performance in track history with four gold medals (100 m, 200 m, 4 x 100 m, long jump), and Hitler left the stadium to avoid having to congratulate an African-American.
Who is Jesse Owens
In 1967, he became the first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice. He won the Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the Supreme Court ended racial segregation in public schools.
Who is Thurgood Marshall
American rapper actor, and Activist. Debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar? and maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, after which he gained mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians.
Who is Common
In 1974, this man was elected as the first black mayor of Detroit.
Who is Coleman Young
The first black actor to be nominated and to win an Academy Award for The Defiant Ones (1958) and Lilies of the Field (1963) respectively.
Who is Sidney Poitier
Became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics.
Who is Wilma Rudolph