Harvey Public Library District

Miss Queen I dedicate this book to every child who dreams to learn more about black history. Especially the children of my hometown Harvey, IL. To be a black person is never a bad thing. No matter how many trials we have gone through as a people, we have always come out on top. We are Strong. We are Powerful. We are Intellegent. We are the true backbone of America’s La’Quinna Rodriguez success. ( February 2021)

Teen Zone

Hi, I’m David. As you know, February

is Black History Month . . .

. . . and you are going to tell us

about people like Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcom X.

. . trus t me I know. But big brother,

those aren’t the only black people who made a difference.

Sorry Tia, but those are the people they always talk about in school, so they are the only one’s I know about . . . hey I have an idea. Let’s go ask around to see if someone we know has more information on our

history.

YEESSS!!! Let’s go!!

Hey Nicole, we’re trying to

learn more about black

history. What do you know?

Well Tia, my favorite person

ever is …

Bessie Coleman was an American aviator and the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license. Because flying schools in the denied her entry, she taught herself French and moved to France, earning her license from France's well-known Caudron Brother's School of Aviation in just seven months.

Thanks Nicole, Bessie Coleman was so cool.

Hey Mikey. What do you know

about our history?

Tia, I know a lot. But one of the strongest men I know

from our history is Muhammad Ali . . .

Muhammad Ali was an American former heavyweight champion boxer and one of the greatest sporting figures of the 20th century. An Olympic gold medalist and the first fighter to capture the heavyweight title three times, Ali won 56 times in his 21-year professional career.

Oh yeah. . . how could I not

of Muhammad Ali. He

was one of the greatest of all time.

Yeah , he was the greatest.

My big sister Ky a teaches me

about our history all the time.

Well I think I have an idea

who we’re asking next . . .

Thanks Mikey!

Hey Kya !

Hey David! Hey Tia! So

Mikey tells me that you

guys want to know more about black history. . .

A lot of important black people made this world as we know it a better place.

Thurgood Marshall was an African American

lawyer who was appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1967. He was the first African American to hold the position and served

for 24 years, until 1991.

Mae Jemison, in full Mae Carol Jemison , is an African American physician and the first African

American woman to become an astronaut. In 1992 she spent more than a week orbiting Earth in the space shuttle Endeavor.

Lonnie George Johnson, most famous for inventing the Super Soaker water gun, was born on October 6, 1949, in Mobile, Alabama. His father worked as a

truck driver and his homemaker mother occasionally worked service jobs. His parents also picked cotton in the summer, on a farm belonging to Johnson's grandfather.

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, is an American physicist, and the eighteenth president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African-American woman to have earned a

doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She conducted a number of successful theoretical physics experiments and made breakthrough scientific research that enabled others to invent the fax machine, touch-tone phone, fiber optic cells, solar cells and the technology behind caller ID and call waiting. George Washington Carver was born enslaved and went on to become one of the most prominent scientists and inventors of his time, as well as a teacher at the Tuskegee Institute. Carver devised over 100 products using one major crop — the peanut — including dyes, plastics and gasoline.

Angela Davis is an activist, scholar, and writer who advocates for black people. She has authored several books like “Women, Culture & Politics” and “Women, Race & Class”. Angela also worked as a professor at the University of California. She is a true advocate for gender equity, prison reform, and alliances across color lines.

Wow Kya that’s a lot of information! I didn’t know so many black people

changed our society for the better.

And I bet there are so many more people that

made a difference.

There are David… There’s so much more!!

Thank you David for taking me to learn about

our history. I learned so

many great things!

I learned new things today too Tia, and I can’t wait to learn more!!