Trailblazers in the Black community have inspired generations of future leaders in all fields, from art and science to politics and sports. Take a look back at the names that have opened the door for the next generation of Black men and women in honor of Black History Month.
Businesswoman Madam C.J. Walker is considered by many to be the first Black self-made millionaire thanks to her hairstyling and cosmetics business, the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Walker’s haircare products serviced the Black community well, with her pomades, shampoos and “hot combs,” made to straighten naturally curly hair, paved the way for similar products today and began the popular method of “pressing” Black hair. Walker’s business took her from Denver, Colo. to Harlem, N.Y. to Indianapolis, Ind. and she employed women to go around the neighborhoods selling her products.
Famed baseball player Jackie Robinson was the first African-American player to play in Major League Baseball during the 20th century, also making him the first man to break the sport’s “color line,” which forbade African-Americans from professionally playing baseball. Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Kansas City Monarchs during his 10-year career and is remembered as one of the sport’s greatest players. Between 137 home runs, winning six All-Star games, becoming a World Series champion, and being a Negro League MVP, Robinson was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal after his death.
Politician and educator Shirley Chisholm was responsible for a number of firsts during her career in politics. She was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968, where her slogan was “Unbought and unbossed.” She is largely remembered for becoming the first Black nominee for the Democratic Party during the 1972 presidential race.
Black politicians like Shirley Chisholm paved the way for future leaders like Barack Obama, who in 2008 became the first Black president in the history of the United States. He was later elected to a second term in 2012. Obama’s message of hope and change for a better country resonated with Americans during his presidency. His background as a Harvard-educated lawyer and likability as a charismatic family man also solidified his place as one of the more popular presidents in history.
Actress Hattie McDaniel was the first Black actor to win an Academy Award, thanks to her role as Mammy in the 1939 film “Gone with the Wind.” McDaniel took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year. She starred in dozens of films between 1932 and 1949, though she was largely uncredited due to her race. Following her death in 1952, the importance of her career continued to be recognized by Black actors, filmmakers and film buffs, and she was later honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an induction into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Her Oscar, though now missing, was also once housed at Howard University.
Pastor and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has gone down in history as the defining face of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. King, alongside prominent faces in the civil rights movement like Bayard Rustin, led marches and gave speeches from the American South to Washington, D.C. on the state of racism and equal rights, or lack thereof, for African Americans in the United States. His speeches and writings, like his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” looked to the future when African-Americans were no longer considered less than in society but equal.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe has been credited as one of the trailblazers of rock and roll, thanks to her use of an electric guitar during her performance and recordings of gospel music. Tharpe achieved popularity in music throughout her 20-plus-year career from the 1940s to the 1960s, so much so that legendary names like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and more considered her to be an early influence in their art. Her guitar of choice was the 1962 Gibson Les Paul Custom, or the Gibson SG as it’s known today.
Dr. Guion S. Bluford, Jr. was the first African-American astronaut to travel into space on the STS-8 mission on the Space Shuttle Challenger on Aug. 30, 1983. Bluford was a mission specialist during that trip, as well as the subsequent STS-61-A, STS-39, and STS-53 missions. With NASA, he logged over 688 hours in space.
Dr. Mae Jemison was the first Black woman to travel into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on Sept. 12, 1992. She had joined the NASA Corps and flew her only mission, which lasted until Sept. 20, 1992, as a Mission Specialist. Jemison resigned from NASA in 1993 and went on to found her own science and technology marketing company, teach at Cornell University and Dartmouth College and lead the DARPA and NASA-backed study 100 Year Starship.
Scientist George Washington Carver is credited for discovering various amounts of uses for the peanut and sweet potato and was an early pioneer in advocating for better lives for farmers. He is also one of the first prominent Black scientists to promote environmentalism. Carver taught at the Tuskegee University while also balancing a career as an agriculturalist, which led, in part, to the creation of over 100 peanut-centric recipes.
Alice Coachman was the first Black woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics. She took home the gold in the 1948 Olympic Games in London for the high jump. Coachman was honored in parades, sponsored by Coca-Cola and had a school named in her honor in her hometown of Albany, Georgia before her retirement at 24.
Champion cyclist Marshall W “Major” Taylor, who held seven world records in 1898, was the first Black athlete to achieve world champion status in any sport. He was also a recognized sprinter, taking home a gold medal in sprinting during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 1898.
