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Rosa Parks
Civil Rights Activist / 1913 - 2005
Civil rights activist Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger, spurring the Montgomery boycott and other efforts to end segregation.
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(1913-2005)
Civil Rights Activist
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Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist / 1842 - 1924
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin was an American community leader and women's rights activist who focused particularly on issues affecting African-American women.
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(1842-1924)
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist
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Bayard Rustin
Civil Rights Activist / 1912 - 1987
Bayard Rustin was a civil rights organizer and activist, best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and '60s.
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(1912-1987)
Civil Rights Activist
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Augusta Savage
Educator, Civil Rights Activist, Sculptor / 1892 - 1962
Augusta Savage is remembered as an artist, activist, and arts educator, serving as an inspiration to the many that she taught, helped, and encouraged.
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(1892-1962)
Educator, Civil Rights Activist, Sculptor
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Dred Scott
Civil Rights Activist / 1795 - 1858
Dred Scott was a slave and social activist who served several masters before suing for his freedom. His case made it to the Supreme Court (Dred Scott v. Sandford) prior to the American Civil War.
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(1795-1858)
Civil Rights Activist
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Bobby Seale
Civil Rights Activist / 1936 -
Bobby Seale is an African American political activist and cofounder and national chairman of the Black Panther Party.
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(1936-)
Civil Rights Activist
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Betty Shabazz
Educator, Civil Rights Activist, Nurse / 1934 - 1997
Betty Shabazz is best known as the wife of African-American nationalist leader Malcolm X, who was assassinated in New York City in 1965.
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(1934-1997)
Educator, Civil Rights Activist, Nurse
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Mutulu Shakur
Activist, Organized Crime Boss / 1950 -
Mutulu Shakur is a former Black Liberation Army member and resistance leader who received a 60-year prison sentence in 1987 for his role in the 1981 Brinks bank robbery. He's also the stepfather of the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
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(1950-)
Activist, Organized Crime Boss
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Al Sharpton
Civil Rights Activist, Political Leader, Pastor / 1954 -
Al Sharpton is an outspoken and sometimes controversial political activist in the fight against racial prejudice and injustice.
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(1954-)
Civil Rights Activist, Political Leader, Pastor
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Nina Simone
Civil Rights Activist, Pianist, Singer, Journalist / 1933 - 2003
Nina Simone sang a mix of jazz, blues and folk music in the 1950s and '60s. A civil rights activist, she wrote songs promoting the Civil Rights Movement.
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(1933-2003)
Civil Rights Activist, Pianist, Singer, Journalist
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Trey Songz
Children's Activist, Songwriter, Singer / 1984 -
Trey Songz is a Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter known for hits like "Can't Help but Wait."
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(1984-)
Children's Activist, Songwriter, Singer
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Mavis Staples
Civil Rights Activist, Singer / 1939 -
Mavis Staples is best known for her extensive gospel career with the Staples Singers.
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(1939-)
Civil Rights Activist, Singer
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Percy Sutton
Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer / 1920 - 2009
Percy Sutton was a Freedom Rider, civil rights activist and prominent African-American lawyer best known for representing Malcolm X.
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(1920-2009)
Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer
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Mary Church Terrell
Educator, Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist / 1863 - 1954
Mary Church Terrell was a charter member of the NAACP and an early advocate for civil rights and the suffrage movement.
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(1863-1954)
Educator, Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist
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William Monroe Trotter
Civil Rights Activist, Entrepreneur, Journalist / 1872 - 1934
William Monroe Trotter was a Harvard-educated journalist and activist who championed equal rights for African Americans.
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(1872-1934)
Civil Rights Activist, Entrepreneur, Journalist
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Sojourner Truth
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist / 1797 - 1883
Sojourner Truth is best known for her extemporaneous speech on racial inequalities, "Ain't I a Woman?", delivered at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851.
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(1797-1883)
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist
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Harriet Tubman
Civil Rights Activist / 1820 - 1913
Harriet Tubman escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad.
