Most Notable African Americans of All Times

Dr. King, Oprah and Tiger Woods

By Michelle Burton, published Apr 13, 2006
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The list of the most notable African-Americans of all times is vast, varied and virtually endless. African Americans are noted for their contributions throughout history in every field imaginable. Bessie Coleman was the first licensed African American pilot and the first African American female pilot, Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice and Dr. Charles Richard Drew was the inventor of the first blood bank. The list goes on and on. Whether it’s excellence in Aviation, Law or Medicine, Sports, Journalism or Activism, the list of the most notable African Americans of all times continues to grow today. We can’t list them all here, but below are three notable figures, all with a permanent place in history.

At the age of 35, ReverendDr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize money, totaling $54,123, helped support and advance the civil rights movement. Born Michael Luther King Jr. January 15, 1929, Dr. King became a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) during the 1950’s. From 1955-1956, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a successful bus boycott that ended segregation on Montgomery Alabama buses.

During his decades of dedication to civil rights, religion, peace and harmony, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. peacefully protested and boycotted with thousands of followers and prominent figures to end segregation, discrimination and discriminatory laws. Dr. King endured numerous arrests, abuse, hatred, death threats and even his home was bombed. Through it all, Dr. King gave more than 2,500 speeches, authored five books, traveled over 6 million miles and led some of the largest and most successful protests in world history. Dr. King was not only a leader of the civil rights movement, but he was also a world figure. He campaigned for Lyndon B. Johnson and consulted with JFK and in 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was named Time Magazines Man of the Year.

 
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Takeaways
  • Oprah is worth more than $1.1 billion dollars
  • At the age of 35, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peac
  • Tiger Woods is neither African American nor Asian�he�s both.
Did You Know?
Tiger Woods made his first appearance at the age of two on The Mike Douglas Show, putting alongside Bob Hope.
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Showing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
 
 
I would have to add Mary Bethune McLeod who started a school with was it 50 cents or a dollar and went on to found a college and work with presidents. I find Frederick Douglas especially notable because he was born a slave and the first African/American to run for Vice President of the United States about 80 years before the USA finally passed a Civil Rights Act to give African/Americans full rights as citizens with protection under the law. Shirley Chisholm was also notable also for receiving 152 delegate votes in her bid for the Presidency in 1972 at a time when racism and sexism was still quite rampant in US society.

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Posted on 01/21/2008 at 6:01:22 PM

 
if i had the money i will help the orphans in africa.

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Posted on 02/14/2007 at 6:02:00 AM

 
Michelle, I think that your piece on Most Notable African Americans is wonderful! I have recently been studying CLR James and i have come to find that his critique on modern society is very intresting and overwhelmingly accurate. From a writer hailing from Trinidad, he had an extensive amount of studying under his belt. But i think that you would be intrested in learning more about this professor of critical and modern thoughts. Some of his works range from a critique of sports, like the game cricket for instance, taking a sport that is maybe thought of as a bourgeuoies game to most, that is surprisingly political! Keep up the good work.

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Posted on 10/04/2006 at 1:10:00 PM

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