One of the first African-American women to earn a college degree,
her parents were both former slaves, and she co-founded the
National Association of colored Women in 1896 as a way to get
African-American women involved in winning the right to vote.    

An early activist and NAACP member who worked to free the
“Scottsboro Boys” in the 1930s, this woman earned more than
forty honorary doctorate degrees, hundreds of medals, and was the
first living person to be honored with a holiday.  

She was the first Black child to desegregate and all-white elementary
school in New Orleans in 1960, suffering cruel threats and
mistreatment by protesters and community members who were
against desegregation.  She is also the recipient of the Presidential
Citizens Medal, an honorary degree from Tulane University.  

This abolitionist and civil right advocate escaped slavery in New York
in 1827 and successfully sued for the return of her five-year old son,
assisted in helping slaves escape to freedom, and organized Black
troops and supplies for the Union Army.  

Earning more than forty honorary doctorate degrees, and hundreds
of medals and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
as an early activist and NAACP member, she refused to give up her
seat to a white man on an Alabama bus in 1955. She is considered
the mother of the Freedom Movement.

This South African born singer, humanitarian, and Civic Rights activist
immigrated to the US in 1960 after gaining popularity as a singer and
actress for her role in the anti-apartheid film, Come Back, Africa. She
continued to protest injustice through her music after moving to Guinea
as a result of criticism from Whites for marrying Black Panther Stokely
Carmichael.   

Starting her dance career locally and quickly becoming the highest paid
chorus girl in Vaudeville, she was the first Black person to become a
world-class dancer and star in a major motion picture. As a Civil Rights
movement contributor, she refused to perform for segregated crowds
and spoke at the March on Washington by the side of
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.    

As a professional singer, actress, songwriter, and comedian, she
became the first African-American to win an Academy Award when
she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind
(1939). She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was
the first Black Oscar winner to be placed on a US postage stamp.

Considered one of the best and most influential jazz vocalists of all
time, her legacy still influences jazz and many other genres to this day.
She has received four posthumous Grammy awards, all for Best
Historical Album. She herself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of
Fame in 1973.  

Recognized as one of the most iconic singers of all time with a career
that spans over four decades, this singer, songwriter, actress, and
twelve-time Grammy nominee was becaue the first African-american
woman to co-host the Academy Awards in 1974. Named “Female
Entertainer of the Century” by Billboard magazine and declared the
most successful female music artist in history by the Guiness Book of
World Records in 1993.

She immigrated from Ghana to the US in the early 1920s to join the
Black Nationalist movement, where she became spokesperson and
director of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. She attracted
audiences in the tens of thousands when speaking about the
opportunities available to Black people if they moved to Africa,
but was assassinated during a sermon on African-american
self-improvement.

This rebel resistance leader and freedom fighter was forced into slavery
in Cuba after being kidnapped from West Africa as a child. Musically
inclined, she used “talking drums” to communicate coded messages
with other slaves as a way to plan revolts. She led the 1843 raid that
freed dozens of slaves and used a machete to forcibly overthrow
Spanish landowners.

Treated cruelly and forced to wear a slave mask (a collar and a muzzle)
made from heavy iron, she was the product of a slave-master
relationship and was born with piercing blue eyes that set her apart from
others. She is now seen as a protector Saint of the descendants of
slaves and the poor in Brazil.

Travelling thousands of mils and arrested twice, she joined a women’s
branch of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and received
political and military training so that she could be a part of the liberation
struggle in Mozambique. She organized health and child care centers,
and schools while serving as an advocate for children orphaned by the
war.

A writer, translator, revolutionary, and Women’s Rights activist, she is
known as “Mother of the Revolution” for her role in the Angolan
Independence Movement. She corresponded with Martin Luther King Jr
in an effort to get ideas on how to help her country’s fight for
independence from the Portuguese, and was tortured and executed
after being captured for her political work in Angola

As the first female attorney of Dominica and only female Prime Minister,
she served as head of state longer than any other Prime Minister of
Dominica. She helped to found the Dominica Freedom Party in the 1
970s and her inflexible views led her to be nicknamed the “Iron Lady of
the Caribbean”.

Her women’s peace movement used non-traditional tactics such as a
sex strike, and threats of curses and nudity in the streets to bring an
end to the Second Liberian Civil war in 2003. She was co-awarded the
2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in peace-building efforts and the
non-violent struggle for women’s rights.

The first African-American woman to be elected to the US Senate in
1992, she served as US Attorney in Chicago in 1973, served as US
ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa in 1999, and campaigned for
the Democratic presidential nomination in 2003 bur dropped out early in
the race to join the private sector.

Before becoming the 24th president of Liberia, she was the first woman
elected as the Chair of the Economic community of West African States,
a union that promotes economic integration across fifteen West African
countries. She brought running water and power to parts of her country
that had been without power for fifteen years, enforced a free public
school system, increased wages and pensions, and greatly reduced the
country’s debt.

This Haitian-born former journalist who was appointed Governor
General of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II had become the first Black
person on French television news in Canada during her work as a
news reporter and television host. She is the third and current (2017)
Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la
Francophonie, which works to promote the cultures of regions where
French is the first language.

The first African-American to be promoted to principal ballerina by the
American Ballet Theater, she was the recipient of many awards and
authored books that empower children of color, including her 2015
book, Firebird. Unlike most ballerinas, she didn’t start ballet training
early – she began dancing at the age of 13.  

This track star, field athlete, and philanthropist ranked among the
all-time greatest athletes for her talent in the long jump and heptathlon.
She was voted by Sports Illustrated for Women magazine as the
“Greatest Female Athlete of All Time” and co-founded Athletes for Hope,
which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and
support their communities.

A four-time Olympic gold medal winner, she is listed on Forbes’ list of
the 100 highest paid athletes and serves as Chief Sporting Officer for
British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin. She also currently
holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed
doubles, combined.

Originally trained as a gymnast, switching to figure skating at the age of
eleven, this woman is the only Olympic figure skater to successfully
land a backflip on one skate blade. She was also famous for her jumps
and risky moves as well as her bold and unusually colored costumes.

This track star, Olympic champion, and educator contracted polio at
the age of four and lost the use of her left leg. She eventually regained
her strength to become the first American woman to win three gold
medals in Track and Field during the 1960 summer Olympic games in
Rome.

Diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1950, her cell culture was used to
create one of the most important cell lines in cancer research. Her cells
were the first cells observed that could be divided multiple times without
dying. As a result, they were used in many medical experiments snd
have been used to develop a vaccine for polio, and to research cancer,
AIDS, virology, and sensitivity to products.

She was given a posthumous honorary doctorate in public service in
2011 and inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2014.