Get To Know These Black AmericansLike this list

66 items

• Lift as You Climb

  the Story of Ella Baker

  Powell, Patricia Hruby, 1951-

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  The grandaughter of enslaved people, Ella Barker is considered the "mother" of the civil rights movement. She was instrumental in gathering support for human rights for black citizens and creating national organizations like the NAACP.

• Ticktock Banneker's Clock

  Keller, Shana, 1977-

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  Benjamin Banneker was a self-taught freethinker in America during the mid- to late-1700s.

• Sprouting Wings

  the True Story of James Herman Banning, the First African American Pilot to Fly Across the United States

  Jaggar, Louisa,

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  James Herman Banning fell in love with flying as a boy and never let go of his dream to be a pilot. A contemporary of Bessie Coleman, he and Thomas Allen flew the first US transcontinental flight by Black airmen.

• Between the Lines

  How Ernie Barnes Went From the Football Field to the Art Gallery

  Wallace, Sandra Neil,

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  Ernie Banks was a great American baseball player. He started in the Negro leagues, served time in the U.S. military in Germany, and came back to play with the Chicago Cubs. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. Also read…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Above the Rim

  How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball

  Bryant, Jen, 1960-

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  Everybody plays above the rim in basketball now, right? Want to know about the very first player to leap for the basket and suspend in mid-air? Check out this story on Elgin Baylor - one of the NBA's all-time greats.

• Saving American Beach

  the Biography of African American Environmentalist MaVynee Betsch

  King, Heidi Tyline, 1966-

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  MaVynee "Beach Lady" Betsch fought to preserve and protect an historic African-American beach in Florida.

• The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver

  Barretta, Gene,

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  A scientist and inventor from the early 1900s, George Washington Carver invented a lot of peanut-related products (although not peanut butter). He also made great contributions to agriculture in the South by developing crop rotation…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Shirley Chisholm Dared

  the Story of the First Black Woman in Congress

  Williams, Alicia R. (Alicia Renee),

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  An historic American during a tumultuous time - in 1968 Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. She was also the first woman, and first Black American, to seek the office of President. Also read…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Flying Free

  How Bessie Coleman's Dreams Took Flight

  Parsons, Karyn, 1968-

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  Bessie Coleman is one of my favorite historical figures. She grew up working cotton fields with her family in Texas in the late 1890's but she dreamed about flying. She had to leave the US, for France, to find someone to teach her to fly …Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Brave Ballerina

  the Story of Janet Collins

  Meadows, Michelle

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  Janet Collins was the first black prima ballerina to dance with the Metropolitan Opera Company.

• Because Claudette

  Baptiste, Tracey,

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  Claudette Colvin grew up in segregated Montgomery, Alabama during Jim Crow laws. On the way home from school, she refused to give up her bus seat to a White woman and was arrested. Rosa Parks would do the same thing, in the same city, nine…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Libba

  the Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten

  Veirs, Laura,

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  Elizabeth Cotten was a self-taught American blues singer/songwriter who played the guitar upside-down because she was left-handed.

• The Faith of Elijah Cummings

  the North Star of Equal Justice

  Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956-

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  Elijah Cummings was an American politician, civil rights advocate and served Maryland in the US House of Representative for more than ten years.

• The Stone Thrower

  Richardson, Jael Ealey, 1980-

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  Chuck Ealey was one of our nation's first Black American quarterbacks.

• Ice Breaker

  How Mabel Fairbanks Changed Figure Skating

  Viña, Rose,

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  Mabel Fairbanks was a trailblazing Black American and Native American (Seminole) figure skater and coach. When she was a girl in the 1930s, she kept showing up at the public ice rink until the manager got tired of turning her away. She was…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Let 'er Buck!

  George Fletcher, the People's Champion

  Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux,

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  George Fletcher, one of the few black cowboys in the Pacific Northwest, rode three of the rodeo’s toughest broncs in a single afternoon at the Pendleton Roundup in Oregon. Despite being the best rider, he lost the competition, but won the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Voice Named Aretha

  Russell-Brown, Katheryn, 1961-

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  You have to respect the legendary "Queen of Soul" and an iconic voice of the 1960s and 1970s. Aretha was the first woman admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Also read "Sing, Aretha, Sing" by Hanif Abdurraqib (2022).

• Dream Builder

  the Story of Architect Philip Freelon

  Lyons, Kelly Starling,

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  Philip Freelon was a significant African American architect. He was especially known for designing many museums and buildings dedicated to the Black experience like the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mumbet's Declaration of Independence

  Woelfle, Gretchen,

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  Elizabeth Freeman, known as Mumbet, was enslaved and used the new Massachusetts constitution to successfully win her freedom in 1780.

• Althea Gibson

  the Story of Tennis' Fleet-of-foot Girl

  Reid, Megan,

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  Althea Gibson smashed color barriers for Black American women in professional tennis. Raised in Harlem, she became the first black player to win Wimbledon and the French and U.S. Open titles.