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Home , Fannie Lou Hamer, Kamala Harris, Rosa Parks, Septima Poinsette Clark, The Truths We Hold

A Compilation of Influential Figures in Black History

Table of Contents

Introduction

Key Terms

Sojourner Truth

Harriet Tubman

Maggie Lena Walker

Septima Clark

Thurgood Marshall

Robert Johnson

Rosa Parks

Fannie Lou Hamer

Katherine Johnson

Jackie Robinson

Malcolm X

Maya Angelou

Martin Luther Jr.

Barack Obama

Andrea Jenkins

Kamala Harris

Crossword Activity

Source List

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Introduction

Today systemic racism still permeates our society. Racist attitudes still exist. It is OUR responsibility to UNLEARN and LEARN, and to expand our perspective, for the purpose of building a better future for ALL.

This month, we invite you to do more than just participate in a trending hashtag (#), and learn about the journey of what brought us to where we are today and why we need a month to recognize Black History.

In this package, we have identified just SOME of the many influential figures who made enormous contributions throughout history. However, in order to make the many advancements achieved throughout the last couple of centuries, there were tens of thousands of unnamed others who contributed to the movements, the marches, the boycotts and the organization behind the events that we know today.

We hope that you appreciate this compilation as some of the highlights of the achievements made, while still recognizing that there is much more work to do.

Key Terms

RACISM The belief that people possess different behavioural or character traits based on the colour of their skin, facilitating the classification of superior or inferior races.

PREJUDICE Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

DISCRIMINATION The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age or sex.

SYSTEMIC RACISM Also known as institutional racism describes racism embedded as normal practice within society or an organization.

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Women’s Rights Activist, Abolitionist 1797 - November 26, 1883 Born: Rifton, New York USA

SUMMARY Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle Bomfree, a slave in New York in 1797. She was bought and sold 4 times and subjected to harsh physical labour and violent punishments. An abolitionist family bought Sojourner Truth’s freedom for twenty dollars in 1827. Although never learning to read or write, Sojourner became a charismatic speaker and gave speeches about the evils of slavery. In 1851, Truth began a lecture tour that included a women’s rights conference in Akron, , where she delivered her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech. In it, she challenged prevailing notions of racial and gender inferiority and inequality. During the 1850’s, Truth continued speaking nationally and helped slaves escape to freedom. When the Civil War started, Truth urged young men to join the Union and organized supplies for black troops. After the war, she helped freed slaves find jobs and build new lives.

FACTS ● Sojourner Truth’s Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet President in 1864. ● Sojourner Truth was the first black woman to successfully bring a lawsuit against a white man when she sued a slaveholder for illegally selling her 5-year-old son Pete, after the New York Anti-Slavery Law had passed. ● Although she never learned to read or write, Sojourner Truth became widely recognized as a preacher, national speaker and for her published autobiography which she dictated.

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American Abolitionist, Political Activist 1822 - March 10, 1913 Born: Dorchester County, Maryland USA

SUMMARY Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in 1822 and escaped to freedom in the North in 1849. She was the most famous “conductor” on the , a network of secret routes and safehouses used by enslaved African- to escape to free states and Canada. Her codename was “Moses” and she helped to free an estimated 3,000 slaves and never lost one. During the Civil War from 1861-1865, Harriet Tubman helped the Union Army working as a spy. After the Civil War ended, she dedicated her life to helping impoverished former slaves and the elderly.

FACTS ● Harriet Tubman risked her life to lead hundreds of family members and other slaves from the plantation system to freedom through the Underground Railroad. ● In Harriet Tubman’s early life, when sent to the store for supplies, she encountered a slave who had left the fields without permission. The man’s overseer demanded that Tubman help restrain the runaway. When she refused the overseer threw a 2 lb weight at her head. Following this incident Tubman endured seizures, headaches and narcoleptic episodes for the rest of her life. She also experienced intense dreams which she described as religious experiences and messages. ● Harriet Tubman was the first woman to lead a combat assault during the Combahee River Raid in in 1863.

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Civil Rights Leader, Bank President, Education Leader July 15, 1864 - December 15, 1934 Richmond, Virginia,

SUMMARY Maggie Lena Walker in spite of humble beginnings in post-Civil War Richmond, Virginia was able to achieve national prominence as a businesswoman and community leader. She joined the Independent Order of St. Luke, an organization dedicated to the advancement of in both financial and social . At the Order she established a youth program to inspire social consciousness in young African Americans. When the Order was on the verge of bankruptcy, she delivered a speech in 1901, with her plans to save it. She followed through with every item she described in her speech and became the first African American woman in the United States to found and charter a bank (St. Luke Penny Savings Bank).

FACTS

● Maggie Lena Walker was the first African American woman to charter a bank. ● In 1902 Walker established a newspaper called “The St. Luke Herald,” which was a publication that promoted closer communication between the Order and the public. ● Walker was first a grade school teacher for three years, but after 1886 she married and was forced to leave her job, due to the school's policy against married teachers. She decided to put her efforts into her family life and her publication.

drivenbyco.com ⬣ [email protected] Septima Clark

Civil Rights Activist and Teacher May 3, 1898 - December 15, 1987 Charleston, South Carolina, United States

SUMMARY was an African American educator and civil rights activist. The racial inequity of teachers’ salaries and facilities she experienced while there motivated her to become an advocate for change and to strengthen the African-American community through literacy and citizenship. Clark was active in several social and civic organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of People (NAACP), where she campaigned, along with attorney , for equal pay for black teachers in Columbia. Clark developed the literacy and citizenship workshops that played an important role in the drive for voting rights and civil rights for African Americans in the .

FACTS ● Septima Clark taught many women to read so they could pass literacy tests and vote. ● Septima Clark started her career as a teacher at the young age of 18. ● Clark was instrumental in founding nearly 900 citizenship schools which helped African Americans work through the procedure and register to vote through education and literacy.

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American Lawyer, Civil Rights Activist, Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States July 2, 1908 - January 24, 1993 Born: Baltimore, Maryland USA

SUMMARY Thurgood Marshall, born as Thoroughgood Marshall was encouraged by his mentor to view the law as a vehicle for social change. Upon his graduation from Howard Law School, Marshall practiced law in Baltimore. Throughout the 1940’s and 50’s, he distinguished himself as one of the country’s top lawyers, winning 29 of the 32 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court. Marshall’s victory in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, established his reputation as a formidable legal opponent and advocate for social change. This victory of this case led to the determination that in American public schools was unconstitutional. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court in June of 1967, which was confirmed in August of 1967. During his tenure from 1967-1991, Thurgood Marshall stressed the need for equitable and just treatment of the country’s minorities by the state and federal governments.

FACTS ● Thurgood Marshall was rejected from the University of Maryland Law School because he was not white. He instead attended Law School, receiving his degree in 1933, ranking first in his class. ● Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice. ● Thurgood Marshall had many contributions to the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) including becoming the lead chair in the legal office and serving as the chief of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

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American Blues Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter May 8, 1911 - August 16, 1938 Born: Hazelhurst, USA

SUMMARY Robert Johnson is best known as one of the greatest blues performers of all time, having a massive influence on rock n’ roll music throughout the following decades. Robert Johnson had a very brief career, traveling and playing wherever he could and writing and recording 29 songs in from 1936-1937. Robert Johnson’s life is filled with mystery. As legend has it, Robert Johnson had been a decent harmonica player but a terrible guitarist until he disappeared for a few weeks in Mississippi, where he allegedly took his guitar to the crossroads of Highways 49 and 61 to make a deal with the devil. In exchange for his soul, the devil apparently granted Johnson incredible musical talents. Robert Johnson unfortunately passed away on August 16th, 1938 at the age of 27, as the suspected victim of a deliberate poisoning.

FACTS ● Several movies and documentaries have tried to shed light on Robert Johnson, the blues legend, including Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? (1997) and Hellhounds on my Trail (2000). ● Robert Johnson’s recognition came after his death, especially as his work was reissued and re-recorded by many other artists including Muddy Waters, Elmore James, The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. Another retrospective collection of his recordings released in the 1990s sold millions of copies. ● Although the “deal with the devil” story is likely a myth, Johnson returned from Mississippi with a very impressive technique and became a master of the blues.

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Rosa Parks

Civil Rights Activist , 1913 - October 24, 2005 Born: Tuskegee, USA

SUMMARY After a long day working at a department store as a seamstress, Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus for home, taking a seat in the first of several rows designated for “coloured” passengers. As more passengers boarded along the route, the bus driver noticed white passengers standing and asked black passengers on the bus to give up their seats. Three other passengers complied, however Rosa Parks refused, stating “I don’t think I should have to give up my seat.” The bus driver called the police and had her arrested. On December 5th, 1955, the day of Park’s trial, members of the African-American community protested her arrest by staying off city buses. This sparked the lasting for 381 days, ending with a Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation on public transit systems to be unconstitutional.

FACTS ● Rosa Parks did not refuse to give up her seat because she was “tired”, she was tired of giving in. ● The arrest of Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott amongst the black community, resulting in the Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation on public transit systems to be unconstitutional. ● Rosa Parks was not the first “coloured” woman to be arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. Nine months prior to Rosa Parks’ arrest, 15 year old was the first Montgomery bus passenger to be arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger.

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Civil Rights Activist October 6, 1917 - March 14, 1977 Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States

SUMMARY Fannie Lou Hamer was born in Mississippi, as the youngest of 20 children. She grew up in poverty and started working in the fields when she was only six years old. In 1961, Hamer received a hysterectomy by a white doctor without her consent while undergoing to remove a uterine tumor. Such forced sterilization of was a way to reduce the Black population. In June 1963, after successfully registering to vote despite obstacles including unfair literacy testing, Hamer and several other Black women were arrested for sitting in a “whites-only” bus station restaurant in South Carolina. At the jailhouse, she and several of the women were brutally beaten, leaving Hamer with lifelong injuries from a blood clot in her eye, damage, and leg damage. Fannie Lou Hamer’s passionate depiction of her own suffering in a racist society helped focus attention on the circumstances of African-Americans throughout the South.

FACTS ● Fannie Lou Hamer co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). which challenged the local Democratic Party’s efforts to block Black participation ● In 1964 Hamer helped organize , which brought hundreds of college students, Black and white, to help with African American voter registration in the segregated South ● From 1968 to 1971, Ms. Hamer was a member of the Democratic National Committee for Mississippi; this fact alone represented great progress for Mississippi. She also founded the National Women’s Political Caucus. ● In 1968, Fannie Lou Hamer began a “pig bank” to provide free pigs for Black farmers to breed, raise, and slaughter. A year later she launched the Freedom Farm Cooperative (FFC), buying up land that Black people could own and farm collectively. She also single-handedly ensured that 200 units of low-income housing were built.

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American Mathematician August 26, 1918 - February 24, 2020 Born: White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia USA

SUMMARY Katherine Johnson was one of the first three black students selected to integrate into graduate school at West Virginia University in 1939. She enrolled in the math program. In 1953, Katherine Johnson began working at the all-black West Area Computing section at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA) Langley laboratory (NACA later became NASA). Katherine Johnson was critical to the Space Race between the USA and the Soviet Union. She did trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s May 1961 mission Freedom 7, America’s first human spaceflight. In 1962, as NASA prepared for the orbital mission of John Glenn, Johnson was asked by engineers to double check the equations that had been programmed into the computer by hand through her desktop mechanical calculating machine. The flight was a success, marking a turning point in the Space Race. Katherine Johnson also contributed to the Apollo mission with her calculations that helped sync the Apollo Lunar module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service module.

FACTS ● Katherine Johnson was one of the first black students integrated into West Virginia’s graduate schools. ● In 1960, Katherin Johnson and engineer Ted Skopinski co-authored “Determination of Azimuth Angle at Burnout for Placing a Satellite Over a Selected Earth Position”, a report laying out the equations describing an orbital spaceflight in which the landing position of the spacecraft is specified. This was the first time a woman in the Flight Research Division had received credit as an author of a research report. ● Katherine Johnson was instrumental in America’s victory in the Space Race against the Soviet Union with her calculations that allowed John Glenn to become the first American to orbit Earth in addition to contributing to the success of the Apollo moon landing.

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American Professional Baseball Player January 31, 1919 - October 24, 1972 Born: Stamford, Connecticut USA

SUMMARY Jack Roosevelt Robinson broke the colour barrier when he became the first Black athlete to play Major League Baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. As the first Black man in MLB, Jackie Robinson endured objections and harassment from his teammates and other teams during his career with many players on opposing teams threatening not to play against the Dodgers. Jackie Robinson was also a civil rights activist, serving on the board of the NAACP until 1967. In 1952 Jackie Robinson called out the New York Yankees as a racist organization for not having broken the colour barrier five years after he joined the Dodgers. Robinson continued to lobby for greater racial integration in sports.

FACTS ● During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949-1954, and was the first Black player to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949. ● Jackie Robinson played in 6 World Series and helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 1955. ● Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

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American Muslim Minister, Human Rights Activist May 19, 1925 - February 21, 1965 (assassinated) Born: Omaha, Nebraska USA

SUMMARY Born as Malcolm Little, Malcolm X was an African American leader and prominent figure in the . Malcolm X was an articulate public speaker and charismatic personality expressing the pent-up anger, frustration and bitterness of African Americans during the major phase of the civil rights movement. He preached on the streets of and spoke at major universities such as Harvard University and the University of Oxford. His keen intellect, wit, and passionate radicalism made him a formidable critic of American society. Malcolm X even challenged Martin Luther King Jr. on his notions of and encouraged his followers to defend themselves “by any means necessary.” Malcolm’s ideas and speeches contributed to the Black nationalist ideology and helped to popularize the values of autonomy and independence among African Americans in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

FACTS ● Malcolm X replaced his surname “Little” with “X” (a custom of Nation of Islam followers) because they considered their family names to have been originated with white slaveowners. ● Through the influence of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X helped to change the terms used to refer to African Americans from “Negro” and “coloured” to “Black” and “Afro-American.” ● Originally opposed to the non-violent ideologies of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X was transformed after he made hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). When he returned, he came back to work with other civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. on ways to peacefully achieve equal rights.

