Musicians
Famous for his trumpet playing and iconic gravely singing voice, this musician is one of the most famous Jazz artists of all time.
Louis Armstrong
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
This Civil Rights attorney became the first Black American to serve on the Supreme Court in 1967.
Thurgood Marshall
Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. His number ___ was officially retired by all Major League Baseball teams in 1997.
42
This woman was a Pulitzer and Nobel-prize winning novelist who wrote 11 books, 2 novellas, and multiple plays. Some of her most famous works include Sula, Beloved, and God Help the Child.
Toni Morrison
The Queen of Soul herself - singer, songwriter, pianist, and one of the best-selling artists of all time. She definitely gets the R-E-S-P-E-C-T that her prolific career deserves!
Aretha Franklin
“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
Malcom X
This Spelman College graduate and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate is a prominent voting rights activist fighting against voter suppression in America. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
Stacey Abrams
This female gymnast has won 11 medals at the Olympics, making her the most decorated American Gymnast of all time.
Simone Biles
One of the first three Black students to attend West Virginia University after integration, she was a brilliant mathematician who played a vital role in multiple projects at NASA, notably Alan Shepard and John Glenn's missions. The film Hidden Figures is partially based on her story.
Katherine Johnson
This hip-hop trio originally from Queens became the first group to have a platinum and multi-platinum hip-hop album with 1986's "Raising Hell".
Run-DMC
This trailblazing female journalist was a cofounder of the NAACP, spoke out against the horrific violence of the Jim Crow South, and was a leading voice in the Woman's Suffrage movement.
Ida B. Wells
In 1969, she became the first Black woman Congressman, representing Brooklyn (Bed-Stuy and parts of Williamsburg and Crown Heights). She also served as a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971.
Shirley Chisholm
Comedian and creator of the hit show Abbott Elementary, she made history at 2022 Emmy Awards by becoming the first Black woman to be nominated 2 times in the comedy category: one for writing, one for producing, and one for acting.
Quinta Brunson
This former art teacher turned professional artist is famous for her vibrantly colored and richly patterned works. One of her most famous abstract pieces, "Resurrection" (from her "Earth Paintings" series), was added to the White House's permanent art collection in 2014.
Alma Thomas
Often referred to as "The Queen of Motown", she was a member of The Supremes before embarking on her solo artist career as well as earning an Oscar nominee for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the film "Lady Sings the Blues"
Diana Ross
This prominent 19th century abolitionist and orator once said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
Frederick Douglass
One of the leaders of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, this activist led the march from Selma to Montgomery that helped influence the passing of the Voting Rights Act. He later served as a Georgia Congressman from 1986-2020 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
John Lewis
This actor has appeared in films/TV shows such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Rogue One, Andor, and Black Panther. He is also renowned for his humanitarian work, and has been recognized as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and co-founded the International Institute for Peace at Rutgers University-Newark.
Forest Whitaker
A professor at Howard University, this man has authored 11 New York Times Bestsellers, including "How to Be An Antiracist", and was named one of Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2020.
Ibram X. Kendi
This legendary Jazz singer who frequently collaborated with greats like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong became the first Black artist to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in 1972.
Ella Fitzgerald
This activist was one of the leaders of the Gay Liberation movement following the 1969 Stonewall Riots, and cofounded STAR and STAR House, an organization dedicated to helping homeless transgender youths. Her sculpture, dedicated in 2021, was the first sculpture of a transgender individual in New York City.
Marsha P. Johnson
A prominent minister and Civil Rights Activist in the 1960s, this man became the second Black man to officially run for the Presidency, nearly winning the Democratic nominations in both 1984 and 1988.
This man was the first Black actor both to be nominated for an Academy Award (1957) and to win an Academy Award (1963).
Sidney Poitier
This contemporary painter who resides in Brooklyn is a highly regarded portrait artist, known for his large scale paintings of African Americans in poses based on famous images from the history of Western Art. He also completed the official portrait of President Barack Obama, which now resides at the Smithsonian.
Kehinde Wiley