Black History Guardians

-ously awarded Fannie Lou Hammer the Presidential Medal of Freedom. #blackhistoryguardiansbirthdays #fannielouhamer

African-Americans in Mississippi to become registered voters, and aided hundreds of disenfranchised people in her area through her work in programs such as the Freedom Farm Cooperative. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. On January 4, 2025, President Joe Biden posthum-

It's been 108 years since community leader, and women's, voter's and civil right activist, Fannie Lou Hamer was born. Despite being threatened, harassed, shot at, and assaulted by racists, including members of the police, while trying to register to vote, she assisted and encouraged thousands of...

YouTube video by African American History Is AMERICAN History Hollywood’s Forgotten Black Star: Nina Mae McKinney [AAHIAH Ep. #123]

youtu.be/Kw_4eZesY9I
She was called “The Black Garbo.” Nina Mae McKinney dazzled Hollywood, Broadway, and beyond—yet her story was nearly erased. Watch as African American History Is AMERICAN History restores the legacy of this forgotten Black star.

Happy Juneteenth! Today commemorates the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War, but #DidYouKnow Deleware and Kentucky were the last states in December of 1865 to inform the enslaved peoples in their state they were free.

Happy 100th Birthday to Malcom X (1925-1965)! This minister, civil rights activist and revolutionary is still celebrated, quoted and remembered today for his black empowerment and pursuit of racial injustice.

#WomensHistoryMonth A lover of community, actress mom of Gullah Gullah Island Natalie Daise is a singer, speaker, creative catalyst, master, storyteller, and artist.
nataliedaise.com

#WomensHistoryMonth Author of “Forbidden Fruit”, Betty DeRamus, is a public-speaker and award winning journalist. In 1993, she was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in commentary.

#WomensHistoryMonth: Unsung ancestor, Lucreaty Clark (1904-1986) was a homeopath, folk artist and basket weaver. She received the Florida Folk Heritage Award in 1985.

Rest in Power, George Edward Foreman— professional boxer, businessman, author and minister. Nicknamed "Big George", his boxing career expanded from 1967-1997, during which he was a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. #blackhistoryguardians

and the psychological effects of integration; she was an advocate of African-American students being segregated and educated by African-American teachers.

#WomensHistoryMonth: Inez Beverly Prosser, an educator and administrator was the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in Psychology. She was a prominent figure in the examination of how to best educate African-American students...

#WomensHistoryMonth: Annie Turnbo Malone (1879-1957) —inventor, businesswoman and philanthropist, was among the first to found and build an enterprise centered on hair and cosmetics for African-American women. She was among the first African-American women millionaires of the 20th century.

she was the first African-American woman to guest host “The Tonight Show starring Jonny Carson”. Her career spanned for 70 years in music, television and film!

#WomensHistoryMonth: Della Reese (1931-2017) started her career as a singer of gospel and jazz, was an actress, and an ordained minister. She had her own talk show series with 197 episodes called “Della”, from 1969-1970. In 1970...

#WomensHistoryMonth: Dr. Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) was the founder of the Green Belt Movement - responsible for planting more than 30 million trees in Kenya. A women’s right activist & environmentalist, she was the first African woman to win the Nobel Prize in 2004.

#WomensHistoryMonth: In 1977, Carolyn Robertson Payton (1925-2001) was appointed the first woman and first African-American to be Peace Corps Director. In 1997, she received the APA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology.

#WomensHistoryMonth: Born a free woman, Mary S. Peake (1823-1862) secretly taught formerly enslaved Blacks how to read and write when she was 16 years old. In spite of her home being destroyed during the Civil War, she started a school where Hampton University stands today! #nowomennoworld

In the late 1970s, she and her husband launched hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records, named after an affluent African-American neighborhood in Harlem. This label produced “Rappers Delight” thus jumpstarting and influencing hip-hop and rap as we know it today. #blackhistoryguardians

#WomensHistoryMonth: Sylvia Robinson (1935-2011) “Mother of Hip-Hop”, was a singer, music producer, and record label executive. In 1966 she and her husband established All Platinum Records, where they produced many R&B songs, some even of her own —most, successfully ranking the charts.

#WomensHistoryMonth Born a slave, Fanny Jackson Coppin (1837-1913) was the first Black woman to become a principal of a school. She established a night school at Oberlin College to educate freed slaves. Coppin State University (named in her honor) continues to empower people today!

#WomensHistoryMonth: 👩🏽‍✈️Bessie Coleman (1892-1926), the first Black woman to get a pilot’s license, facing both racial and gender barriers in the US, taught herself French and traveled to France to study aviation. She made her first public flight in 1922. #NoWomenNoWorld

California during the Gold Rush Era. There, she also won several civil rights cases in court. She often used passing as white to gain financial tips, which ultimately made her wealthy. Although her life didn’t end as uphill as it was lived, this mysterious woman made an impact in black history!

#WomensHistoryMonth: Mary Ellen Pleasant was a financier, entrepreneur, real-estate mogul, and abolitionist. She is the woman who it is said, financed John Brown in his efforts to fund slave rebellions and abolish slavery. She herself worked in the Underground Railroad and aided in bringing it to...

#WomensHistoryMonth: Physician Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser, was the 1st woman to earn an MD from Syracuse University and the 1st female doctor licensed to practice in the Dominican Republic. Her father, an abolitionist minister, had freed himself, and was very active in the Underground Railroad.

Happy Harriet Tubman Day! #DidYouKnow A Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II was named after Harriet Tubman, and was the first Liberty ship to be named after an African-American woman. SS Harriet Tubman was christened by Tubman's great-niece, Eva Stuart Northrup.

#WomensHistoryMonth: Formally known as “Dean of Black Women Composers”, Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989) was a composer and music professor. She was Juilliard School’s first Fisk University scholarship recipient. In 1981, her 16-part oratorio “Life of a Martyr” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

#WomensHistoryMonth Community activist, Florine Thornhill's (1922-2010) leadership transformed a once decrepit and dangerous neighborhood in Roanoke, Virginia into a place safe for children. She was honored with the "Volunteer Action Award" by President William Clinton in 1994. #NoWomenNoWorld

D’Wayne Wiggins developed and signed Destiny's Child to Grass Roots Entertainment, later brokering their contract with Columbia Records. He mentored, patronized, worked with and helped produce many singers within the R&B, Neo-Soul genres.
#BlackHistoryGuardians