Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States, in 1961 and subsequent years, in order to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960),[3] which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.[4] The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961,[5] and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.[6]

Prince Hall c. 1735/8 – December 7, 1807 was an American abolitionist and leader in the free black community in Boston. He founded Prince Hall Freemasonry and lobbied for education rights for African American children. He was also active in the back-to-Africa movement

Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins (May 25, 1849 – June 14, 1908) was an American pianist and composer. He had numerous original compositions published and had a lengthy and largely successful performing career throughout the United States. During the 19th century, Wiggins was one of the best-known American performing pianists and one of the best-known Black musicians.

Macon Bolling Allen (born Allen Macon Bolling;[1] August 4, 1816 – June 11, 1894) is believed to be both the first African American licensed to practice law and to hold a judicial position in the United States. Allen passed the bar exam in Maine in 1844 and became a Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1848. He moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a probate court judge in 1874. Following the Reconstruction Era, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association.

Yasuke (variously rendered as 弥助 or 弥介, 彌助 or 彌介 in different sources.[1]) (b. c. 1555–1590) was a black Samurai of African origin who served under the Japanese hegemon and warlord Oda Nobunaga in 1581 and 1582. Early life A Nanban group traveling in Japan According to Histoire Ecclesiastique Des Isles Et Royaumes Du Japon, written by François Solier of the Society of Jesus in 1627, Yasuke was likely from Portuguese Mozambique.[2] Solier's account may, however, have been an assumption as it was written so long after the event and there is no surviving contemporary account that corroborates it. A 2013 investigation by the light entertainment television program Discovery of the World's Mysteries (世界ふしぎ発見) suggested that Yasuke was a Makua named Yasufe.[3] This name seems to be derived from the more popular Mozambican name, Issufo.[4] This was not a highly journalistic in...

Black Caesar (died 1718) was an 18th-century African pirate. For nearly a decade, he raided shipping from the Florida Keys and later served as one of Captain Blackbeard's, a.k.a. Edward Teach's, crewmen aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. He was one of the surviving members of Blackbeard's crew following his death at the hands of Lieutenant Robert Maynard in 1718. Caesar's Rock, one of three islands located north of Key Largo, is named in his honor,[1] and is the present-day site of his original headquarters. Biography according to legend Black Caesar, according to traditional accounts, was a prominent African tribal war chieftain. Widely known for his "huge size, immense strength, and keen intelligence", he evaded capture from many different slave traders. Caesar was finally captured when he and twenty of his warriors were lured onto a ship by a slave trader. Showing him a watch, the trader promised to show him and his warriors more objects which were ...

The tale of George and Willie Muse, albino brothers living in the rural South during the late 1800s, is stirring. According to accounts, the brothers were kidnapped as boys, sold off to a local carnival sideshow and paraded around the country. The Muse brothers were a rarity: Black albinos would be a lucrative attraction for a carnival with a so-called “human oddities” segment. According to a report by The Roanoke Times, the brothers were tricked by a bounty hunter working for a sideshow promoter and taken away from their mother. The man told the brothers that their mother was dead. In the circus, the dreadlocked brothers were first said to hail from “a colony of sheep-headed people.” The brothers learned to play guitar and mandolin, which became a feature of their act. Showman Al G. Barnes then promoted them as White Ecuadorian cannibals. The Muse brothers traveled with Barnes all across the country and into Canada. Amazingly, they were never paid for their wo...

Della Reese born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017 was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singles made the US Hot 100, including the number two charting song, "Don't You Know?" 1959. As a television personality and actress, she was the first black woman to host her own talk show and appeared on the highly-rated CBS television series Touched by an Angel. Della appeared on The secret path as Honey

Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017, known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orleans to a French Creole family, Domino signed to Imperial Records in 1949. His first single "The Fat Man" is cited by some historians as the first rock and roll single and the first to sell more than 1 million copies. Domino continued to work with the song's co-writer Dave Bartholomew, contributing his distinctive rolling piano style to Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" 1952 and scoring a string of mainstream hits beginning with "Ain't That a Shame" 1955. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 US pop hits. By 1955, five of his records had sold more than a million copies, being certified gold

SGT LaDavid T. Johnson paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving the United States Army as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic with the 3d Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, NC with duty in Niger. SGT Johnson was posthumously awarded a Silver Star for actions near Tonga Tongo, Niger in early October 2017. The joint United States - Nigerian team came under enemy fire, dismounted their vehicles in order to counter the attack, but quickly realized that they were greatly outnumbered and were forced to break contact. During the fallback, SGT Johnson was among other soldiers to assume a second fighting position and again engage the enemy. Forced to break contact again, he and two Nigerien soldiers attempted to push back toward their vehicles but were forced to flee on foot due to the heavy enemy fire. The militants closed in and killed the two Nigerien soldiers within about 600 meters. SGT Johnson made it nearly a kilometer and took cover behind thick brush, continuing to fight under suppressive e...

