Famous African-Americans

Please add more notable people here.

• Aaliyah, (1979-2001), singer, actor
• Michael Abels, (born 1962), composer
• Ralph Abernathy, (1936-1996), civil rights leader
• Muhal Richard Abrams, (born 1930), musician
• Mumia Abu-Jamal, (born 1954), prisoner and activist
• Muhammad Ali, boxer, war protester, member of the Nation of Islam, civil rights protester, and poet
• Richard Allen (Reverend), (1760-1831), ex-slave, religious leader, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Marian Anderson, (1897-1993), famous opera and concert singer
• Louis Armstrong, (1901-1971), jazz musician
• Emmett L. Ashford, first African-American umpire in organized baseball
• Crispus Attucks, (1723-1770), killed in Boston Massacre
• David Baker, (born 1931), composer
• Josephine Baker, singer, entertainer
• William Banfield, (born 1961), composer
• Benjamin Banneker, (1731-1806), 18th century astronomer
• Angela Bassett, actor
• Count Basie, (1904-1984), pianist, band leader
• Daisy Bates, (1914-1999), civil rights leader
• Sidney Bechet, (1897-1959), jazz musician
• Eubie Blake, (1883-1983), composer and musician
• Braun, Carol Mosley, presidential candidate in 2004
• Anthony Braxton, (born 1945), composer and multi-reedist
• Arthur M. Brazier, Minister,community activist, and civil rights leader
• Edward Brooke, former Massachusetts Attorney General, first African-American elected to the United States Senate (November 8, 1966).
• Shelton Brooks, (1886-1975), songwriter and entertainer
• Ron Brown, served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
• Ralph Bunche, (1904-1971) diplomat, Nobel Laureate 1950
• William Harvey Carney, (1842-1908), American Civil War hero
• George Washington Carver, (1860-1943), plant scientist
• Ray Charles, (born 1930), pop musician
• Charles Chesnutt, (1858-1932), author

• Bill Cosby, actor, entertainer
• John Coltrane, (1926-1967), jazz musician
• Roque Cordero, (born 1917), composer
• Angela Davis, (born 1944), author and activist
• Benjamin O. Davis Sr., general
• Benjamin O. Davis Jr., (1912-2002), military airman
• Miles Davis, (1926-1991), jazz musician
• Dominique Dawes, (born 1976), first African American female gymnast to medal in an Olympics (Gold (Team) and Bronze (Floor) Medalist at the 1996 Olympic Games)
• Chris Dickerson, (born 1939), bodybuilder
• Taye Diggs, actor
• Rockin' Dopsie, (born Alton Rubin) February 10, 1932 Carencro LA - 1993 Zydeco musician
• Bob Douglas, first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Frederick Douglass, (1818-1895), orator and abolitionist, ex-slave
• Charles R. Drew, (1904-1950), physician, pioneer of blood transfusion techniques
• W. E. B. DuBois, (1868-1963), writer, activist
• Paul Laurence Dunbar, (1872-1906), poet
• Oscar Dunn, first African American lieutenant governor of a US state (Lousiana)
• Julius Eastman, (1940-1991), composer and musician
• Duke Ellington, (1899-1974), jazz composer and musician
• Ralph Ellison, (1914-1994), writer
• Medgar Evers, (1925-1963), civil rights activist
• Jessie Fauset, novelist
• Ella Fitzgerald, (1918-1996), singer
• Aretha Franklin, (born 1942), singer, often referred to as the Queen of Soul
• Marcus Garvey, (1887-1940), political leader and nationalist
• Adolphus Hailstork, (born 1941), composer
• W.C. Handy, (1873-1958), blues composer
• Frances E. W. Harper, poet, novelist, lecturer and activist in turn of the century temperance and racial uplift movements.
• Fletcher Henderson, band leader, orchestrator, pianist
• Jimi Hendrix, (1942-1970), rock and roll musician
• George Herriman, (1880-1944), cartoonist
• Robert L. Hill, (1892-?), black leader at Elaine Race Riot
• Billie Holiday, (1915-1959), singer
• Langston Hughes, (1902-1967), poet
• Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist and political leader
• Samuel L. Jackson, actor & golfer
• Tony Jackson, (1876-1921), pianist & composer
• Mae Carol Jemison, first African-American woman in space
• Leroy Jenkins, (born 1932), composer and musician
• George W. Johnson (c.1855-1914), pioneer recording artist
• James P. Johnson (1894-1955), pianist & composer
• James Weldon Johnson, (1871-1938), author, poet, folklorist, and civil rights leader
• Scipio Africanus Jones, (1863-1943), attorney for Elaine Race Riot accused