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(1820-1913)
Civil Rights Activist
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Denmark Vesey
Civil Rights Activist / 1767 - 1822
Denmark Vesey was a freed slave who held meetings to organize what would have been the biggest slave revolt in U.S. history.
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(1767-1822)
Civil Rights Activist
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Alice Walker
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Author / 1944 -
Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African-American novelist and poet most famous for authoring The Color Purple.
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(1944-)
Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Author
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David Walker
Civil Rights Activist, Writer / 1785 - 1830
David Walker was an African American abolitionist whose pamphlet was one of the most radical documents of the antislavery movement.
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(1785-1830)
Civil Rights Activist, Writer
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Madam C.J. Walker
Civil Rights Activist, Entrepreneur / 1867 - 1919
Madam C.J. Walker was the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire. Her business was worth more than $1 million at the time of her death.
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(1867-1919)
Civil Rights Activist, Entrepreneur
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Maggie Lena Walker
Activist, Entrepreneur / 1864 - 1934
Maggie Lena Walker was grand secretary of the Independent Order of St. Luke, an organization dedicated to the social and financial advancement of African Americans.
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(1864-1934)
Activist, Entrepreneur
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Booker T. Washington
Educator, Civil Rights Activist / 1856 - 1915
Educator Booker T. Washington was one of the foremost African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now known as Tuskegee University.
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(1856-1915)
Educator, Civil Rights Activist
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Kerry Washington
Activist, Film Actress, Television Actress / 1977 -
Kerry Washington has appeared in such films as Ray, She Hate Me, The Last King of Scotland and Django Unchained (2013). She also stars on the TV series Scandal.
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(1977-)
Activist, Film Actress, Television Actress
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Faye Wattleton
Women's Rights Activist, Business Leader, Nurse, Philanthropist / 1943 -
Faye Wattleton, former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood—as well as the first African-American, first female and youngest president in the organization's history—has been one of the strongest champions of women's rights and reproductive health for more than four decades.
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(1943-)
Women's Rights Activist, Business Leader, Nurse, Philanthropist
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Ida B. Wells
Civil Rights Activist, Journalist / 1862 - 1931
Ida B. Wells was an African-American journalist and activist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s.
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(1862-1931)
Civil Rights Activist, Journalist
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Cornel West
Educator, Philosopher, Scholar, Civil Rights Activist, Academic Author / 1953 -
Cornel West is a scholar of African American studies, and political activist. He published Race Matters in 1993 and appeared in the Matrix sequels.
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(1953-)
Educator, Philosopher, Scholar, Civil Rights Activist, Academic Author
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Walter White
Civil Rights Activist / 1893 - 1955
Walter White became de facto spokesman for African-Americans from his longstanding post with the NAACP.
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(1893-1955)
Civil Rights Activist
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Roy Wilkins
Civil Rights Activist, Editor, Journalist / 1901 - 1981
Roy Wilkins was best known as the executive director of the NAACP and a leader of the African-American civil rights movement.
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(1901-1981)
Civil Rights Activist, Editor, Journalist
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Malcolm X
Civil Rights Activist, Minister / 1925 - 1965
African-American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X articulated concepts of race pride and black nationalism in the 1950s and '60s.
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(1925-1965)
Civil Rights Activist, Minister
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Andrew Young, Jr
Civil Rights Activist, Diplomat, Mayor, U.S. Representative, Religious Leader / 1932 -
Andrew Young, Jr is a clergyman and was an activist during the civil rights movement. He was also a member of congress and twice elected at the mayor of Atlanta.
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(1932-)
Civil Rights Activist, Diplomat, Mayor, U.S. Representative, Religious Leader
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Coleman Young
Civil Rights Activist, Mayor / 1918 - 1997
Coleman Young helped found the National Negro Labor Council, which sought jobs for African Americans, and was the first African American mayor of Detroit.
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(1918-1997)
Civil Rights Activist, Mayor
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Whitney Young Jr.
Civil Rights Activist / 1921 - 1971
Whitney Young Jr. was the head of the Urban League for 10 years and a lifelong advocate of civil and equal rights.
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(1921-1971)
Civil Rights Activist