Political Action
What supreme court marshal is known for his efforts in arguing and winning the Brown vs. Board of Education case?
Thurgood Marshall
He was a mathematician and astronomer. Stories about him include a range of science details, including a clock he carved from wood (possibly the first clock in the U.S.), his successful prediction of the 1789 solar eclipse, and his role as a surveyor when the territory for Washington D.C. was being mapped. He also wrote and published an almanac, yearly, between 1792 and 1797.
Benjamin Banneker
Who was the first female self-made millionaire in the United States and invented a line of hair care and cosmetics products for Black consumers?
Madame CJ Walker
What is the highest-grossing film in history by a black director?
“Black Panther” directed by Ryan Coogler
In 2017, Nigerian American portrait painter Kehinde Wiley made history when he became the first Black artist to paint an official presidential portrait of which president.
President Barak Obama
What Civil Rights Activist served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district, participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins and the Freedom Rides, was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and led the first three of the Selma to Montgomery marches?
John Lewis
The subject of a TV movie and a Rockwell painting. In 1960 she made history by integrating into an all-white school in New Orleans at age 6.
Ruby Bridges
The first African American U.S. patent recipient was working as a tailor and businessman in New York City when he invented a process for dry-cleaning delicate clothing known as “dry-scouring.” He applied for a patent in 1820 and received his history-making approval the following year. With the money he earned from his invention, the formerly enslaved person both donated to abolitionist causes and even reportedly freed his still-enslaved family members.
Thomas L. Jennings
The title characters of this 2020 film set in the 1960s are an FBI informant and Black Panther leader Fred Hampton
Judas and the Black Messiah
Jacob Lawrence was born in New Jersey in 1918. At just 23 years old, he completed his Migration Series. This colorful collection of paintings tells the story of the ______, a mass exodus of over 6 million African Americans fleeing the segregated South to urbanized areas across the country.
The Great Migration
Which musician/songwriter pioneered multiple genres and produced music that became anthems for social change?
Bob Marley
An MIT alum, who was the first woman (and African-American woman) to achieve a PhD in mechanical engineering at Howard University and the first African-American woman to achieve a PhD in engineering at the NASA GSFC? In January of 2024, she was nominated by President Biden to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology.
Dr. Aprille J. Ericsson
Before he developed the automatic refrigeration equipment used in long-haul trucks transporting perishables in the late 1940s, the only way to keep food cold en route to delivery destinations was by using ice. Thanks to his invention, grocery stores were able to buy and sell products (many of which you probably purchase regularly) from far distances without the risk of them spoiling during transport. Jones’ technology was also used to transport blood during World War II.
Frederick McKinley Jones
Which singer has won multiple Grammys and is remembered as the “queen of jazz”?
Nina Simone
She became the first graduate of Howards new fine arts department and became the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Alma Thomas
Who was the chairman of the Black Panther Party of Illinois at the age of 21 (was murdered by the police the same year) and helped organize the BPP Free Breakfast Program, which provided free breakfast for children before school?
Fred Hampton
He invented the first electrical resistor, a part now used in many common devices, including computers and televisions. He received his first patent in 1959 for a wire precision resistor. In 1964, he developed a resistor that made the first implantable pacemaker possible.
Otis Boykin
A true visionary, She became the first female African American medical doctor to receive a medical patent when she invented a laser cataract treatment device called a Laserphaco Probe in 1986. (She was also the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology.) The co-founder of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness patented her invention in 1988.
Dr. Patricia Bath
Who was a founding father of funk and one of the most important American musicians of all time. He was a music icon and innovator. He was popularly referred to as the "Godfather of Soul."
James Brown
He helped pioneer and popularize street art first with the tag SAMO(Same old Sh-t). He brought graffiti into the gallery, first in exclusive group shows and eventually as a sought-after solo artist.
Michael Basquiat
Who is a graduate of Harvard University, the youngest Poet Laureate in history, and is the first person to be named the National Youth Poet Laureate?
Amanda Gorman
Who was the first black woman to achieve a doctoral degree at MIT and what was her field of study?
Hint: She is also the second African American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics.
Shirley Ann Jackson in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics
Also a New York City resident, She created an early version of the modern home security system more than a century later. Feeling unsafe due to her neighborhood’s high crime rate, the full-time nurse rigged a motorized camera to record her home entryway and project images onto a TV monitor. Also included in her setup was a two-way microphone in order to communicate with visitors without opening the door, as well as a panic button to notify police of any potential emergency in progress. After filing to patent the closed circuit TV security system in 1966, she received her approval in December 1969.
Marie Van Brittan Brown
It wasn't Elvis that first rocked 'n' rolled—it was _______. Her blending of gospel, blues, jazz and swing established her unique and upbeat sound that she would carry through her career. In the '40s, she introduced her jazzy electric guitar style to the stage, which in later decades would dub her "the Godmother of rock 'n' roll."
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
He is known for his black-and-white photographs of Afro-textured hair tenderly capture the complexity and beauty of Black culture across the diaspora.
J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere