Famous African Americans: Black Genius

The resources at this site are provided to support teachers in making African American history integral to classrooms every day in addition to a particular focus during Black History month. Recognizing that attention to famous Black Americans often comes primarily in a once-a-year focus on Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, this site provides resources to help you make African American contributions to science, mathematics, literature, music, dance, diplomacy, and so on a daily occurrence in your early childhood curricula. We share these links as jumping-off points. Clearly, this is only a beginning, an impetus as you seek further knowledge. As you scroll through this rich collection of resources, we invite you to envision ways to utilize them to transform your teaching and children’s learning, ensuring that African American contributions are normalized and no longer tokenized, romanticized, misrepresented, or omitted in the day-to-day life of early childhood classrooms Collection of biographies: http://www.biography.com/people/groups/african-american-firsts-education Black history is everyone’s history: • http://www.quickenloans.com/blog/black-history-is-everybodys-history-10-little-

known-contributions-by-african-americans • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RckRFdicze4 • http://ncartseveryday.org/2011/02/african-american-cultural-contributions/ “10 Things that wouldn’t exist without African Americans”: https://www.facebook.com/aol/videos/1052442548112423/?fref=nf Changing the world: http://blog.biographyonline.net/2009/01/famous-black-people-who-changed-world.html Greats from the Harlem Renaissance: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_harlem.html Black women game changers: http://www.forharriet.com/2015/04/9-black-women-game-changers-in-stem.html#axzz3zkzdrqGj Black History and women: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/black-history-month-the-women_b_2599952.html?slideshow=true#gallery/277388/0 Invisible women of the civil rights movement: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/speak-easy/item/77522-the-invisible-women-of-the-civil-rights-movement Explorers: http://thegrio.com/2015/10/12/explorers/ Famous Black Americans: http://re-thinkingafrica.blogspot.com/2015/03/blog-post_12.html

Prominent African Americans: http://www.aawc.com/paa.html Chess Master: Maurice Ashley (first African American chess master) and Justus Williams, Joshua Colas, and James Black Jr, all chess masters before age 13: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/crosswords/chess/chess-three-young-african-americans-earn-recognition-as-masters.html?_r=0 Scientists, Inventors, Medical Researchers, Mathematicians Claudia Alexander, NASA

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205192047021108&set=a.2813992069293.2126666.1243545040&type=1&fref=nf

African American scientists: http://www.scienceupdate.com/spotlights/african-american-scientists/ http://www.biography.com/people/groups/famous-black-scientists Black inventors: http://blackinventor.com/ African Americans in science and technology: http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/selected-internet/africanamericans.html Mae C. Jemison http://www.biography.com/people/mae-c-jemison-9542378 Kimberly Anyadike http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/kimberly-anyadike-15-youngest-african-american-female-pilot-plane-cross-country-article-1.399825 Daniel Hale Williams http://www.biography.com/people/daniel-hale-williams-9532269 George Carruthers http://www.biography.com/people/george-carruthers-538794 Patricia Bath • http://www.biography.com/people/patricia-bath-21038525 • http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_26

.html Nigerian twins break mathematics records: http://www.risingafrica.org/success-stories/education/gifted-children-nigerian-8-year-old-twins-break-world-mathematics-record-watch-video/

Benjamin Banneker http://www.black-inventor.com/Benjamin-Banneker.asp

Charles Drew http://www.black-inventor.com/Dr-Charles-Drew.asp Valerie Thomas http://www.black-inventor.com/Valerie-Thomas.asp http://www.biography.com/people/valerie-thomas-21341423

Dr. Beny J. Primm: World Expert on HIV and Addiction http://rollingout.com/2015/10/20/dr-beny-j-primm-world-expert-hiv-addiction-dies-87/ Dr Hadiyah-Nicole Green: http://blog.blackbusiness.org/2016/03/hadya-nicole-green-black-woman-scientist-wins-grant-develop-laser-technology-kill-cancer.html#.VtkwBVJQmf5

Mathematician, Katherine G. Johnson: http://mentalfloss.com/article/71576/black-female-mathematicians-who-sent-astronauts-space?utm_source=FBTraffic&utm_medium=yoruba&utm_campaign=CMfacebook

Scholars, Authors, Poets, Journalists, Playwrights

John Hope Franklin, Historian http://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2015/11/angela-davis-keynote-address.html

