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100 Greatest African Americans is a biographical dictionary of one hundred historically great Black Americans (in alphabetical order; that is, they are not ranked), as assessed by Temple University professor Molefi Kete Asante in 2002.
- Molefi Kete Asante
- 345
- 2002
- 2002
- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a pivotal leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He continues to be celebrated for his profound influence in advocating for nonviolent resistance and racial equality.
- Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) An abolitionist and political activist, Harriet Tubman is best known for helping enslaved people escape through the Underground Railroad.
- Barack Obama (b. 1961) ADVERTISEMENT. Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, made history as the first Black American to hold the office.
- Maya Angelou (1928-2014) Maya Angelou was an influential poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist, celebrated for her series of seven autobiographies.
- Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) Congress is more diverse now than it's ever been. However, when Chisholm was attempting to shatter the glass ceiling, the same couldn't be said.
- Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) Dr. King is usually credited for the March on Washington in August 1963. But it was Rustin who organized and strategized in the shadows.
- Claudette Colvin (1939- ) Before Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, there was a brave 15-year-old who chose not to sit at the back of the bus.
- Annie Lee Cooper (1910-2010) The Selma, Alabama, native played a crucial part in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement. But it wasn't until Oprah played her in the 2014 Oscar-nominated film Selma that people really took notice of Cooper's activism.
Throughout history many famous African-American men and women have contributed significantly to society as far as civil rights, music, science, sports, equality are concerned. Their remarkable efforts and achievements, and life stories are often are quite worthy of high recognition. Below is a list of some of the most famous African-Americans ...
- Claudette Colvin
- Robert Sengstacke Abbott
- Shirley Chisholm
- Johnson H. Johnson
- Dorothy Height
- Don Cornelius
- Alice Coachman
- Maria P. Williams
- Ethel Waters
- Bayard Rustin
Nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to move to the back of a bus to give up her seat to a white person. When the bus driver ordered her to get up, she refused to say she had paid her fare and it was her constitutional right. She was arrested. Colvin ...
Abbott laid the foundation for what would eventually birth many Black publications including Ebony, Jet,Essence, Black Enterprise, Right On!, Sheen Magazine, and more. In 1905, Abbott founded the Chicago Defender, a weekly newspaper. The paper started out with a 25-cent investment and a four-page pamphlet, increasing circulation with every edition....
Chisholm kicked the door in for African American women holding major roles in government. She first served as an educational consultant for New York City’s Bureau of Child Welfare and ran for New York State Assembly in 1964. Chisholm was elected in 1968 as the first African American Congresswoman. She served from 1969 to 1983 representing New York’...
Hailed as one of the most influential Black media publishers, Johnson got his start working for Supreme Life Insurance Company collecting weekly news clippings for his manager, which sparked his idea for his first publication, Negro Digest. In 1942, with a $500 loan and $6,000 raised through subscriptions, Johnson launched his dream project which l...
Height has been called the matriarch of the civil rights movementand often worked behind the scenes. After receiving two degrees from New York University in the 1930s, Height worked for the New York City Welfare Department and then became the assistant executive director of the Harlem Y.M.C.A. She was involved in anti-lynching protests, brought pub...
With a distinctive baritone and demanding stature, Don Cornelius helped to shift Black culture into the spotlight with the creation of the show Soul Train. The “Hippest Trip in America” was picked up for national syndication in 1971 with its first episode featuring performers Gladys Knight & The Pips, Eddie Kendricks, Bobby Hutton, and Honey Cone. ...
Alice Coachmanbecame the first African American woman from any country to win an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She set the record for the high jump at the Olympics, leaping to 5 feet and 6 ⅛ inches. Four years later, she became the first Black female athlete to endorse an international consumer product when she signed on...
The landscape of Hollywood has the work of many Black women from Ava DuVernay, Issa Rae, and Shonda Rhimes to name a few. Maria P. Williams paved the way as the first Black woman to produce, write, and act in her own silent crime movie in 1923, The Flames of Wrath. To distribute the film, she formed the Western Film Producing Company and Booking Ex...
Ethel Waters first entered the entertainment business in the 1920s as a blues singer, before making history. Waters was the first to integrate Broadway appearing in Irving Berlin’s As Thousands Cheer and eventually became the highest-paid performer on Broadway. In addition to becoming the first African American to star in her own television variety...
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is usually credited for the iconic March on Washington in August 1963, but it was actually Rustin who organized the historical event. The march brought more than 200,000 peaceful protestors of varying races and religions together to hear King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. As a gay man who had controversial ties to c...
Feb 20, 2016 · Take your time with the list to find out why today in black history we are still celebrating these icons. 54 Influential People For Black History Month 1. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Nov. 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) He was the first person of African-American descent to be elected from New York to Congress.
We at BlackPast.org have assembled the following list which provides the names of the first African Americans in a variety of areas of achievement in government, law, diplomacy, the military, science and medicine, sports, literature, and other fields.
