A compilation of Blacks who have contributed to the betterment of mankind.

1. ―SAY IT LOUD, I’M BLACK AND I’M PROUD!‖
CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH

2. WE ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE

3. CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH
As African Americans, we need look no further than
our own race for a reason to feel proud and to have a
reason to celebrate the positive contributions Blacks
have made in the world. I have attempted to capture
some of the contributions Blacks have made in the
world; some contributors are legendary and others
are not so well known. Each of their contributions
have helped to shape the world in which we live. I
respect and am appreciative of every Black person
who added value to the culture of our people and the
culture of the human race. Thank you for your
bravery, tenacity, guts, and persistence. To all I
salute you for a job well done.

4. IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINE, WE HAVE:

Henrietta Lacks
The best-selling book
The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks, which
features the striking
image of Lacks on its
cover, tells the story of
this African-American
woman, her family, and
her fast-growing cells,
used in over 70,000
medical studies.
Born: 08/01/1920
Died: 10/04/1951

5. IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINE, WE HAVE:

Dr. Daniel H. Williams
Born: 1856
Dr. Williams performed Died: 1931
the first successful
heart surgery — at
Provident Hospital, the
first black hospital in
the U.S., which he
founded.

6. IN THE FIELD OF MEDICINE, WE HAVE

Vivien T. Thomas
Thomas was an AfricanAmerican surgical
technician who
developed the
procedures used to treat
blue baby syndrome in
the 1940s. Thomas rose
above poverty and
racism to become a
cardiac surgery pioneer
and a teacher of
operative techniques to
many of the country's
most prominent
surgeons.
Born: 08/29/1910
Died: 11/26/1985

7. IN THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY, WE HAVE

Andrew Beard
Invented the car
device#594,059 dated
November 23, 1897
Rotary engine patent
#478,271 dated July 5,
1892.
Born: 1849
Died: 1921

8. IN THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY, WE HAVE


Jerry Lawson
Mr. Lawson, a
computer engineer
and designer of
Fairchild Channel F,
the first programmable
ROM cartridge-based
video game console.
Born: 12/1/1940
Died: 04/9/2011

9. IN THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY, WE HAVE

Janet Bashen
First African-American
woman to receive a
patent for a web-based
software invention.
The invention,
LinkLine, is an Equal
Employment
Opportunity case
management and
tracking software.
Born: 1957
Died: Still Contributing

10. IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY, WE HAVE

Robert L. Johnson
An African American
businessman, media
magnate, executive,
philanthropist and
investor. He is the
founder of Black
Entertainment
Television, which was
sold to Viacom in 2001
Born: 04/08/1946
Died: Still Contributing

11. IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY, WE HAVE

Oprah Winfrey
American television
host, actress,
producer,
philanthropist, owner
of The Oprah Winfrey
Network, and
entrepreneur Oprah
Gail Winfrey.
Born: 01/29/1954
Died: Still Contributing

12. IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY, WE HAVE

John H. Johnson
Johnson Publishing
Company (JPC) was
founded in 1942 by John
H. Johnson and is the
curator of the AfricanAmerican experience –
past, present and future.
JPC is the preeminent
publisher of EBONY and
JET magazines and owner
of Fashion Fair Cosmetics,
an internationally
renowned cosmetics brand
for people of color
Born: 01/19/1918
Died: 08/05/2005

13. IN THE LITERARY FIELD, WE HAVE

Dr. Maya Angelou
One of the most
renowned and influential
voices of our time.
Hailed as a global
renaissance woman, Dr.
Angelou is a celebrated
poet, memoirist, novelist,
educator, dramatist,
producer, actress,
historian, filmmaker, and
civil rights activist.
Born: 04/04/1928
Died: Still Contributing

14. IN THE LITERARY FIELD, WE HAVE

Alex Haley
Born: 08/21/1921
Alex Haley was an
Died: 02/10/1992
American writer. He is
best known as the
author of the 1976
book Roots: The Saga
of an American Family
and as the co-author of
The Autobiography of
Malcolm X.

