1. Influential African American’s throughout history
Black History Month
Influential African American’s throughout history

2. George Washington Carver
American agricultural chemist George Washington Carver helped to modernize the agricultural economy of the South. He developed new products derived from peanuts and soybeans and promoted the planting of these legumes as a way of liberating the South from its dependency on cotton..
("George Washington Carver", 2012).

3. Frederick Douglas
An escaped slave, Frederick Douglass became one of the foremost black abolitionists and civil rights leaders in the United States. His powerful speeches, newspaper articles, and books awakened whites to the evils of slavery and inspired blacks in their struggle for freedom and equality.
("Frederick Douglass", 2012).

4. Guion S. Bluford, Jr.
U.S. astronaut Guion S. Bluford, Jr., was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in He served as a United States Air Force officer and was selected as an astronaut candidate by the NASA space travel program in The first African American to fly in space, he served as mission specialist for the space shuttle Challenger in August 1983, with Richard Truly, Daniel Brandenstein, William Thornton, …
("Guion S. Bluford, Jr.", 2012).

5. Barack Obama
The 44th and current president of the United States, Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was a civil rights lawyer before pursuing a political career, first as Illinois State Senator, and later as the first African-American president of the United States. President Obama continues to enact policy changes in response to the issues of health care and economic crisis.

6. Thurgood Marshall
U.S. lawyer Thurgood Marshall became the first African American justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Before becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education. He was nominated to the court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967.
("Thurgood Marshall", 2012).

7. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson was born October 8, 1941, Greenville, South Carolina. While an undergraduate, Jackson became involved in the civil rights movement. In 1965 he went to Selma, Alabama, to march with Martin Luther King Jr. In the 1980’s he became a leading national spokesman for African Americans. After being appointed special envoy to Africa, he was awarded the 2000 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Quote:
"We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up." – Jesse Jackson

8. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Born Jan. 15, 1929, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.—died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tenn.) Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in His leadership was fundamental to that movement's success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States. King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,

9. Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker was a free-born descendant of slaves who became a famous 18th-century astronomer, mathematician and surveyor. He is considered by many to be the first African-American scientist.
("Benjamin Banneker", 2012).

10. Shirley Chisholm
Born in New York City in 1924, Shirley Chisholm became the first black congresswoman and for seven terms represented New York State in the House.
She ran for the Democratic nomination for president in Throughout her political career Chisholm fought for education opportunities and social justice. She left congress in 1983 to teach and lecture. She died in 2005.

11. Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer was born to sharecropper parents on October 6, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi. As a child she worked in the fields alongside her parents. In the summer of 1962, Hamer attended a protest meeting where she met civil rights activists who were in Mississippi to encourage African Americans to register to vote. Hamer joined the cause and dedicated her life to the fight for civil Rights. Hamer was a founding member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. In August 1964 she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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12. Oprah Winfrey
U.S. talk-show host, actress, and producer, Oprah Winfrey was born in the poor rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a hit TV chat show, People Are Talking, after which she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show. Later she went on to pursue her two-and-a-half decade stint as host of the wildly popular Oprah Winfrey show. As the most successful woman in entertainment in America, Oprah's extraordinary accomplishments were amazing by any standards.

13. Bessie Coleman
In a time of both gender and racial discrimination, Bessie Coleman broke barriers and became the first black woman in the world to earn a pilot's license. Because flying schools in the United States denied her entry, she took it upon herself to learn French and move to France to achieve her goal. After only seven months, Coleman earned her license from France's well known Caudron Brother's School of Aviation.  Though she wanted to start a flying school for African Americans when she returned to the U.S., Coleman specialized in stunt flying and parachuting and earned a living barnstorming and performing aerial tricks.  In 1922, hers was the first public flight by an African American woman in America. Tragically, Bessie Coleman's life ended at the age of 33 when she was killed in an accident during a rehearsal for an aerial show. She remains a pioneer of women in the field of aviation.

14. Rosa Parks
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus spurred a city-wide boycott. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP's highest award.

15. Colin Powell 1937-Present -U.S. Army General, statesman
Served in military for 35 years and rose to the rank of four-star General
-First African-American to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.

16. Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) Abolitionist, writer
Born a slave, escaped into freedom
Made 19 trips into the South and led over 300 slaves to freehold with the Underground Railroad

17. References
B.B. King. (2012). Retrieved from
Benjamin Banneker. (2012). Retrieved from
Booker T. Washington. (2012). Retrieved from
Charley Pride biography. (2012). Retrieved from
Frederick Douglass. (2012). Retrieved from
Fritz Pollard. (2012). Retrieved from
George Washington Carver. (2012). Retrieved from
Guion S. Bluford, Jr.. (2012). Retrieved from
Jackie Robinson. (2012). Retrieved from
Jesse Owens. (2012). Retrieved from
Louis Armstrong. (2012). Retrieved from
Maya Angelou. (2012). Retrieved from
Muhammad Ali. (2012). Retrieved from
Oprah Winfrey. (2012). Retrieved from
Thurgood Marshall. (2012). Retrieved from