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Stephanie Ours's avatar

Booker T. Washington, educator, author, orator; Duke Ellington, jazz composer and pianist; Louis Armstrong, jazz and blues trumpeter; Wynton Marsalis, jazz and classical trumpeter, composer, developer of Lincoln Center's Jazz Department; Branford Marsalis, Saxophonist, composer, bandleader; Scott Joplin, composer and pianist, the "King of Ragtime"; the Mills Brothers, vocal jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet and the first black artists to have their own show on national network radio (on CBS in 1930); they made appearances in film; and were the first to have a No. 1 hit on the Billboard singles chart, with "Paper Doll" in 1943 (OK, I'm a little more partial to them because they are from my town. And yes, I'm a pianist and music lover and could go with more wonderful musicians, I'm sure they alone would bring the total to 250.)

Jada's avatar

Harvey Keye, my dad, born 1932 in Birmingham, AL and grew up under Jim Crow became a NH state senator and spoke on the senate floor to urge the recognition of MLK., Jr. Day in 1999. Many credit his testimony for the vote that followed in favor, making NH the last state in the country to recognize the holiday. My dad is 93 today and dying of cancer, yet even in these dark times he has hope because hope is what got him this far.

Chris Lyke's avatar

Bayard Rustin - worked with MLK and also fought for LGBTQ rights

Faith's avatar

James Weldon Johnson wrote Lift Every Voice

Stephanie Ours's avatar

We're singing this song in church this Sunday. The words are so powerful.

Francine Rice's avatar

The Chubb Family who started a Black self sufficient town. Chubbtown GA

John Tompkins's avatar

Charles “ Teenie One shot “ Harris African American Photographer Pittsburgh Pa , arguably has photographed the most black people in America he worked for the Pittsburgh Courier African American newspaper

Marcus Brown's avatar

Maude Callen known as the RN that was a one person hospital.

Peggy Hulstine's avatar

Katherine Johnson of NASA Langley Research Center whose brilliance and tenacity made the space program a success.

Mactad's avatar

Melvin Van Peebles, pioneering photographer and film director.

Valerie's avatar

My father was a minister and CMSGT in the Air Force and established I believe the first intrafaith church while stationed in Berlin Germany. Boyd N Walton Jr

Steve S (S.S.)'s avatar

Fannie Lou Hamer; "You can pray until you faint, but if you don't get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap." One of many civil rights activists that did more than wish, hope, and talk.

Sakina's avatar

James Baldwin

Sarah E. Burr's avatar

Virginia Randolph helped promote education for formerly enslaved people during/after Reconstruction. Her story is told beautifully in “The Small and the Mighty.”

Renee Moore's avatar

Gordon Parks.

Renee Moore's avatar

A. Phillip Randolph

Genevieve Williams's avatar

Thurgood Marshall- He became the first black Supreme Court Justice when he was confirmed by the Senate on August 30, 1967.