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20 Remarkable Legends in Black History

I Have a Dream was the 1963 speech by Martin Luther King Jr. which later contributed to his assassination. When Rosa Parks defied the order of a bus driver to vacate her seat in favor of a white passenger she was arrested in 1955. Nelson Mandela served 27 years prison term seeking the end of apartheid rule in South Africa.

Additionally, Malcolm X suffered assassination and was accused of promoting racism and violence. At least Harriet Tubman was lucky to be the 鈥淢oses鈥� of her time freeing many enslaved people with every chance she got. But still, her mission was sparked by her first-hand encounters as a slave.

They are a testament to boldness and courage. The Legends in Black history have shaped our world in different spheres. Check them out below.

Here are the 20 Remarkable Legends in Black History.

1. Martin Luther King Jr.

This American Baptist minister is remembered for his civil rights activism for people of color in the US. He fought for the right to vote, desegregation, and labor rights during his early years as an activist. In his final years, he centered on eradicating poverty, opposing capitalism, and the Vietnam War.

Moreover, he was respected for using nonviolent means to combat racial inequality. Such as steering the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered his famous speech I Have a Dream.

King Jr. received a 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. He was also awarded several posthumous prizes like the 1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom. Further, the 2003 Congressional Gold Medal as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. Day started in 1971. Though it was until 1986 that the day was observed as a federal holiday.

He hailed from Georgia and was born on January 15, 1929. He was assassinated at the age of 39 years on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Learn about the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. Nelson Mandela

漏 copyright John Mathew Smith 2001

The 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner is acknowledged for his anti-apartheid activism in South Africa. He served a 27-year prison sentence in his quest for social justice and democracy. He was arrested in 1961 for leading a campaign aimed at sabotaging the government.

Following his arrest, he was issued a life sentence but later released under the order of President F. W. de Klerk in 1990. In 1994 he was elected as the first president of South Africa. His regime steered land reforms, improved healthcare services, and strived to combat poverty.

Mandela served as head of state until June 1999. He never sought reelection after his first term. So he left politics to concentrate on the Nelson Mandela Foundation. A charitable institution committed to the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS at the time. He was born in South Africa on 18 July 1918 and died at the age of 95 years on 5 December 2013 in South Africa.

3. Harriet Tubman

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The female American abolitionist cum social activist was dubbed “Moses” due to her tireless rescue efforts of slaves. She was born into slavery but she managed to escape. Thus she began a rescue mission for slaves. She also helped them secure work opportunities.

Additionally, during the Civil War, she led the raid at Combahee Ferry, freeing over 700 slaves. She worked for the Union Army during the war and she was tasked with leading an armed expedition when she organized the raid. She was born in Maryland on March 1822. She died on March 10, 1913, aged 91 years in New York.

4. Malcolm X

He was famed for serving as a human rights activist and an American Muslim minister. He was the spokesperson for the Nation of Islam group until 1964 when he fell out of the movement. He proceeded to begin the Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) group. He is also credited for starting the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU).

Malcolm was accused of advancing racism and violence. Again, his denouncing of the Nation of Islam led to him receiving death threats. Hence his assassination happened when he was 39 years in New York City on February 21, 1965. He came from Nebraska and was born on May 19, 1925. He is honored with Malcolm X Day commemorated in various cities in the US.

Delve into the life of Malcolm X.

5. Rosa Parks

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The Montgomery bus boycott remains one of her most prominent fights against racial segregation. Her act of defying the order of the bus driver to vacate her seat in favor of a white passenger got her arrested in 1955. Yet it bore the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution on the Equal Protection Clause. This clause declared segregation unconstitutional in 1956.

Furthermore, she was an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She used the platform to advance her civil rights fight. In her appreciation, she was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1979.

She was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. Her statute was put up in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall in her memory posthumously.

Rosa Parks Day is commemorated in California and Missouri while Ohio, Oregon, and Texas remember the day she was arrested. She was born in Alabama on February 4, 1913. She died aged 92 in Michigan on October 24, 2005.

