Sports
Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era when he signed on with which team?
Brooklyn Dodgers
Thomas L. Jennings was one of the first African Americans to be granted one of these, for his method of dry cleaning.
a patent
In 1993, this poet recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.
Maya Angelou
In February 1977 Clifford Alexander became the first black secretary of this oldest U.S. military branch
U.S. Army
This escaped slave became the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil War, when she guided the raid on Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people
Harriet Tubman
Wilt Chamberlain scored a record-making 100 points in a single basketball game while playing for which team?
the Philadelphia Warriors
The first African American self-made female millionaire, Madame C.J. Walker, made her fortune selling what?
beauty products
While a slave in 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African-American author of this type of written work
poetry
The World War II-era Black 332d Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps (aka The Tuskegee Airmen) included pilots from these two countries that occupy one Caribbean island
Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Marcus Garvey started the "Back to Africa Movement", and was later deported back to his homeland in this Caribbean island nation
Jamaica
Althea Gibson broke color barriers for future women of color in which two sports commonly played at country clubs
tennis and golf
Motorists today have inventor Garrett Morgan to thank for this 3-indicator intersection signaling device
the traffic light
In January 1955 this great contralto integrated the Metropolitan Opera
Marian Anderson
Although Harry Truman ended segregation in the Army in 1948, the last black regiment, the 24th infantry, was disbanded in October 1951, during this war
the Korean War
Feb. 1948 riots in Accra sparked a movement that led to this country's becoming one of Africa's first to boot the colonists
Ghana
1988 Olympic bronze medalist in ladies figure skating, orthopedic surgeon, and San Jose native Debi (Debra) Thomas once trained at this mall in South San Jose
Eastridge Mall
In 1940, Charles Drew's work on blood preservation techniques lead to his creation of these repositories
blood banks
American singer, actress and civil rights leader Lena Horne got her start singing at this famous Harlem nightclub in New York City at age 16
the Cotton Club
Prior to serving as the Supreme Court's first African American justice, this man founded the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and argued Brown v. Board of Education before the SCOTUS
Thurgood Marshall
Irene Morgan, who wouldn't move on an interstate bus in July 1944, pre-dated this woman's same action
Rosa Parks
One of the most memorable moments in Olympic history was when track stars Tommie Smith & John Carlos raised their fists in a Black Power salute in Mexico City in this year of escalated racial tensions six months after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
1968
In 1991, this became the first Black owned company to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange
BET
Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American poet to win this literary prize, in 1950
the Pulitzer
Kweisi Mfume left the House of Representatives to head this civil rights organization in February 1996
The NAACP
A vessel called this historic ship "of Liberia" left the U.S. in February 1820 carrying free blacks back to Africa
the Mayflower