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“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget ​ what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

American Poet, Civil Rights Activist April 4 1928 – May 28 2014 Born: St. Louis, USA

SUMMARY Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist and activist, best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman. In 2011, Time magazine ranked it as one of the most influential books of modern times. The memoir illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. Maya Angelou recited a poem at the first inauguration of in 1993. She received several honours throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (non-fiction) category.

FACTS ● Maya Angelou was the first black female inaugural poet in U.S. Presidential history. ● Maya Angelou wrote the beloved poem “Phenomenal Woman.” ● Maya Angelou worked to support the civil rights movement and other civil rights activists including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

drivenbyco.com ⬣ [email protected] Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil Rights Activist, Baptist Minister January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968 (assassinated) Born: Atlanta, USA

SUMMARY Martin Luther King Jr. became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and , inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent of . King participated in and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labour rights, and other basic civil rights. King led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Martin Luther King Jr. is most famous for the “” Speech he delivered during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 where he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism.

FACTS ● Martin Luther King Jr. survived an attempted assassination 10 years before his death when he was stabbed in the chest with a letter opener. ● Martin Luther King Jr. attended graduate school at Boston University where he received his Ph.D. in 1955 in Systemic Theology. ● When Martin Luther King Jr. received a Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence, he was just 35 years old – the youngest man at the time to do so. His prize included a check for $54,123, which he donated to various organizations – Congress on (CORE), the NAACP, National Council of Negro Women, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and others – to aid in the progress of the civil rights movement.

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44th President of the United States August 4 1961 - Born: Honolulu, Hawaii USA

SUMMARY Barack Obama attended and Harvard Law School where he was the first black person to be President of the Harvard Law Review. As an American politician and attorney, Barack Obama served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009-2017. Barack Obama, a member of the Democratic Party was the first African-American President of the United States. Obama signed many landmark bills during his first two years in office, resulting in incredible advances in healthcare, , and international relations.

FACTS ● Barack Obama was the first African-American President of the United States. ● Obama passed many transformational bills, including the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare which expanded the medical insurance coverage, cutting the uninsured population in half. ● In 2009, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.

drivenbyco.com ⬣ [email protected] Andrea Jenkins

American Politician, Artist, Activist 1961 - Born: Oakland, , USA

SUMMARY Andrea Jenkins is an American politician with many talents and skills. She is known for her activism within the transgendered community. She is the first black openly transgendered woman elected to public office in the United States, specifically serving on the Minneapolis City Council. Andrea Jenkins is also a writer, artist, and poet.

FACTS ● After her education Jenkins was very active within the Minneapolis City Council where she was able to be the curator of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota’s Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender studies. ● Andrea Jenkins holds a Bachelor Degree in Human Services, and a Master’s Degree is in Community Development.

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49th and Current Vice President of the United States , 1964 - Born: Oakland, California, USA

SUMMARY Kamala Harris is a member of the Democratic Party and has served as a senator for California in the United states from 2017-2021 prior to becoming the United States’ first female vice president, the first African American and first Asian American vice president and the highest ranked female elected official ever in US history, truly breaking many firsts for the country. Kamala’s educational background is in political science and economics where she studied in 1981at Howard University. She then continued her education at the University of California at Hastings College of Law in 1989.

FACTS

● Kamala’s father is Jamaican and her mother is Indian. ● Kamala is not only involved in politics but also the author of multiple publishings. She has written a memoir titled “: An American Journey,” as well as “Superheroes Are Everywhere,” a children’s book. ● Kamala decided to announce her presidential campaign on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, where she cited him as being an inspiration.

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https://www.ted.com/talks/t_morgan_dixon_and_vanessa_garrison_the_most_powerful_woman_you_ve_neve r_heard_of?referrer=playlist-10_great_talks_to_celebrate_bl#t-51856 https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/fannie-lou-hamer https://www.businessinsider.com/8-amazing-facts-about-harriet-tubman-2016-4#7-she-was-the-first-woman-to -lead-a-combat-assault-7 https://www.biography.com/activist/harriet-tubman https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography https://www.biography.com/activist/rosa-parks https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malcolm-X https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52678571 https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/572383/sojourner-truth-facts https://www.nps.gov/mawa/learn/historyculture/maggie-lena-walker.html https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/kamala-harris-latest-democrat-run-president/story?id=60521324 https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/city-council/ward-8/about-andrea-jenkins/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thurgood-Marshall https://www.biography.com/athlete/jackie-robinson https://www.biography.com/musician/robert-johnson https://www.biography.com/writer/maya-angelou https://www.loudersound.com/features/robert-johnson-the-impact-he-had-was-monumental https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/fannie-lou-hamer https://www.britannica.com/biography/Septima-Poinsette-Clark

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