6. Maya Angelou

This American poet doubled as a civil rights activist. One of her masterworks is the autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings published in 1969. The book is the first of a series of seven books and she narrates her life from childhood up to her late years in the teenage hood.

On top of that, she is also renowned for the poem On the Pulse of Morning. She recited the poem in 1993 during the inauguration ceremony of President Bill Clinton. She received many awards including over 50 honorary degrees. Angelou was born in Missouri on April 4, 1928. She died in North Carolina aged 86 years on May 28, 2014.

7. Frederick Douglass

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He was prominent for his oratory skills and his firm stand as an abolitionist. He led the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York where he used his oratory ability to advance the abolition agenda.

Douglass also wrote autobiographies that give his life accounts. Such as the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave published in 1845.

During the 1872 US presidential elections, he was nominated as the Equal Rights Party vice president. He was born on February 1817 or 1818 in Maryland. He died on February 20, 1895, in Washington, D.C. aged 77 or 78 years.

8. Toni Morrison

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This female American novelist is praised for her works that challenged racism in the United States. She explored themes centered on the consequences of racism as well as narrating the ordeals of Black Americans.

Morrison鈥檚 masterpieces include the 1977 novel Song of Solomon which brought her to the national spotlight. The book also won her the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Besides the 1987 novel, Beloved won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. In 1993, her efforts secured her a Nobel Prize in Literature. She is also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her in 2012. Her induction to the National Women’s Hall of Fame happened in 2020. Morrison was born in Ohio on February 18, 1931. She died on August 5, 2019, aged 88 years in New York City.

Get insights into the life of Toni Morrison.

9. W.E.B. Du Bois

Du Bois is applauded as one of the 1909 founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was known for Pan-African civil rights activism.

He was privileged to become the first African American to earn a doctorate. Thus he pushed for equality in education and employment for people of color. Because of his fight for equal rights for blacks, he gained national recognition. So he was chosen to lead the Niagara Movement.

He also addressed his issues through writing. One of his notable works is his 1940 autobiography Dusk of Dawn. He was born on February 23, 1868, in Massachusetts. His demise took place in Accra, Ghana on August 27, 1963, when he was 95 years old.

10. Barack Obama

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The 44th president of the United States made history as the first African-American president of the country. He served in the presidential office for two terms from 2009 up to 2017.

Before joining politics, he practiced as a civil rights attorney and a lecturer of constitutional law. He received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Other than politics, he has books that speak inspiration to his audience such as The Audacity of Hope published in 2006.

On top of that, he has penned other titles like Dreams from My Father (1995) and A Promised Land (2020). The former head of state was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.

11. Abolitionist Sojourner Truth

She played both roles as an abolitionist as well as a women’s rights activist. She is noted for her speech during the 1851 Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. The speech was titled Ain’t I a Woman?

Sojourner鈥檚 other landmark in black history was her help in recruiting black troops to the Union Army during the Civil War. She also sought to get land grants for formerly enslaved persons after the Civil War ended. The federal government declined to fulfill her land request which was popular as the “forty acres and a mule”.

To add on, her memorial bust sits in the Capitol鈥檚 Visitor Center since 2009. Thus she became the first African American woman to have a statue in the building. She was born in 1797 in New York and she died at the age of 86 years in Michigan on November 26, 1883.

12. Thurgood Marshall

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He is recognized as the first African-American justice in the Supreme Court of the United States. He served at the helm of power in the country鈥檚 highest court from 1967 up to 1991.

Additionally, before joining the judiciary he practiced as a civil rights attorney. Hence he was at the forefront of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. It was through this platform he fought racial segregation.

Subsequently, he argued and won many cases before the Supreme Court in a bid to ensure equality in education. Hence one of Marshall鈥檚 achievements was the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case. The ruling by the US highest court declared segregation in public education unconstitutional. He was born on July 2, 1908, in Maryland and died aged 84 in the same state on January 24, 1993.

Discover the Outstanding Facts about Thurgood Marshall. 

