During the month of February, we celebrate Black Americans that have helped change and shape our society today. There are many people throughout history who have made a huge impact on today’s society that have gone unnoticed by many. Here are just a few of those historical figures:

 Shirley Chisholm 

November, 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005 

Shirley Chisholm was the first female African-American elected into Congress in 1968 and also one of the first Black women to try and run for President of the United States. Before becoming a Congresswoman for 14 years, she was a nursery school teacher and obtained her Master’s degree in early childhood education. She was described as someone who was a fighter and fought for equal rights among women, minorities, poor, and immigrants.  

“I want to be remembered as a woman… who dared to be a catalyst of change.”

Alice Allison Dunnigan 

April 27, 1906 – May 6, 1983

Alice Dunnigan was the first African-American female White House correspondent and the first black female member of both the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries. She was the first African American to receive a Congressional press passwhich is important for being a journalist. Before her time serving with President Kennedy, she was a teacher as well as taking journalism classes. 

“Without black writers, the world would perhaps never have known of the chicanery, shenanigans, and buffoonery employed by those in high places to keep the black man in his (proverbial) place by relegating him to second-class citizenship.”

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973 

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a queer black woman known as the Godmother of Rock ‘n’ Roll introducing it to other celebrities like Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and countless others. At her concerts, she performed different genres like the blues, jazz, and gospel and often fused them together. 

“My emotion is real, and my everyday life is filled with the same feeling.”

Thurgood Marshall

July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993 

Thurgood Marshall was a jurist, an American civil rights lawyer, and was the Supreme Court’s first African-American justice. He strived to protect the rights of all citizens which earned him the nickname “Mr. Civil Rights”. He won 29 out of 32 civil rights cases that he brought among the Supreme Court. In 1954, he helped abolish segregation throughout schools.

“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.”