James Weldon Johnson: Author of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
James Weldon Johnson was an African-American writer, who distinguished himself in civil rights, diplomacy, education, journalism, law, literature, and music. In 1900, Johnson wrote the...
Category : Black Firsts
Jacob Carruthers: An Intellectual Warrior
“We must restore the historical consciousness of the African people. The reawakened Africans would then create a new African reality and be a major factor...
Daniel Hale Williams: The first African-American Cardiologist who performed the first successful open heart surgery
“A people who don’t make provision for their own sick and suffering are not worthy of civilization.” –Daniel Hale Williams Daniel Hale Williams was one...
Paul Belloni Du Chaillu: The “African” Zoologist who became known as the first modern European to confirm the existence of gorillas
“In such a wild country as Africa one does not go far without adventures. The traveler necessarily sees what is strange and wonderful, for every...
Isaac Burns Murphy: One of the Greatest American Jockeys of All Time
Isaac Burns Murphy was an African-American Hall of Fame jockey, who is considered one of the greatest riders in American Thoroughbred horse racing history. Murphy...
Walter Tull: Black British War Hero
Walter Tull was the British Army’s first ever Black officer. Tull, who was a professional footballer at the outbreak of the first world war, gained...
Henry Sylvester Williams: The Father of Pan-Africanism
Henry Sylvester Williams was a Trinidadian lawyer and writer who has come to be known as the Father of Pan-Africanism. Williams coined the phrase, Pan-African...
William Tucker: The first African American child
“Out under the moon and the stars, alone with his son…he walked to the edge of the village, lifted his baby up with his face...
William DeHart Hubbard: The first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event
[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]illiam DeHart Hubbard was the first African American in Olympic history to win an individual gold medal, when he won the long (broad) jump...
Jackie Ormes: The first professional African American woman cartoonist
Jackie Ormes (August 1, 1911 – December 26, 1985) was born Zelda Jackson in a small town outside Pittsburgh. She was a self-taught artist who...