Roscoe Lee Browne, Actor http://blackthen.com/roscoe-lee-browne-refused-to-take-acting-parts-that-demeaned-or-mocked-african-americans/ Issa Rae, Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rimes, Debbie, Allen, Mara Brock Akil: http://hellobeautiful.com/2015/04/14/issa-rae-shonda-rhimes-mara-brock-akil-debbie-allen-cover-essence-45th-anniversary-issue/ Alice Walker, Author http://www.makers.com/alice-walker W.E.B. DuBois, Scholar https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/06/albert-einstein-w-e-b-duboisracism/?utm_content=bufferf7b76&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Countee Cullen, Poet http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/countee-cullen

Ida B. Wells, Author http://www.biography.com/people/ida-b-wells-9527635

Ntozake Shange, Poet http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/ntozake-shange http://aalbc.com/authors/ntozake.htm James Baldwin, Author, Playwright http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/march/baldwin-companion-elam-031015.html Ishmael Reed, Author http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28585362/oakland-literary-icon-ishmael-reed-still-fighting-good Audre Lorde, Poet http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/audre-lorde

Maya Angelou, Author http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/maya-angelou

Faith Ringgold: Artist and Activist http://www.makers.com/faith-ringgold Shonda Rimes: Writer, Producer http://www.makers.com/shonda-rhimes

Young Poets: http://blavity.com/13-young-black-poets-you-should-know/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Blavity&utm_content=13+Young+Black+Poets+You+Should+Know

Science Fiction Authors: http://blerds.atlantablackstar.com/2014/12/15/10-black-science-fiction-authors-everyone-know/ Super Hero: http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/04/_7_year_old_creates_afro_puff_super_hero_comic_book_and_wins_big.html

Lorraine Hansberry, Author http://aalbc.com/authors/lorraine.htm A few (of many) Children’s Book Authors Dinah Johnson: http://www.dinahjohnsonbooks.com/#!bio/c1ktj Kadir Nelson

http://www.amazon.com/Kadir-Nelson/e/B001JS2PV4/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=blagirwitlonh-20

Nikki Grimes http://www.nikkigrimes.com/ http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/grimes Jabari Asim http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/107088.Jabari_Asim https://www.facebook.com/jabariasimwriter Andrea Davis Pinkney http://andreadavispinkney.com/

http://www.hbook.com/2013/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/a-profile-of-andrea-davis-pinkney/ Renee Swindle http://aalbc.com/authors/renee-swindle.html?utm_source=aalbc&utm_medium=banner Jacqueline Woodson http://aalbc.com/authors/jacqueli.htm?utm_source=aalbc&utm_medium=banner Walter Dean Myers http://walterdeanmyers.net/

Nikki Giovanni

http://www.nikki-giovanni.com http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/nikki-giovanni Brian Pinkney http://www.brianpinkney.net Andrea and Brian Pinkney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvw8tpbTbiI Virginia Hamilton http://www.virginiahamilton.com Trish Cooke http://www.trishcooke.co.uk

Activists (it’s not just Rosa Parks): Amelia Boynton Robinson

http://theculture.forharriet.com/2015/08/voting-rights-activist-and-bloody.html#axzz3k6ve9n1T

Gloria Richardson: http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2015/07/why_you_should_know_civil_rights_icon_gloria_richardson.html?utm_content=buffer72a2f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Malcom X: https://medium.com/ummah-wide/what-would-malcolm-do-14-resources-for-understanding-the-life-and-legacy-of-malcolm-x-today-244a54ddc5ab#.xwms501la Julian Bond https://www.splcenter.org/news/2015/08/16/weve-lost-champion http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/us/julian-bond-former-naacp-chairman-and-civil-rights-leader-dies-at-75.html?_r=0 Ella Baker http://ellabakercenter.org/about/who-was-ella-baker http://www.biography.com/people/ella-baker-9195848 http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/ella-baker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Uus--gFrc (Ella’s Song: Sweet Honey in the Rock) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/ella-baker-ferguson-and-b_b_6368394.html Charlotte Forten https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/charlotte-forten-grimke/ Black LGBT icons: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/08/prominent-black-lgbt-icons_n_4747530.html Fannie Lou Hamer • http://blackthen.com/gone-but-not-forgotten-happy-birthday-to-freedom-

fighter-ms-fannie-lou-hamer/ • http://wn.com/fannie_lou_hamer_im_sick_and_tired_of_being_sick_and_tire

d

Wangari Maathai: 20014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Green Belt Movement https://www.facebook.com/ProfWangariMaathai Black feminists who changed the world: http://www.forharriet.com/2015/04/18-phenomenal-african-feminists-to-know.html#axzz3WOLz0mCS Before Rosa Parks - Claudette Colvin: http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2015/03/before-rosa-parks-teenage-claudette.html Invisible women of the civil rights movement: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/speak-easy/item/77522-the-invisible-women-of-the-civil-rights-movement

