1950-
1904-1996
Imamu Amiri Baraka is an African-American poet and scholar. He has served as professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the State Unversity of New York at Stony Brook.
1934-
Patricia Bath is the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. She invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment in 1986.
1942-
Chadwick Boseman is an American actor known for his roles on the TV show Lincoln Heights and as baseball great Jackie Robinson in the biopic 42.
1982-
1919-
Stokely Carmichael was a Trinidadian-American political activist, best known as the leader of the civil rights group SNCC in the 1960s.
1941-1998
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an active abolitionist and the first female African-American newspaper editor in North America.
1823-1893
Artist Elizabeth Catlett celebrates African-American workers in sculptures and prints. She's known for works like "Negro Woman," "Sharecropper" and "Survivor."
1915-2012
Psychologist and educator Kenneth Bancroft Clark was the first black president of the American Psychological Association.
1914-2005
Lucille Clifton is a poet whose works generally examine family life, racism and gender issues.
1936-2010
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., was the first African-American general for the U.S. Army, after starting as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War.
1877-1970
Ossie Davis was an American actor, writer, social activist and humanitarian. He often performed with wife Ruby Dee in plays, in film and on television.
1917-2005
David Dinkins was the mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1994, and he was the first black mayor of the city.
1927-
African-American author Paul Laurence Dunbar is best known for his verse and short stories, many of which are written in black dialect.
1872-1906
1914-1993
American actor Peter Falk is best known for his role as the television detective Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo.
1927-2011
Roberta Flack is a Grammy-winning singer and pianist known for hits like “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love.”
1937-
Sociologist E. Franklin Frazier blazed a trail in the 1940s and 50s for African American academics who studied black culture.
1894-1962
African-American actress Taraji Henson starred in Hustle and Flow, and earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
1970-
1925-2010
1935-
1863-1939
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved.
1931-
Reverend Pauli Murray was an American civil rights advocate and ordained priest. She is best known for furthering the civil rights and feminist causes.
1910-1985
In the 1980s, Jessye Norman’s roles in Aïda and Les Troyen made her one of the most popular and highest paid soprano opera singers worldwide.
1945-
1948-
1942-
Patricia Roberts Harris was the first African-American woman to hold a cabinet position, serve as U.S. ambassador and head a law school.
1924-1985
1931-
1941-
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.
1932-