Robert Sengstacke Abbott^*  (December 24, 1870 - February 29, 1940)
In 1905, lawyer, publisher, and editor Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded The Chicago Defender, which unflinchingly advocated for Black labor rights and the abolition of racist violence.
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Maya Angelou  (April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014)
Maya Angelou was an American writer, poet, and civil rights activist who published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several poetry collections, and is credited with writing plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years.
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Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend^*  (Birth dates unknown. This event took place on May 23, 1861.)
By becoming the first “Contrabands of War,” Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend—three enslaved men—changed the course of the American Civil War.
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Ella Baker^*  (December 13, 1903 - December 13, 1986)
Activist Ella Baker was a major force in shaping the Civil Rights Movement in America who cofounded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which Martin Luther King, Jr. was president.
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Mary McLeod Bethune  (July 10, 1875 - May 18, 1955)
Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of formerly enslaved Black Americans, was one of the earliest Black women activists to help lay the foundation for the modern Civil Rights Movement.
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Black Panther Party^*  (1966 - 1982)
The Black Panther Party was a Black power organization fighting to end white supremacy and police brutality. Their community outreach included free breakfast programs for school children and legal aid for Black households.
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Jane Bolin  (April 11, 1908 - January 8, 2007)
Jane Bolin was the first Black woman to become a judge in the United States.
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Amelia Boynton Robinson^*  (August 18, 1911 - August 26, 2015)
Amelia Isadora Platts Boynton Robinson was an American activist and a key figure in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
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Ruby Bridges^*  (September 8, 1954 - )
Ruby Bridges was the first Black American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960.
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Eugene J. Bullard  (October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961)
Columbus, Georgia-born Eugene J. Bullard was one of the first Black American military pilots and one of the few Black combat pilots allowed to fly during World War I.
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Shirley Chisholm  (November 30, 1924 - January 1, 2005)
Born of Guyanese and Bajan descent, Shirley Chisholm was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.
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Bessie Coleman  (January 26, 1892 - April 30, 1926)
Bessie Coleman was the first Black woman and Indigenous American to hold a pilot license.
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Claudette Colvin  (September 5, 1939 - )
On March 2, 1955, at the age of 15, Claudette Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus.
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Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler^*  (February 8, 1831 - March 9, 1895)
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was an American physician, nurse, and author who always made a point of offering compassionate care to underserved communities.
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Angela Davis^*  (January 26, 1944 - )
A former Black Panther member, proud activist, and celebrated author, Angela Davis continues to be a force in the prison abolition movement.
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Charles Richard Drew^*  (June 3, 1904 - April 1, 1950)
Charles Richard Drew was a surgeon and medical researcher who organized the first large-scale blood banks—a development that saved the lives of thousands of Allied forces during World War II.
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Henry Highland Garnet  (December 23, 1815 - February 13, 1882)
Henry Highland Garnet was an abolitionist, minister, educator and orator.
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Fannie Lou Hamer  (October 6, 1917 - March 14, 1977)
Fannie Lou Hamer became an unwitting voice for voting rights when she was denied the right to vote in the 1960s.
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Dorothy Height^*  (March 24, 1912 - April 20, 2010)
Activist Dorothy Height was once referred to by President Barack Obama as “the godmother of the Civil Rights Movement.”
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Billie Holiday  (April 7, 1915 - July 17, 1959)
Born Eleanora Fagan, singer Billie Holiday went on to pioneer new phrasing, improvisation, and tempo in different music styles, notably swing and jazz.
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bell hooks  (September 25, 1952 - December 15, 2021)
bell hooks was an author, activist, and professor whose deep analysis of race, gender, and class revolutionized the public understanding of how oppression and power work.
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Zora Neale Hurston  (January 7, 1891 - January 28, 1960)
Writer Zora Neale Hurston is perhaps best known for her iconic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.
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Elizabeth Jennings Graham  (March 1827 - June 5, 1901)
Born free, Elizabeth Jennings Graham was an educator and civil rights advocate who took legal action and won her case to end racial discrimination on streetcars.
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Marsha P. Johnson^*  (August 24, 1945 - July 6, 1992)
Marsha P. Johnson was one of the most iconic and inclusive advocates for gay and trans liberation and the fight against AIDS.
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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an American Baptist minister and activist, was among the most prominent leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.
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Audre Lorde^*  (February 18, 1934 - November 17, 1992)
Born in Harlem, New York, Audre Lorde was a self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” whose critical writing is still foundational to intersectional feminist thought.
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Garrett Morgan^*  (March 4, 1877 - July 27, 1963)
Garrett Augustus Morgan was an American businessman, community leader, and inventor of products ranging from haircare to the smoke hood to the zigzag attachment for sewing machines.
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Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander  (January 2, 1898 - November 1, 1989 )
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and became the first Black American to receive a Ph.D. in economics in the United States.
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Albert Murray^*  (May 12, 1916 - August 18, 2013)
Born in Alabama, Albert Murray attended the historically Black Tuskegee Institute (along with writer Ralph Ellison, a close friend) before going on to become a novelist, essayist and social critic.
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)^*  (Founded February 12, 1909)
The nation’s largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization, the NAACP works to disrupt inequality, dismantle racism, and accelerate change.
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Gordon Parks  (November 30, 1912 - March 7, 2006)
Gordon Parks was among the most groundbreaking figures in 20th century photography.
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A. Philip Randolph  (April 15, 1889 - May 16, 1979)
A. Philip Randolph was an American labor unionist and civil rights activist.
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Jackie Robinson  (January 31, 1919 - October 24, 1972)
Jackie Robinson was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.
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Bayard Rustin  (March 17, 1912 - August 24, 1987)
Bayard Rustin was a formidable fighter for the rights of laborers, including an end to racial discrimination in the workplace.
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Gil Scott-Heron^*  (April 1, 1949 - May 27, 2011)
Gil Scott-Heron was an American jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.
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Wendell Smith^*  (March 23, 1914 - November 26, 1972)
Wendell Smith is best known for his campaign to integrate Major League Baseball.
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Maria Stewart^*  (Circa 1803 - December 17, 1879)
Born in Hartford, Connecticut a free born Black woman, Maria Stewart went on to become a teacher, journalist, lecturer, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist.
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Mary Church Terrell  (September 23, 1863 - July 24, 1954)
Memphis, Tennessee native Mary Church Terrell was a well known Black activist who championed racial equity and women’s suffrage in the late 19th and early 20th century.
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Sojourner Truth  (Circa 1797 - November 26, 1883)
Sojourner Truth was born into enslavement in Rifton, New York and was an outspoken advocate for abolition, as well as civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century.
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Harriet Tubman  (Circa 1820 - March 10, 1913)
Born into enslavement, Harriet Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue enslaved individuals using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
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Ida B. Wells  (July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931)
Investigative journalist Ida B. Wells dedicated her life and work to reporting on racist violence, fighting for racial equity, and demanding voting rights for Black Americans (including women).
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