Firsts
He was the first major league baseball player.
Who is Jackie Robinson?
This place entered the history books in 1965 when armed police officers attacked civil rights workers marching across a bridge in an incident known as "Bloody Sunday."
What is Selma, Alabama?
“Darkness can not drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Who is Dr. Martin Luther King, J.R.?
He is an actor, playwright, filmaker, and producer who breaks records with gospel themed films. He is also the first African American to own his own film studio.
Who is Tyler Perry?
This Sports star was named Time Magazine's Athlete of the Year because of his tireless activism, which includes spearheading the creation of More Than a Vote, a nonprofit aimed at thwarting voter suppression and motivating Black voters to make their voices heard at the polls.
Who is Lebron James?
He was the first golf champion in 1997.
James Meredith became the first African American to desegregate this historic Mississippi University.
What is Ole Miss? The University of Mississippi?
“I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.”
Who is Rosa Parks?
Born in New York City, he worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding his own record label, Bad Boy Records in 1993.
Who is Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs?
Nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, this 15-year-old did the same. On March 2, 1955, she was taking the bus home from high school when the driver ordered her to give up her seat. She refused, saying she paid her fare, and it was her constitutional right but was then arrested by two police officers.
Who is Claudette Colvin?
She was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Who is Toni Morrison?
This memorial is the "hallowed ground" of the Civil Rights Movement where Dr. Martin Luther King, J.R. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
What is the Lincoln Memorial?
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”
Who is Langston Hughes?
On Jan. 31, 1993, this pop icon became the first Black man to perform by himself during the halftime show at a Super Bowl. The performance began with actor James Earl Jones voicing his introduction.
Who is Michael Jackson?
Author of the famous speech "Ain't I a Woman," this ex-slave and fiery abolitionist, is regarded, alongside Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Tubman, as a radical of immense and enduring influence.
Who is Sojournor Truth?
Who is Sidney Poitier?
The Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in schools in its landmark 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. This school was the center of that case.
What is Little Rock Central High School?
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Who is Barack Obama?
He is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label.
Who is Lil Wayne?
She is the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate, and was asked to read her poem "The Hill We Climb" during the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20.
Who is Amanda Gorman?
She was the first African American Miss America.
Who is Vanessa Williams?
Unveiled in February 2018, the Kenard Washington Freedom Trail Marker on the Mississippi Freedom Trail memorializes Clyde Kennard. He was the first African-American student to apply for admission to this University. He was denied not once but twice in both 1955 and 1959.
What is the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS?
"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
Who is Michael Jordan?
He was known sometimes by his stage name Makaveli. Much of his music has been noted for addressing contemporary social issues that plagued inner cities, and he is considered a symbol of activism against inequality.
Who is Tupac Shakur?
He was an American professional basketball player who was drafted at 17. He and his wife started a foundation to drastically reduce the number of homeless in Los Angeles.
Who is Kobe Bryant?