Malika Saada Saar: Advocate for Women’s Rights http://www.makers.com/malika-saada-saar

Benjamin Chavis http://www.blackpast.org/aah/muhammad-reverend-benjamin-chavis-1948 Medgar Evars http://zinnedproject.org/materials/evers-medgar/ Women’s roles in slave revolts: http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/020216_vanessa-holden-nat-turner-rebellion.cfm?selval=a&campaign=Women+had+a+role+in+famous+slave+revolt

National Leaders:

Barack Obama: • https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama

http://www.biography.com/people/barack-obama-12782369; • http://www.timeforkids.com/news/meet-barack-obama/44386 • https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/01/21/president-barack-obamas-

inaugural-address • https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog#today Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm: http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-chisholm-9247015

Attorney General, Loretta E. Lynch: http://www.justice.gov/ag/meet-attorney-general

National Security Advisor, Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/rice-susan-elizabeth-1964

Condoleezza Rice: Secretary of State: http://www.makers.com/condoleezza-rice

U.S. Congressman, Andrew Young http://www.blackpast.org/aah/young-andrew-1932 Ambassador and Scholar, Edward Perkins http://www.blackpast.org/aah/perkins-edward-joseph-1928 African American Diplomats since 1969: http://www.blackpast.org/african-american-u-s-ambassadors-1869 Paulette Brown: Head of the American Bar Association

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/09/06/paulette-brown-become-first-african-american-woman-head-american-bar-association/dFc460FXfVoONC0AAcAWWJ/story.html

Educators

Marva Collins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMjotCrGAOY http://www.biography.com/people/marva-collins-5894#background

Ruth Simmons: First African American Ivy League President http://www.makers.com/ruth-simmons Septima Clark http://www.biography.com/people/septima-poinsette-clark-38174 Carter G. Woodson http://www.woodsonmuseum.org/about-us Mary McLeod Bethune https://ncnw.org/about/bethune.htm https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/mary-mcleod-bethune/ Marion Wright Edelman http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm http://www.biography.com/people/marian-wright-edelman-39661

Visual Artists

Black artists and museums: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/arts/design/black-artists-and-the-march-into-the-museum.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 Leroy Campbell: http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/11/artist_leroy_campbell_s_gullah_and_geechee_paintings_appear_in_new_book.html

Thornton Dial: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/arts/thornton-dial-outsider-artist-whose-work-told-of-black-life-dies-at-87.html?smid=fb-share Ernie Barnes: http://www.erniebarnes.com/biography.html Julian Abele: http://curbed.com/archives/2015/01/16/julian-abele-black-architect-of-duke-university.php

Cbabi Bayoc, St Louis Artist: “365 Days With Dad” http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/painting-possibilities-st-louis-artist-depicts-african-american-fathers-their-children

Jacob Lawrence • http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/15/black-lives-matter-at-

moma.html • http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/03/28/the-strange-and-beautiful-world-of-

jacob-lawrence/

First Black Female Cartoonist: Jackie Ormes: http://blackthen.com/glamorous-and-bold-the-story-of-the-first-black-female-cartoonist/ James Denmark http://citygalleryatwaterfrontpark.com/2014/09/30/african-diaspora-convergence-and-reclamation-james-denmark-discussion/ National Center for African American Artists http://www.ncaaa.org/ncaaa.html Beverly McIver http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2015/03/interview-with-painter-beverly-mciver.html

Tyrone Geter http://www.benedict.edu/divisions/acadaf/sch-humanities/fine_arts/art/gallery/tyrone-geter.html Philadelphia Museum of Art http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2015/03/african-american-representation-at.html

Musicians

Nina Simone: Singer, Musician, Activist • http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70308063&trkid=13752289&tctx

=0%2C0%2C3264bbc1b7d7c5e1df75bb17c9beda3623548cb1%3A001bfc5d502a2ef59fe59b96b3bc246d3e7258be

• http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2015/02/to-be-young-gifted-black-nina-simone-at.html

Leon Bibb: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/arts/music/leon-bibb-actor-folk-singer-and-civil-rights-activist-dies-at-93.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 Clora Bryand: http://upfromslavery.com/clorabryant/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73QfXfDqXcw Bessie Smith: http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/bessie-smith

Blues as African American history: http://www.pbs.org/theblues/classroom/defhistory.html http://www.pbs.org/theblues/classroom/defgeography.html http://www.pbs.org/theblues/classroom/intlyrics.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/lessons/following-muddys-trail/lesson-overview/1251/

