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- W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) > Birthplace: Great Barrington, MA. A co-founder of the N.A.A.C.P. and leader of the Niagara Movement for equal rights, W.E.B. DuBois was a scholar and prolific writer as well as the first African American to earn a Ph.D.
- James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) > Birthplace: Jacksonville, FL. An executive officer of the N.A.A.C.P. for ten years, James Weldon Johnson was a human rights activist, diplomat, poet, and novelist.
- Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961) > Birthplace: Fredericksville, NJ. Highly influential during the ’20s, author and educator Jessie Redmon Fauset wrote about black characters who were working professionals during a time when the concept was not widely accepted.
- Claude McKay (1889-1948) > Birthplace: Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. Jamaican-American poet and novelist Claude McKay helped pave the way for future poets to openly discuss racism in America.
- Toni Morrison. Among numerous accolades, Toni Morrison was the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993 and the first Black woman to be an editor at Random House.
- Anna J. Cooper. Author and Black liberation activist Anna J. Cooper was born into slavery in the 1850s yet earned a doctorate in history from the University of Paris, becoming the fourth African American woman in history to get a doctorate.
- James Baldwin. Best known for his essays on race, class, and sexuality (although he also wrote novels and plays), James Baldwin was a champion and leading voice of the American civil rights movement.
- Gwendolyn Brooks. The first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (for her 1949 collection "Annie Allen"), Gwendolyn Brooks was a revered poet and author.
- Maya Angelou. Acclaimed American poet, author and activist Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. Often referred to as a spokesman for African Americans and women through her many works, her gift of words connected all people who were “committed to raising the moral standards of living in the United States.”
- James Baldwin. Though he spent most of his life living abroad to escape the racial prejudice in the United States, James Baldwin is the quintessential American writer.
- Amiri Baraka. Born in 1934, poet, writer and political activist Amiri Baraka used his writing as a weapon against racism and became one of the most widely published African American writers.
- Octavia Butler. In a genre known for being traditionally white and male, Octavia Butler broke new ground in science fiction as an African American woman.
- Toni Morrison
- Anna J. Cooper
- James Baldwin
- Gwendolyn Brooks
- Elizabeth Keckley
- Robert Abbott
- Richard Wright
- Malcolm X
- Octavia Butler
- Toni Cade Bambara
Among numerous accolades, Toni Morrison was the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993 and the first Black woman to be an editor at Random House. She is most famous for her novel Beloved, the story of an escaped enslaved woman who makes the painful decision to kill her daughter to prevent her re-enslavement. Slate columnist...
Author and Black liberation activist Anna J. Cooper was born into slavery in the 1850s yet earned a doctorate in history from the University of Paris, becoming the fourth African American woman in history to get a doctorate. The early American scholar, who is sometimes referred to as "the mother of Black feminism," was the first writer to discuss c...
Best known for his essays on race, class, and sexuality (although he also wrote novels and plays), James Baldwin was a leading voice of the American civil rights movement. As one of the few openly gay Black activists of this era (along with Bayard Rustin), he fought for LGBTQ+ rights alongside the rights of African Americans. The celebrated author ...
The first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (for her 1949 collection Annie Allen), Gwendolyn Brooks was a revered poet and author. The poems in her most famous and critically acclaimed book detailed the life of a young Black girl in Chicago as she grows up and becomes a woman. She's been praised widely for her work: "Because...
After working as a seamstress and personal dresser to President Abraham Lincoln's wife, first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, former enslaved woman Elizabeth Keckley wrote a memoir titled, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. The book detailed her time in the White Houseand was criticized by some for revealing priv...
Robert Abbott's contribution to African American political discourse can't be overstated. In addition to adding his own articles to the public conversation, the early 20th-century journalist founded The Chicago Defender in 1905, a weekly Black newspaper that covered issues relevant to African Americans at the time. In his own writing, he told capti...
Richard Wright, famous for his memoir Black Boy and the novel Native Son, among others, is often ranked among the most influential Black writers of the 20th century. In addition to the enormous impact of his own work, he also mentored other writers, among them James Baldwin. "I had identified myself with him long before we met," Baldwin said after ...
Often credited with kicking off the Black power movement, Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little; he changed his name in prison after joining the Nation of Islam, explaining that he rejected the surname handed down to him by the "white slavemaster." The Autobiography of Malcolm X—which he collaborated on with author Alex Haley—was "one of the most influ...
Commonly considered the "foremost Black woman in sci-fi literature," Octavia Butler, the author of Bloodchild and other popular science-fiction books, was the first sci-fi writer to ever get a MacArthur Foundation fellowship. Her books contain radical visions of race and power. Her life's work had an impact not only on her genre but in the way she ...
Along with works such as The Salt Eaters, Gorilla, My Love, and The Sea Birds Are Still Alive, Toni Cade Bambara was celebrated for her social consciousness and commitment to making literature accessible. When her book The Black Woman came out, for example, she urged her publisher to keep the price affordable so that Black women from all sorts of e...
- Robert Longley
- Phillis Wheatley. Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753 - December 5, 1784) was the first published African American poet and one of the most widely read poets in pre-19th century America.
- Old Elizabeth. Old Elizabeth (1766 - 1866) was born an enslaved person in Maryland in 1766. Elizabeth’s father, a devoted member of the Methodist Society, exposed her to religion while reading to his children from the Bible.
- Maria Stewart. Maria Stewart (1803 - December 17, 1879) was a free-born Black American teacher, journalist, lecturer, abolitionist, and civil rights activist.
- Harriet Jacobs. Harriet Jacobs (1813 - March 7, 1897) was a formerly enslaved Black American author and activist. Born into enslavement in North Carolina, Jacobs was sexually abused by her enslavers for years.
6 days ago · W.E.B. Du Bois (born February 23, 1868, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S.—died August 27, 1963, Accra, Ghana) was an American sociologist, historian, author, editor, and activist who was the most important Black protest leader in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. He shared in the creation of the National ...
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Baldwin is widely known as a writer of novels, essays, short stories, plays and poetry. Most of his literary work espouses racial and sexual tensions in 20th century American society such as Giovanni’s Room (1956) and Going to Meet the Man (1965). His masterpiece, Go Tell It On The Mountain (1953) was ranked 39th on the MLA list. 7.