• Scott Joplin, (1868-1917), ragtime composer
• Barbara Jordan, first African-American woman elected to Texas Senate
• Michael Jordan, professional basketball player
• Louis Jordan, (1908-1975), jazz musician and bandleader
• Hubert Julian, (born 1900), aviator
• Ulysses Kay, (1917-1995), composer
• B.B. King, (born 1925), blues musician
• Martin Luther King Jr., (1929-1968), leader
• Rodney King, motorist beaten by police, videotaped by bystander
• Nella Larsen, (1891-1964), novelist
• Oliver Law, (1899-1937), officer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, first African American to command white soldiers
• Robert Jr. Lockwood, (born 1915), blues musician
• Jair Lynch, (born 1971), first African American male gymnast to medal in an Olympics (Silver Medalist on Parallel Bars at the 1996 Olympic Games)
• Elijah J. McCoy (1844-1929), inventor
• Wynton Marsalis, a jazz trumpeter
• Thurgood Marshall, (1908-1993), first non-white U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
• Oscar Micheaux, (1884-1951), author and pioneer filmmaker
• Roscoe Mitchell, (born 1940), composer and musician
• Thelonious Monk, (1917-1982), composer and musician
• Toni Morrison, author, Nobel laureate 1993
• Huey P. Newton, (1942-1989), founder of the Black Panther Party
• Brandy Norwood, (born 1979), singer and actor
• Willie 'Ray-J' Norwood Jr., (born 1981), singer and actor, brother of the precedent
• Willie O'Ree, the first African American NHL player
• Jesse Owens, (1913-1980), track and field athlete
• Charlie Parker, (1920-1955), jazz musician
• Rosa Parks, started the Birmingham bus boycott
• Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, (born 1932), composer
• P. B. S. Pinchback, (1837-1921), first serving African American governor of a US state (Lousiana)
• Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, (1745-1813), first resident of Chicago
• Colin Powell, (born 1937), U.S. Secretary of State
• Percival Prattisbecame, the first African American news correspondent allowed in the United States House and Senate press gallery.
• Hiram Rhoades Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, the first African American ever to sit in the United States Congress
• Willy T. Ribbs, the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 (May 19, 1991)
• Norbert Rilleaux, (1806-1894), inventor
• RuPaul, (born 1960) drag queen
• David Robinson, professional basketball player and U.S. Navy veteran
• Bayard Rustin, (1912-1987), civil rights activist
• Bobby Seale, Co founder of the Black Panther Party
• Al Sharpton, a clergyman and politician
• Assata Shakur, (born 1947), exile and political activist
• Bessie Smith, (1894-1937), blues singer
• Clara Smith, blues singer
• Hale Smith, (born 1925), composer
• Mamie Smith, blues singer
• Willie The Lion Smith (1897-1963), pianist & composer
• Wesley Snipes, (born 1962), actor and producer
• Peter Spencer, (1782-1843), ex-slave, religious leader, A.U.M.P. Church founder
• William Grant Still, (1895-1978), composer
• Marshall Taylor, (1878-1932), aka "Major Taylor", champion competition cyclist
• Clarence Thomas, (born 1948), U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
• Nat Turner, (1800-1831), leader of major slave revolt
• Sojourner Truth, (1797?-1883), ex-slave, abolitionist
• Harriet Tubman, (1820-1913), ex-slave, writer, abolitionist
• Luther Vandross, singer, actor
• C. J. Walker, she was the first African-American millionaire
• George Walker, (born 1922), composer
• Fats Waller, (1904-1943), composer, singer, jazz musician
• Booker T. Washington, (1856-1915), educator
• Ethel Waters, (1896-1977), vocalist
• Muddy Waters, (1915-1983), blues musician
• Phillis Wheatley, (1753-1784), poet
• Joseph White, (1835-1918) Cuban born composer
• Douglas Wilder, (born 1931), first elected African American governor of a US state (Virginia)
• Clarence Williams, (1893-1965), composer, publisher, jazz musician
• Sonny Boy Williamson, (1897-1965), blues musician
• Tiger Woods, (born 1975), first African American (and Asian American) to win a major golf championship
• Malcolm X, (1925-1965), (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, born Malcolm Little), one time Nation of Islam and civil rights leader
• Andrew Young, (1932-), politician

See also: list of people, list of people by nationality, list of Americans, African Americans in the United States Congress