Music
This genre, born in New Orleans, features improvisation and is considered America's classical music.
What is jazz?
This actor became the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "Lilies of the Field" (1963).
Who is Sidney Poitier?
Linguist Robert Williams coined the term "Ebonics" in 1973 to describe this language system, now more commonly referred to by a four-letter acronym.
What is AAVE (African American Vernacular English)?
This 1921 massacre in Oklahoma destroyed a prosperous Black community known as "Black Wall Street."
What is the Tulsa Race Massacre?
This agricultural scientist developed hundreds of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans at Tuskegee Institute.
Who is George Washington Carver?
This music genre originated in the Bronx in the 1970s and includes four elements: MCing, DJing, breaking, and graffiti.
What is hip-hop?
This groundbreaking 1970s sitcom, created by Norman Lear, featured a Black family in Chicago and starred Esther Rolle.
What is "Good Times"?
This word, meaning "cool" or "stylish," originated in Black communities and is now used worldwide.
What is "fly" (or "hip")?
This 1954 Supreme Court case declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
This woman's cancer cells, taken without her consent in 1951, became the first immortal human cell line used in medical research.
Who is Henrietta Lacks?
This vocalist holds the record for the most consecutive number-one Billboard Hot 100 hits with seven, from 1985 to 1988.
Who is Whitney Houston?
This director's films include "Do the Right Thing," "Malcolm X," and "BlacKkKlansman."
Who is Spike Lee?
This term, meaning to disrespect or insult someone, originated in Black communities and is now widely used in popular culture.
What is "diss"?
This 1955-1956 protest, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, lasted 381 days and ended segregation on public buses in Alabama's capital.
What is the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
This mathematician's calculations were critical to NASA's first human spaceflights, as depicted in the film "Hidden Figures."
Who is Katherine Johnson?
Known as the "Queen of Soul," this singer's hits include "Respect" and "Natural Woman."
Who is Aretha Franklin?
In 2018, this Marvel film became the first superhero movie to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
What is "Black Panther"?
This linguistic term describes the practice of switching between AAVE and Standard American English depending on the social setting.
What is code-switching?
This amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, officially abolished slavery.
What is the 13th Amendment?
This Black astronaut became the first African American woman to travel to space when she flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
Who is Dr. Mae C. Jemison?
This composer and bandleader led his orchestra for nearly 50 years and wrote "Take the 'A' Train" and "Mood Indigo."
Who is Duke Ellington?
This actress became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "Monster's Ball" (2001).
Who is Halle Berry?
The 1996 Oakland School Board resolution recognized this as a legitimate language system, sparking national debate.
What is Ebonics (or AAVE)?
This period after the Civil War, lasting from 1865 to 1877, saw the first Black elected officials and efforts to rebuild the South.
What is Reconstruction?
This physician performed the first successful open-heart surgery in 1893 at Provident Hospital in Chicago.
Who is Dr. Daniel Hale Williams?