Great musicians: http://www.angelfire.com/ak/sellassie/music.html Josephine Baker: http://www.biography.com/people/josephine-baker-9195959 Lena Horne: http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-lady-must-live-lena-horne-tribute.html Hip Hop Artists o http://madamenoire.com/567683/kid-friendly-hip-hop-5-artists-you-should-

let-your-kids-listen-to/ o http://rosssimmonds.com/leadership/children-hip-hop/ o http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/family/2011/11/good_hip_hops_songs_for_

kids_a_list_.html o http://mom.me/entertainment/119-hip_hop-music-the-entire-family-can-enjoy/ o http://hiphopdx.com/interviews/id.1911/title.hip-hop-dads-rappers-explain-

music-thats-played-for-their-children-for-fathers-day

Athletes

NASCAR Drive Wendell Scott: https://www.facebook.com/Upworthy/videos/1193991647308358/?fref=nf Candace Hill: Fastest female runner of all times at 16: https://www.facebook.com/Powerfulblackstories/videos/960793793964523/?fref=nf

Champion Swimmers, Lea Neal and Simone Manuel http://newblackman.blogspot.com/2015/03/blackgirlsswimfast-lia-neal-simone.html

Gymnast, Gabrielle Douglas: https://www.facebook.com/GabrielleDouglasUSA?ref=profile

Tennis Champions, Serena and Venus Williams: • http://www.ducksters.com/sports/williams_sisters.php • http://www.timeforkids.com/news/serena-williams/133521 • http://serenawilliams.com/ • http://www.magpictures.com/venusandserena/

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/serena-wiliams-new-york-magazine-fashion-issue_55c8002be4b0923c12bd4660?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black%2BVoices&section=black-voices&kvcommref=mostpopular&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000047

Architecture

Black Vernacular Architecture: http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/07/how-black-vernacular-architecture-is-changing-museums/398111/?utm_content=buffer2238f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Julian Abele: http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/01/08/iconic-duke-basketball-arena-designed-julian-abele-black-man/

Black Art Project, San Francisco http://blackartproject.blogspot.com/2015/04/artists-talk-uprooted-artists-respond.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BlackArtProject+%28Black+Art+Project%29 Curator, Thelma Golden http://goodblacknews.org/2015/08/03/obama-taps-studio-museum-of-harlem-curator-thelma-golden-to-join-board-of-presidential-library/

Dance:

Debbie Allen and Dancers at the White House: http://jezebel.com/watch-51-black-dancers-slay-hard-with-debbie-allen-at-w-1758059305 Misty Copeland http://www.mistycopeland.com/home.html http://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a11885/misty-copeland-hopes-educate-others-about-being-black-ballet-dancer/?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1447_222914390 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ballerina-misty-copeland-talks-being-unapologetically-black-for-essence_55c80ac6e4b0923c12bd4714 Michaela DePrince: Principal Ballerina, Dutch National Ballet https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style-blog/wp/2015/07/21/orphan-no-27-pirouettes-to-stardom/

Ballerinas • http://blackballerinadocumentary.org • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/black-ballerinas-brown-girls-do-

ballet_n_5166068.html

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/02/black-ballerinas-misty-copeland-pointe-magazine-june-july-2014_n_5255148.html

Aida Overton Walker http://www.noirkulture.com/?utm_campaign=postplanner&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com#!Aida-Overton-Walker-Queen-of-the-Cakewalk/c24am/55d0f3860cf2ce5f89aca1ad

History of Black dance: • http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1995/2/95.02.03.x.html • http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/5/1331124/-From-juba-to-jitterbug-

to-jookin-Black-dance-in-America • http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/african-american-dance-

history Black dance magazine: http://blackdancemag.com International Association of Blacks in Dance: http://www.iabdassociation.org/conference Black female dancers and choreographers you should know: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/08/black-female-choreographer-dancer_n_7716662.html Florence Mills: http://www.biography.com/people/florence-mills-9408946 Janet Jackson: http://www.biography.com/people/janet-jackson-9542443 Harold Nicholas: http://www.biography.com/people/harold-nicholas-21355911 Fayard Nicholas: http://www.biography.com/people/fayard-nicholas-21355929 Michael Jackson: http://www.biography.com/people/michael-jackson-38211 Sammy Davis Jr. http://www.biography.com/people/sammy-davis-jr-9268223 Bill Robinson http://www.biography.com/people/bill-bojangles-robinson-9460594 Gregory Hines http://www.biography.com/people/gregory-hines-9542572

Books as Further Resources 100 African Americans Who Shaped History, Beckner Book of Black Heroes: Scientists, Healers, and Inventors, Hudson Black Stars: African American Inventors, Sullivan Portraits of African American Heroes, Bolden & Pitcairn Black Stars: African American Women Scientists and Inventors, Sullivan