Black History Month Biographies
Famous black and African-American figures from the past and present
Here arebiographiesfor some of the many historical and modern people celebrated duringBlack History Month.
Movers and Shakers
Boston Massacre figureCrispus Attucks
Underground Railroad leaderHarriet Tubman
OratorFrederick Douglass
Massachusetts shipping magnatePaul Cuffe
Black History pioneerCarter Godwin Woodson
Freed slaveDenmark Vesey
Antislavery activistSojourner Truth
South African PresidentNelson Mandela
‘Back to Africa’ leaderMarcus Garvey
Nation of Islam leaderElijah Muhammad
Legal figureHomer Plessy
NAACP founderW. E. B. Du Bois
Murdered civil rights activistMedgar Evers
Civil rights leaderDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil rights leaderCoretta Scott King
Bus-riding activistRosa Parks
Lynching victimEmmett Till
‘Black Power’ advocateMalcolm X
Black Panthers founderHuey Newton
EducatorBooker T. Washington
EducatorMary McLeod Bethune
Early SenatorBlanche Kelso Bruce
Supreme Court justiceThurgood Marshall
Figures in Science and Technology
Colonial scientistBenjamin Banneker
Blood bank pioneerCharles Drew
Peanut geniusGeorge Washington Carver
Arctic explorerMatthew Henson
Daring flierBessie Coleman
AstronautGuionBluford
AstronautMae Jemison
Nobel Peace Prize winnerWangari Maathai
Brain surgeonBen Carson
Hidden Figures (computers for Nasa)
People in the News
U.S. PresidentBarack Obama
First LadyMichelle Obama
First DaughtersMaliaandSasha Obama
U.S. Attorney GeneralLoretta Lynch
Attorney GeneralEric Holder
Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice
General and Secretary of StateColin Powell
Liberian PresidentEllen Johnson Sirleaf
ReverendAl Sharpton
CongresswomanShirley Chisholm
Political activistJesse Jackson
BET founderRobert L. Johnson
U.N. Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan
Detroit mayorColeman Young
Trial lawyerJohnnie Cochran
San Francisco mayorWillie Brown
Newspaper columnistLeonard Pitts, Jr.
Professor and talk show hostMichael Eric Dyson
Writers
Slave poetPhillis Wheatley
Harlem Renaissance writerLangston Hughes
Pulitzer-winning poetNatasha Trethewey
Expatriate authorJames Baldwin
Pulitzer-nominated poetMaya Angelou
RootsauthorAlex Haley
Invisible ManauthorRalph Ellison
Nobel Prize winnerToni Morrison
Feminist writerBell Hooks
The Color PurpleauthorAlice Walker
Soul On IceauthorEldridge Cleaver
Native SonauthorRichard Wright
Science fiction writerOctavia Butler
Poet and professorNikki Giovanni
Writer and editorJessie Fauset
Entertainers
Actor, singer and activistPaul Robeson
Talk show hostOprah Winfrey
ContraltoMarian Anderson
Singer and actressDorothy Dandridge
Dance mastersThe Nicholas Brothers
Rock ‘n roll pianistFats Domino
Reggae legendBob Marley
ComposerW.C. Handy
GuitaristChuck Berry
Rock ‘n roll starLittle Richard
Jazz singerBillie Holiday
Pop superstarMichael Jackson
SaxophonistLester Young
Talk show hostTavis Smiley
Oscar-winning actressHalle Berry
Blues guitaristRobert Johnson
ActorSidney Poitier
Producer and film composerQuincy Jones
Paris performerJosephine Baker
Jazz pianistJelly Roll Morton
Pianist and composerDuke Ellington
TrumpeterLouis Armstrong
Big band leaderCount Basie
Bebop trumpeterDizzy Gillespie
Jazz trumpeterMiles Davis
Blues singerBig Mama Thornton
Singer and actressLena Horne
Reggae legendBob Marley
Calypso singer and actorHarry Belafonte
Rock pioneerJimi Hendrix
Jazz saxophonistJohn Coltrane
Gospel singerMahalia Jackson
Bluse singerBessie Smith
ActorOssie Davis
ActressRuby Dee
Rap legendTupac Shakur
RapperDr. Dre
RapperJay-Z
Rapper and Oscar nomineeQueen Latifah
Actress and royalty-marrierMeghan Markle
ActorEddie Murphy
Singer and dancerSammy Davis, Jr.
Athletes
Barrier-breakerJackie Robinson
Tennis playerAlthea Gibson
Ageless pitcherSatchel Paige
Home run kingHank Aaron
‘Say Hey Kid’Willie Mays
Olympic sprinterJesse Owens
Olympic sprinterWilma Rudolph
Tennis playerArthur Ashe
Heavyweight boxerMuhammad Ali
Heavyweight boxerMike Tyson
NFL receiverJerry Rice
Tennis super-sisterVenus Williams
Tennis super-sisterSerena Williams
Basketball playerMichael Jordan
Basketball playerSheryl Swoopes
GolferTiger Woods
Basketball playerJulius “Dr. J” Erving
Religious Figures
Nobel Prize-winner BishopDesmond Tutu
First female Anglican BishopBarbara Harris
Ethiopian leaderHaile Selassie
PreacherT.D. Jakes
African CardinalFrancis Arinze
I will take suggestions if you have a good candidate in mind!