Stevie Williams (born December 17, 1979 is a professional skateboarder who was included in the twenty-seventh position of the "30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time" list that was compiled by Transworld Skateboarding in late 2011.

Comer Joseph Cottrell Jr.(December 7, 1931 - October 3, 2014) was an American entrepreneur most notable for founding Pro-Line Corp., a business that created the Curly Kit, which brought the Jheri curlhairstyle to the masses and made it easy to achieve at home. Personal lifeEdit He was born in Mobile, Alabama and died in Plano, Texas at age 82. He briefly attended the University of Detroitand served in the Air Force during theKorean War. VenturesEdit He founded Pro-Line Corp. in 1970.[1] It was originally based in Los Angeles. In 1979, he created the Curly Kit and in 1980, he moved the company toDallas.[2] Forbes Magazine called the Curly Kit "the biggest single product ever to hit the black cosmetics market." In 2000, he sold the company to Alberto-Culver for $75 million to $80 million.[3]With his brother, James, he turned Pro-Line into one of the most successful black-owned companies in the United States. In 1990, he purchased the campus ofBishop College and moved Paul ...

Frederick Douglas Patterson was the first African American to build motorized cars. His father, Charles Rich Patterson, a former enslaved person, created C. R. Patterson and Sons Company, located in Greenfield, Ohio. Beginning in 1865, the company built fashionable carriages. Frederick Patterson inherited the company upon the death of his father and began building motorized vehicles. The first Patterson automobile, the Patterson-Greenfield, rolled off the line on September 23, 1915. Unfortunately, Henry Ford debuted the Model T on October 1, 1908 and by that point had captured most of the American car-buying market.

Kevin Ferguson February 8, 1974 – June 6, 2016, better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian-born American mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and actor. Originally a bare-knuckle boxer, he became noted for his role in mutual combat street fight videos which were spread online, leading Rolling Stone to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers

C. T. Ali Fletcher born June 8, 1959 is an American vlogger, media personality, actor, personal trainer, and former powerlifter and bodybuilder. He is a three-time World Bench Press Champion and three-time World Strict Curl Champion.

Barack Hussein Obama II[a] (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/;[2] born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016[3]) was an Americanprofessional boxer, generally considered one of the greatestheavyweights in the history of the sport. Early in his career, Ali was known for being a controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the boxing ring.[4][5] He was one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.[6][7] He also wrote several best-selling books about his career, includingThe Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. Ali, originally known as Cassius Clay, began training at 12 years old and at the age of 22 won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset. Shortly after that bout, Ali joined the Nation ...

Victor Moore (born August 23, 1943) holds a 10th Degree Black Belt in Karate and was one of the late Robert Trias' Chief instructors of the Shuri-ryū Karate system. Moore was one of the first ten original members of the Trias International Society and also studied and trained with William J. Dometrich in the style of Chito-ryu.Moore has studied martial arts for over 50 years, and is a four-time world karate champion.

Born in New York City, Aldridge's first professional acting experience was in the early 1820s with the African Grove Theatre troupe. Facing discrimination in America, he left in 1824 for England and made his debut at London's Royal Coburg Theatre. As his career grew, his performances of Shakespeare's classics eventually met with critical acclaim and he subsequently became the manager of Coventry's Coventry Theatre Royal. From 1852, Aldridge regularly toured much of Continental Europe and received top honours from several heads of state. He died suddenly while on tour in Poland and was buried with honours in Łódź. Aldridge is the only actor of African-American descent honoured with a bronze plaque at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Two of Aldridge's daughters, Amanda and Luranah, became professional opera singers.

Esther Lee Jones born c. 1918, date of death unknown, known by her stage names "Baby Esther", "Little Esther", and other similar variations, was an American singer and child entertainer of the late 1920s, known for interpreting popular songs with a "mixture of seriousness and childish mischief".After gaining attention in her hometown of Chicago, she became an international celebrity before leaving the public spotlight as a teenager

Larry Hoover Sr (born November 30, 1950 is a former American gangster and street gang kingpin. He is the founder of the Chicago street gang, the Gangster Disciples.Hoover is currently serving six life sentences at the ADX Florence prison facility in Fremont County, Colorado. He was previously sentenced to life imprisonment plus 200 years for a 1973 murder. However, in 1997, following a 17-year investigation, he was convicted of conspiracy, extortion, money laundering, and running a continuing criminal enterprise from state prison, and received another life term. He has made multiple attempts to have his sentence shortened.

