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Black History

Law, Politics, & Business

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Carol Moseley Braun
Carol Moseley Braun

Politician, Senator, lawyer, educator. Born Carol Elizabeth Moseley on August 16, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. A leading African American political figure, Moseley Braun's career has been marked by great successes and missteps.

Ralph Bunche
Ralph Bunche

Diplomat, statesman. Born Ralph Johnson Bunche on August 7, 1904 in Detroit, Michigan. He worked his way through college and then travelled, taught at Howard University (1928-41), and wrote A World View of Race (1937).

Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm

US representative and social activist. Born Shirley St. Hill on November 30, 1924 in New York City.

Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie Cochran

Attorney. Born Johnnie Cochran Jr., on October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, as the great-grandson of an African-American slave. He grew up in a stable and prosperous family, with a father and mother who stressed education, independence, and a color-blind attitude.

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Benjamin Oliver Davis
Benjamin Oliver Davis

U.S. Army general, soldier. Born on July 1, 1877, in Washington, D.C. Breaking new ground, Davis became the first African American general in the United States Army.

Suzanne De Passé
Suzanne De Passé

Entrepreneur, businesswoman. At Motown Records de Passé is credited in part for the discovery of The Jackson 5. Now CEO of her own television production company, and, she became the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for screen writing.

David Dinkins
David Dinkins

Politician David Dinkins was the first African-American mayor of New York City from 1990-1994.

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Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy

Entreprenuer. Gordy founded the Motown Record Corporation (1959), the most successful black-owned music company in the United States, where he developed the careers of many great performers of the 1960s and 70s, including Diana Ross the Supremes, and Michael Jackson.

Patrica Roberts Harris
Patrica Roberts Harris

Cabinet member, former U.S. ambassador to Luxebourg, politician, lawyer, educator. Born Patricia Roberts on May 31, 1924, in Mattoon, Illinois.

Eric Holder
Eric Holder

Judge, lawyer, political advisor. Eric Holder was named U.S. Attorney General in 2009 becoming the first African-American to hold this position.

Eleanor Holmes
Eleanor Holmes

Civil rights activist, politician. Holmes used the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to fight for women's rights. She became the first female Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in 1977.

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Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson

Civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and presidential candidate, born October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

Daniel James
Daniel James

Aviator, U.S. Air Force general. Born on February 11, 1920, in Pensacola, Florida.

Barbara Jordan
Barbara Jordan

American lawyer, educator, and politician who served as U.S. congressional representative from Texas (1972-78).

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Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall

Supreme Court judge, civil rights advocate. Born Thoroughgood Marshall on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. The great-grandson of a slave, he graduated as valedictorian from Howard University Law School (1933) and soon began to represent civil-rights activists.

Kweisi Mfume
Kweisi Mfume

Former President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Arthur Mitchell
Arthur Mitchell

US representative. Born December 22, 1883 near Lafayette, Alabama. Mitchell grew up on a farm and went to Tuskegee Institute in 1897 to work as an office boy for Booker T Washington.

Constance Baker Motley
Constance Baker Motley

Lawyer and judge, born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.

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David Paterson
David Paterson

Politician David Paterson is the first African-American governor of the state of New York.

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Public official and pastor who became a prominent liberal legislator and civil-rights leader. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he played a leading role in the passage of nearly 50 major pieces of social legislation.

Colin Powell
Colin Powell

Born Colin Luther Powell on April 5, 1937 in New York City. The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was raised in the South Bronx and graduated from the City College of New York.

Charles Rangel
Charles Rangel

One of the most prominent politicians in Harlem, Charles Rangel was a founding member of the Congressional Black Congress and is currently serving his 19th term in the House of Representatives.

Hiriam R. Revels
Hiriam R. Revels

Protestant minister, US senator, educator. Born c. 1883 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice

Academic, Republican politician. Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama. The only child of a Presbyterian minister and a teacher, Rice grew up surrounded by racism in the segregated South.

Susan Rice
Susan Rice

Foreign policy advisor, Susan Rice became the first African-American woman to become a United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

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Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton

Social and political activist, religious leader. Born Alfred Charles Sharpton, Jr., on October 3, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York.

Kimora Lee Simmons
Kimora Lee Simmons

Entrepreneur, model. Simmons serves as president and creative director for Phat Fashions, which includes the popular Baby Phat and Phat Farm clothing lines.

Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons

Entrepreneur. In 1984, he and partner Rick Rubin founded Def Jam Recordings, creating the foundations for hip-hop and signing hip-hop pioneers including the LL Cool J, Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. His Def Comedy Jam also launched the careers of aspiring comedians.

Percy Sutton
Percy Sutton

Lawyer, businessman, civil rights activist. Percy Sutton represented Malcolm X, was a Manhattan borough president, and was responsible for the renovation of the landmark Apollo Theater in Harlem. He also invested in media companies such as WLIB, making it the first black-owned radio station in New York.

Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas

Judge. Born June 23, 1948 near Savannah, Georgia. Shaped by his poor-but-proud family and his Catholic schooling, he went on to graduate from Holy Cross College and Yale Law School and to espouse conservative views on the situation of his fellow African-Americans.

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Robert Weaver
Robert Weaver

Housing administrator, cabinet member. Born Robert Clifton Weaver on December 29, 1907 in Washington, D.C. Weaver received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1934 and served as a member of President Franklin Roosevelt's informal 'Black Cabinet' from 1933 to 1942.

Douglas Wilder
Douglas Wilder

Politician. Born Lawrence Douglas Wilder on January 17, 1931 in Richmond, Virginia. The grandson of slaves, Wilder attended racially segregated elementary and high schools and graduated from Virginia Union University in 1951.

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