15. IN THE LITERARY FIELD, WE HAVE

W.E.B. DuBois
In 1891 Du Bois got his
master of arts and in 1895
his doctorate in history
from Harvard. His
dissertation, The
Suppression of the African
Slave Trade to the United
States of America, 16381870, was published as
No. 1 in the Harvard
Historical Series. This
important work has yet to
be surpassed. In 1896 he
married Nina Gomer, and
they had two children.
Born: 2/23/1868
Died: 8/27/1963

16. IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WE HAVE:

Berry Gordy, Jr
Mr. Gordy is an
American record
producer, and
songwriter. He is best
known as the founder
of the Motown record
label, as well as its
many subsidiaries.
Born: 11/28/1929
Died: Still Contributing

17. IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WE HAVE


Quincy D. Jones, Jr.
In 1968, Jones and his songwriting
partner Bob Russell became the
first African-Americans to be
nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Original Song, their "The
Eyes of Love" for the Universal
Pictures film Banning. That same
year, he became the first AfricanAmerican to be nominated twice
within the same year for an
Academy Award for Best Original
Score, as he was also nominated
for his work on the film In Cold
Blood (1967). In 1971,
Born: 03/14/1933
Died: Still Contributing

18. IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WE HAVE


Miles Dewey Davis III
American jazz musician,
trumpeter, bandleader,
and composer. Widely
considered one of the
most influential
musicians of the 20th
century,[3] Miles Davis
was, with his musical
groups, at the forefront
of several major
developments in jazz
music, including bebop,
cool jazz, hard bop,
modal jazz, and jazz
fusion.
Born: 05/26/1926
Died: 09/28/1991

19. IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WE HAVE


Ella Fitzgerald
American jazz vocalist with
a vocal range spanning
three octaves (D♭3 to
D♭6). Often referred to as
the "First Lady of Song"
and the "Queen of Jazz,"
she was noted for her
purity of tone, impeccable
diction, phrasing and
intonation, and a "hornlike" improvisational ability,
particularly in her scat
singing
Born: 04/25/1917
Died: 06/15/1996

20. IN THE FILM INDUSTRY, WE HAVE


Sidney Poitier
American-born
Bahamian actor, film
director, author, and
diplomat. The first
black person to win an
Academy Award for
Best Actor for his role
in Lilies of the Field.
Born: 02/20/1927
Died: Still Contributing

21. IN THE FILM INDUSTRY, WE HAVE


Cicely Tyson
American actress. Tyson was
nominated for the Academy
Award for Best Actress, and
the Golden Globe Award for
her performance as Rebecca
Morgan in Sounder (1972).
For this role she also won the
NSFC Best Actress and NBR
Best Actress Awards. She
starred in The Autobiography
of Miss Jane Pittman (1974),
for which she won two Emmy
Awards and was nominated
for a BAFTA Award.
Born: 12/19/1933
Died: Still Contributing

22. IN THE FILM INDUSTRY, WE HAVE

Harry Belafonte
Belafonte was an early
supporter of the civil rights
movement in the 1950s,
and one of Martin Luther
King Jr.'s confidants.
Throughout his career he
has been an advocate for
humanitarian causes, such
as the anti-apartheid
movement and USA for
Africa. Since 1987 he has
been a UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador.
Born: 03/01/1927
Death: Still Contributing

23. IN RELIGION, WE HAVE

William Joseph Seymour
The Azusa Street
Revival was a historic
Pentecostal revival
meeting that took place
in Los Angeles,
California and is the
origin of the Pentecostal
movement. It was led by
William J. Seymour, an
African American
preacher. It began with a
meeting on April 9, 1906,
and continued until
roughly 1915.
Born: 05/02/1870
Died: 08/28/1922

24. IN RELIGION, WE HAVE

Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.
An American pastor,
activist, humanitarian,
and leader in the
African-American Civil
Rights Movement. He is
best known for his role in
the advancement of civil
rights using nonviolent
civil disobedience based
on his Christian beliefs.
Born: 01/15/1929
Died: 04/04/1968

25. IN THE AREAS OF LAW & POLITICS, WE HAVE

Thurgood Marshall
Born: 07/02/1908
An Associate Justice
Died: 01/24/1993
of the United States
Supreme Court,
serving from October
1967 until October
1991. Marshall was the
Court's 96th justice
and its first African
American justice.

26. IN THE AREAS OF LAW & POLITICS, WE HAVE


Colin Luther Powell
American statesman and
a retired four-star
general in the United
States Army. He was the
65th United States
Secretary of State,
serving under U.S.
President George W.
Bush from 2001 to 2005,
the first African American
to serve in that position
Born: 05/05/1937
Died: Still Contributing

27. IN THE AREAS OF LAW & POLITICS, WE HAVE

Andrew Jackson Young
American politician,
diplomat, activist and
pastor from Georgia. He
has served as a
Congressman from
Georgia's 5th
congressional district,
the United States
Ambassador to the
United Nations, and
Mayor of Atlanta.
Born: 03/12/1932
Died: Still Contributing