Take A Peek At And Learn More About Some Of The Most Extraordinary African Americans Who Helped To Change The World For The Better
Learn, celebrate, and honor African American leaders who made sacrifices and suffered so that future generations would not have to.
Black History Month, also known as African American History Month, is an annual observance that began in the United States. It has been recognized by governments in the United States and Canada and has recently been observed in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
It began as a way to commemorate significant people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is observed in the United States and Canada in February, while it is celebrated in Ireland and the United Kingdom in October.
Black professors and students at Kent State University suggested declaring February as Black History Month in 1969. A year later, the first-ever celebration was held at Kent State University.
The event allowed Americans to focus on the vital roles played by African Americans in shaping U.S. history. Black History Month is now officially recognized by governments in Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
When it was first established, Black History Month sparked considerable debate. Those who believed that Black History Month should be limited to educational institutions questioned whether it was fair to confine it to one month rather than integrating Black history into mainstream education throughout the year.
Since its inception, Black History Month has grown beyond its initial acceptance in educational institutions. Each year, Carter Woodson's group, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASAALH), selects a theme.
1. Claudette Colvin
On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin was 15 years old when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman and moved to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Many people are unaware that she did this nine months before Rosa Parks famously did the same thing.
Wikimedia Commons2. Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician, schoolteacher, and novelist who was elected to the United States Congress for the first time in 1968. She was the first woman and African American to run for president of the United States from one of the two main political parties in 1972.
Wikimedia Commons3. Jane Bolin
Jane Matilda Bolin is known as the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School. She was also the first Black female to join the New York City Bar Association and the first Black female to enter the New York City Law Department.
Bolin became the first Black woman to serve as a judge in the United States in 1939, and she was the only Black female judge in the country for the next 20 years.
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4. James Baldwin
James Baldwin was a novelist, dramatist, essayist, poet, and activist from the United States. Many of his works explored the complexities of racial, sexual, and social distinctions in Western civilization.
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5. Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was a physician and novelist from the United States. After attending the New England Female Medical College, Crumpler became the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in medicine in the United States in 1864.
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6. Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks, 31, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. Dr. George Gey's tissue lab, where Dr. Gey, a notable cancer and virus researcher, collected cells from patients with this type of cancer, received a sample of her cancer cells.
Unfortunately, each cell would perish shortly after collection. Lacks' cells, on the other hand, not only did not perish, but they also doubled every 20 to 24 hours. The famous cells are now known as "HeLa" cells.
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7. Mae C. Jemison
Mae C. Jemison is the first African American woman in space. Jemison became the first African American woman admitted to NASA's astronaut training program on June 4, 1987.
She became the first African American woman in space in 1992 when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
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8. Prince
Prince was a singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, and actor from the United States. He was well-known for his groundbreaking work in various genres, his tremendously wide vocal range, and his ability to play practically any instrument.
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9. George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist and innovator from the United States. He was the first African American to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in 1894.
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10. Daisy Lee Gatson Bates
Daisy Bates was a civil rights activist and publisher from the United States. In 1941, she and her husband moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and founded the Arkansas State Press, a weekly newspaper dedicated to advocating for African Americans' civil rights.
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11. Ruby Bridges
In 1960, she was the first African American child to desegregate Louisiana's all-white William Frantz Elementary School.
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12. Kimberly Bryant
"Black Girls Code" is a non-profit organization that teaches basic programming concepts to Black girls, founded by Kimberly Bryant.
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13. Gladys Bentley
Gladys Bentley was a notable Harlem Renaissance blues singer, pianist, and entertainer. She began performing at Harry Hansberry's Clam House, one of New York City's most famous gay speakeasies, in the 1920s.
The singer was openly homosexual and frequently dressed in her signature men's style of tuxedo and top hat during concerts.
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14. Benjamin O. Davis Sr
Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was a U.S. Army officer, and in 1940, he became the first-ever African American to rise to the rank of brigadier general. Davis served in the U.S. military for 50 years before retiring in 1948.
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15. Mary Ellen Pleasant
Mary Ellen Pleasant was a 19th-century American entrepreneur and one of the country's first African American female self-made millionaires. Pleasant was also an outspoken advocate for human rights.
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16. Alice Allison Dunnigan
Dunnigan was the first African American woman to work as a White House correspondent and was also a journalist, civil rights activist, and novelist. She was the first Black female member of the press galleries in the Senate and House of Representatives.
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17. Matthew Henson
Matthew Alexander Henson was an explorer from the United States. Henson and Robert Peary became the first humans to reach the North Pole in 1909.
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18. John Lewis
John Lewis was a prominent civil rights activist, politician, and statesman from the United States. Lewis was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district.
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19. Edward Alexander Bouchet
Edward Bouchet was a scientist and educator from the United States. Bouchet was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from any American university after completing his dissertation in physics at Yale in 1876.
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20. Tarana Burke
Tarana Burke is a feminist activist from the United States who spearheaded the #MeToo movement. She began using the phrase "Me Too" in 2006 to raise awareness of women who have been sexually abused.
The hashtag gained widespread attention in 2017 after Alyssa Milano tweeted about it.
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21. John Horse
John Horse was a slave of African American, American Indian, and Spanish ancestry who led the Black Seminoles and participated in Florida's Second Seminole War.
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22. Stormé Delarverie
Stormé Delarverie was a drag performer and LGBT rights activist. She appeared at the Apollo Theater as well as Radio City Music Hall.
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23. Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens was an athlete in track and field events from the United States who excelled in sprints and the long jump. Owens set three world records, and for 25 years, he held the long jump record.
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24. Shirley Weber
In 2021, Weber became the first African American Secretary of State and the fifth person to hold a statewide role. Weber previously served in the California State Assembly for the 79th Assembly District and on the San Diego Board of Education.
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25. Stacey Abrams
The First Black Woman To Be Nominated For Governor By A Major Political Party In The United States
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26. Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde was a renowned feminist, womanist, writer, librarian, and civil rights activist from the United States. She defined herself as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, and poet."
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27. Brehanna Daniels
Brehanna Daniels is a 27-year-old NASCAR racing pit crew worker and tire changer. Daniels became the first African American woman to pit a vehicle in a major NASCAR series race in June 2017.
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28. Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey was an African American choreographer, director, and dancer. In 1958, Ailey established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City, as well as the Ailey School for the development of Black artists.
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29. Langston Hughes
James Langston Hughes was a social activist, poet, novelist, and dramatist from the United States. Hughes rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance, the 1920s and 1930s intellectual and cultural rebirth of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, drama, and politics centered in Harlem, Manhattan.
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30. Claressa Gwoat Shields
Claressa Gwoat Shields is a professional boxer and MMA fighter from the United States. She is a three-division world champion, with titles in super-welterweight, middleweight, and super-middleweight.
Shields is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the United States.
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Black History Month provides us with the opportunity to question what we learned in history, delve deeper, and learn about actual historical events that schools did not teach us. It enables us to learn about, celebrate, and honor African American leaders.
By 2020, Black History Month had expanded beyond the classroom. Go ahead and share this article with all your friends and family and let them know the importance of critical African American leaders.
