Mary Ellen Pleasant was a brilliant and creative entrepreneur and despite the barriers in place for African Americans and women in general, managed to become one of the first female African-American self-made millionaires in our nation’s history.

Robert Abbott was the founder of the Chicago Defender. The publication reported on issues important to the Black community including riots and lynchings and encouraged African Americans living under the Jim Crow laws of the South to make their way up north.

Alice Coachman is the first Black woman in the world to win a gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics in England.

Bessie Coleman is the first Black and Cherokee woman to earn her pilot’s license. Two years before Amelia Earhart became a pilot, Coleman found a way to learn to fly even when flight schools in the U.S. wouldn’t accept her.

Garrett Morgan was a brilliant inventor credited for such inventions as a hair straightener, a “safety hood” that became the precursor of the gas masks used by soldiers in WWI and the stop light.

Janet Collins broke color barriers in the 1950s when she became the first African American prima ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera. This marked the first time a black artist had joined the permanent company.

Lewis Latimer was a brilliant young Black man who taught himself drafting while working in a law patent office. He subsequently worked on several of his own inventions including an air conditioner. He also helped patent the telephone and worked on the light bulb.

Max Robinson was the founder of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and co-anchored the ABC World News Tonight which made him the first African American news anchor for a broadcast network.

Georgia Ann Robinson was one of the first Black American women to be appointed as a police officer in the United States. A former governess, Robinson was a suffragette who worked tirelessly to make the world a better place for women and people of color.

Marsha P. Johnson is a pioneer in LGBTQIA+ rights and a self-identified drag queen. Johnson played a major role in the historic Stonewall riots in 1969 that jump-started the gay liberation movement.

Charles Drew helped develop America’s first large-scale blood banking program in the 1940s, earning him accolades as “the father of the blood bank.”

Cycling is viewed mostly as a White sport. But one of the fastest men ever to race on two wheels was Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, an American who dominated sprint cycling in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Victor H. Green was a postal employee who, after moving to Harlem, New York, in the 1930s, started compiling information on New York City establishments that safely served Black travelers.

In 1939, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar for her role in Gone With the Wind.

Performer and choreographer Alvin Ailey changed the world of modern dance and of minority dancers through his contributions. Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958.

"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

Between 1930 and 1954, Charles Hamilton Houston had a hand in nearly every major civil rights case that was brought to the Supreme Court. One by one, he planned to dismantle the system of Jim Crow laws.

Before Elvis and Johnny Cash, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe—affectionately dubbed “The Godmother Of Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

#Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans (Source: NMAAHC)

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today and every day. His fight for justice, equality, and love inspires us to continue the work for a better future. #MLKDay #AfricanAmericanHistory #JusticeForAll