Black History Month- More Amazing Men and Women

 Here are some more influential and inspirational people I did some research on!

Shirley Chisholm: in the late 60s she became the first black woman elected to Congress. She served in New York’s 12th District from 1969 to 1983. In 1972 she became the first black woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Bayard Rustin : MLK is credited for organizing the March on Washington but Bayard was the one organizing behind the scenes. He was passionate about pushing forward better jobs and fair jobs and spend many hours working towards this.

Annie Lee Cooper: She had a major role in the the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement. She is well known for punching Alabama Sheriff Jim Clark in the face (What a BA!!!) Her activism consisted of fighting for protecting voting rights. Dorothy Height: She was well known for her work in the women’s movement, she used her education and career in social work. She was a leader in the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and the President of the National Council for Negro Women (NCNW) for more than 40 years. She also was among the few women at the 1963 March on Washington. Bessie Coleman: She was the first licensed black pilot in the world. She went to flight school in France in 1919. She paved the way for diversity in pilots before the Tuskegee Airmen, Blackbirds and the Flying Hobos. Robert Sengstacke Abbott: He is responsible for creating the Chicago Defender in 1905 which is a newspaper that inspired many African Americans to migrate from the South for better opportunities. Without his work other Black publications like Black Enterprise, Essence, and Upscale. Ethel Waters : She entered into the entertainment industry in the 1920s as a blues singer. She made history for her work in the television industry. She became the first African American to have her own show in 1939 ‘The Ethel Waters Show’. She was nominated for her first Emmy in 1962.

Gwendolyn Brooks: She is famous for her poetry in the 20th Century. She was the first Black Author to win the Pulitzer Prize for “Annie Allen’. She was the first Black Woman to hold the position of poetry consultant to the Library of Congress. She was the laureate of the State of Illinois and her work reflected the political and social climate in the 1960s including the civil rights movement. Alice Coachman : She grew up in Albany, Georgia and practiced her track running on hurdles she made on dirt roads. She became the first African American woman in the world to win an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She set a record for the high jump, jumping 5 feet and 6 inches. Throughout her career she won 34 national titles- 10 of them for the high jump. She was put into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975 and the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004. 

Gordon Parks: He was the first African American to be on the staff of Life Magazine. He would be responsible for many beautiful photos featured in Vogue magazine. He was the first black Director of a major film which is called ‘Shaft’. Parks told Life in 1999 “I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera." #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #blackhistoryfacts #blacklivesmatter #asmrforblm #melaninmagic #makeblackhistory #blackwomen #blackmen Resource : https://www.oprahmag.com/life/g25954127/african-american-historical-figures/