Larry Davis May 28, 1966 – February 20, 2008, later known as Adam Abdul-Hakeem, was a man from New York City who gained notoriety in November 1986 for his shootout in the South Bronx with officers of the New York City Police Department, in which six officers were shot. Davis, asserting self-defense, was acquitted of all charges aside from illegal gun possession. Davis was later convicted in April 1991 of a Bronx drug dealer's 1986 murder. In 2008, Davis died via stabbing by a fellow inmate.

Zelda Valdes was born Zelda Christian Barbour in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. She trained as a classical pianist at the Catholic Conservatory of Music. In the early 1920s, Valdes started to work in the tailoring shop of her uncle in White Plains, New York. Around the same time, Valdes began working as a stock girl at a high-end boutique. Eventually, she worked her way up to selling and making alterations, becoming the shop's first black sales clerk and tailor. Looking back, Valdes said "It wasn't a pleasant time, but the idea was to see what I could do."Despite the struggles she experienced in her early experiences in the alteration industry, Valdes and her sister, Chez Valdes, opened the first African American owned Manhattan boutique in 1948.

Buffalo Soldiers were United States Army regiments composed exclusively of African American soldiers, formed during the 19th century to serve on the American frontier. On September 21, 1866, the 10th Cavalry Regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" was purportedly given to the regiments by the American Indian tribes who fought against them during the American Indian Wars, and the term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American regiments that were established in 1866, including the 9th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Regiment and 38th Infantry Regiment.

Eugene Jacques Bullard (born Eugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961 was one of the first African-American military pilots,although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilots during World War I, along with William Robinson Clarke, a Jamaican who flew for the Royal Flying Corps, Domenico Mondelli it from Italy, and Ahmet Ali Çelikten of the Ottoman Empire. Also a boxer and a jazz musician, he was called "L'Hirondelle noire" in French literally "Black Swallow

nry "Box" Brown (c.1816–June 15, 1897)[1] was a 19th-century Virginiaslave who escaped to freedom at the age of 33 by arranging to have himself mailed in a wooden crate in 1849 toabolitionists in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. For a short time Brown became a noted abolitionist speaker in the northeast United States. As a public figure and fugitive slave, Brown felt endangered by passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which increased pressure to capture escaped slaves. He moved toEngland and lived there for 25 years, touring with an anti-slavery panorama and becoming a mesmerist and showman. Mostly forgotten in the United States,[2] he married an English woman and had a second family with her. He returned to the US with them in 1875 and continued to earn a living as an entertainer. He toured and performed as a magician, speaker, and mesmerist until at least 1889, and the last decade of his life (1886-1897) was spent in Toronto, where he died...

Ned Huddleston (also known as Isom Dart) was born into  slavery  in  Arkansas  in 1849. His reputation as a rider, roper and bronco-buster earned him the nicknames of the “Black Fox” and the “Calico  Cowboy .”  He was also a notorious  Wyoming  Territory  outlaw . In 1861 twelve-year-old Huddleston accompanied his owner, a Confederate officer, into  Texas  during the  Civil War . After being freed at the end of the war Huddleston headed for the southern Texas- Mexico  border region where he found work at a rodeo, became a stunt rider and honed his skills as a master horseman. Huddleston straddled both sides of the law. For a time he and a young Mexican bandit named Terresa survived as rustlers stealing horses in Mexico and selling them in Texas. Huddleston later joined a cattle drive heading northwest to Brown’s Hole in the  Colorado -Wyoming area around 1871. The 6’2” Huddleston briefly found success mining go...

Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in  Crawford County ,  Arkansas . [1] [2] Reeves was named after his grandfather, Basse Washington. Bass Reeves and his family were slaves of Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. [1] When Bass Reeves was eight (about 1846), William Reeves moved to  Grayson County ,  Texas , near  Sherman  in the Peters Colony. [1]  Bass Reeves may have served William Steel Reeves son, Colonel  George R. Reeves  who was a legislator in Texas until the time of his death from rabies in 1882. George Reeves was the  Speaker of the House . [3]  During the  American Civil War , Bass parted company with George Reeves, perhaps "because Bass beat up George after a dispute in a card game." [2] [3] [4]  Bass Reeves fled north into the  Indian Territory  (now  Oklahoma ) and lived with the  Cherokee ,  Seminole , and  Creek Indians  until he was freed by the thirteen...