Actors
She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Miss World 1986.
Halle Berry
attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017
Michelle Obama
American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion
George Washington Carver
American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.
Jackie Robinson
American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
Barack Obama
In 1964, he was the first African American actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Sidney Poitier
American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist.
Oprah Winfrey
She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Mae Jemison
specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history".
Jesse Owens
American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association.
Kobe Bryant
The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, rapper, and film producer.
Will Smith
She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court. The Women's Tennis Association ranked her singles world No. 1 on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017.
Serena Williams
almanac author, surveyor, landowner and farmer who had knowledge of mathematics and natural history.
Benjamin Banneker
American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at seven years old.
Arthur Ashe
American businessman and former professional basketball player.
Michael Jordan
American actor, director, and narrator. Noted for his distinctive deep voice.
Morgan Freeman
She is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide.
Whitney Houston
American scientist who made valuable contributions in the fields of medicine, philanthropy, food science, and astrochemistry.
Emmett Chappelle
American professional boxer, activist, entertainer, poet and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century
Muhammad Ali
professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber
Joe Louis
American actor, comedian, author, and television personality. A recipient of numerous accolades, she is one of 16 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award.
Whoopi Goldberg
Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul". Has won nine Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, and ten Billboard Music Awards.
American biologist, academic and science writer.
Ernest Everett Just
American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title.
Althea Gibson
He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records
Tiger Woods