10 Unsung Historical Figures That Changed Black History
A quick history lesson on those the media failed to cover.
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Robert Smalls - Former slave who became a captain at sea and politicianChange: He successfully helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept Blacks in the Union army.(Photo: Fotosearch/Getty Images)
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Diane Nash - Strategist of the student wing of the civil rights movementChange: She started the Selma Voting Rights Committee campaign, which helped African-Americans in the South vote. (Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images)
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Fannie Lou Hamer - Civil rights activist who fought for voting rightsChange: She was a quintessential leader in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She later became the vice chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She worked side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to bring change in voting rights. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
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Claudette Colvin - Sparked change in segregation lawsChange: On March 2, 1955, a full nine months before Rosa Parks’s arrest, Claudette Colvin was dragged by police officers and taken to jail for refusing to follow segregation rules on a bus. She ultimately helped inspire the bus strikes and was an inspiration to Rosa Parks. (Photo: Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
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Martin Delany - African-American abolitionist and physicianChange: He was one of the first African-Americans accepted into Harvard Medical School. When the cholera epidemic hit Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, between the years of 1833 and 1854, many doctors fled. Martin Delany was one of the few that stayed to treat patients. (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Bayard Rustin - One of three who helped organize the March on WashingtonChange: He helped organize the March on Washington and started a platform for Martin Luther King Jr. to protest. Rustin was openly gay, which is essentially what took away from his recognition in history. He was also MLK’s advisor during the bus boycotts. (Photo: Patrick A. Burns/New York Times Co./Getty Images)
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Annie Turnbo Malone - Entrepreneur and millionaire in the 1920s.Change: Otherwise known as Madame C.J. Walker, Annie made millions when she started a hair care company and hired other African-Americans. She created jobs for people of color and carved a way for Blacks to own companies in the hair care world. She eventually founded Poro College, a beauty training school for Blacks.(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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George Jackson - Inmate and activistChange: In 1961, George Jackson was found guilty of the robbery of a gas station for $70. He was sentenced to a year to life, but each year he was denied parole. He brought awareness to the treatments of Blacks in the prison system and wrote a novel which contained his prison letters. The novel was called The Soledad Brothers.(Photo: Chicago Review Press; New edition edition)
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General Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr. - First Black generalChange: Chappie was the first Tuskegee Airman to become a general and receive four stars. He became the commander general responsible for defense for the United States of America and Canada. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)