13. Muhammad Ali

This professional heavyweight champion had the moniker “The Greatest”. In the 1999 BBC鈥檚 Sports Personality of the Century award ceremony, Ali topped the ranking. In the same year, he was named the Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Moreover, he is one of the important sports personalities of the 20th century. Ali refused to engage in military service during the Vietnam War and this act made him an icon among the African Americans. So he was a source of motivation for the civil rights movement and became a model to the affiliates of this group. He was born in Kentucky on January 17, 1942, and died in Arizona on June 3, 2016, aged 74 years.

14. Shirley Chisholm

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She defied the odds to be elected to the US Congress in 1968. This made her the first black woman to earn an elected seat in Congress. She served as New York’s 12^th district representative for seven terms starting in 1969 until 1983.

What鈥檚 more, she was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 1972 US presidential election. Thus making her the first woman to be nominated for the presidential seat under the Democratic Party ticket. It also meant she was the first black contestant nominated by a major political party in the country.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 which was awarded posthumously. Chisholm was born in New York on November 30, 1924. She died in Florida at 80 years on January 1, 2005.

15. Jesse Owens

He was an outstanding track and field athlete who specialized in sprints and long jump events. He rose to international acclaim during the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. He won four gold medals during these games in the 100 and 200 meters categories. Also, for the long jump, and 4 脳 100-meter relay sports.

Over and above that, he is acknowledged for setting three world records within an hour during the 1935 Big Ten Conference hosted in Michigan. The Jesse Owens Award is named in his honor and it鈥檚 the highest accolade for USA Track and Field (USATF). He was born in Alabama on September 12, 1913, and died in Arizona aged 66 years on March 31, 1980.

Find out the Little Known Facts about Jesse Owens.

16. Langston Hughes

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He was a poet and delved into plays and short story genres as well. He gained national traction while writing for the New York publisher, The Crisis magazine.

Between the early 1940s up to early 1960s, Hughes was a columnist for The Chicago Defender newspaper. He was born in Missouri on February 1, 1901. The legend died on May 22, 1967, in New York City aged 66 years.

17. Katherine Johnson

She is headlined as one of the first African-American women scientists to work for NASA. She helped come up with the calculations of orbital mechanics which were pivotal to the first and later crewed spaceflights by the US.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2019. Johnson鈥檚 over three decades career at NASA was appreciated with a NASA Group Achievement Award in 2016. Her induction to the National Women’s Hall of Fame took place posthumously in 2021.

She was born on August 26, 1918, in West Virginia and lived for 101 years. Her demise happened on February 24, 2020, in Virginia.

18. Angela Davis

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She is a feminist political activist and an American Marxist as well as a professor. Davis is respected as one of the founders of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). She is also a long-serving member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) where she has vied for the US vice presidential seat twice.

In the capacity of an author, she addresses issues on class, gender, race, and the nation鈥檚 prison system. She prides herself in an induction to the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

To boot, she is a recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize. She was featured on Time’s ranking of the world鈥檚 100 most influential people in 2020. She was born in Alabama on January 26, 1944.

19. Carter G. Woodson

This historian, author cum journalist is credited for establishing the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He is also the founder of The Journal of Negro History which he started in 1916.

The legend pioneered the 鈥淣egro History Week” celebrations in 1926. The focus of his historical studies was people of African heritage and human experiences. He was born in Virginia on December 19, 1875, and died in Washington, D.C on April 3, 1950, aged 74 years.

Learn the Facts about Black History Month in the US.

20. James Baldwin

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He was a notable orator during the US civil rights movement. His writing gained him national recognition. The 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain was one of his most successful works.  His other masterwork was the 1955 Notes of a Native Son essay collection. He was born on August 2, 1924, in New York City. He died at the age of 63 in France on December 1, 1987.

These legends are heroes in Black history. They sacrificed and persevered to achieve equality, justice, inclusivity, and diversity. Their legacies are all-time historical accomplishments passed on from their era to modern-day and future generations.