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Scroll down for a list of famous African Americans throughout history.
Obviously, there are many more famous African Americans than can be listed on a single page, but considering the challenges they've had to face throughout American History, it seems only fitting to acknowledge the many great contributions of African Americans to American culture over the past several hundred years.
Included here are some of the best.
Below is a list (with photos) of outstanding African American artists, athletes, activists, educators, musicians, politicians, scientists, pioneers, and more. Also noted are their professions, dates of birth, and the states where they grew up.
Shown here is a black power salute. The raised fist was a symbol of the Black Power movement in the 60s, which promoted economic, social, and political separation from whites in order to gain equality.
Click here to see Famous African American Quotations.
ALABAMA
Hank Aaron Baseball Player 1934-
Charles Barkley Basketball Player 1963-
Nat King Cole Musician 1919 - 1965
W.C. Handy Musician 1873 - 1958
Evander Holyfield Boxer 1962-
Coretta Scott King Activist 1927 - 2006
Carl Lewis Track Athlete 1961-
Joe Louis Boxer 1914 - 1981
Willie Mays Baseball Player 1931-
Jesse Owens Track Athlete 1913 - 1980
Satchel Paige Baseball Player 1906 - 1982
Rosa Parks Activist 1913 - 2005
Condoleezza Rice Politician 1954-
Willie Tyler Ventriloquist 1940-
ALASKA
ARIZONA
ARKANSAS
Jocelyn Elders Surgeon General 1933-
Daisy Bates Activist 1914 - 1999
CALIFORNIA
Eddie Anderson Actor 1898 - 1977
Tyra Banks Model 1973-
Charles Barkley Basketball Player 1963-
Barry Bonds Baseball Player 1964-
Calvin Broadus Musician 1972-
Michael Dorn Actor 1952-
Flo Griffith-Joyner Track Athlete 1959 - 1998
Etta James Musician 1938-
John Singleton Film Director 1968-
Serena Williams Tennis Player 1981-
Venus Williams Tennis Player 1980-
Tiger Woods Golfer 1975
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DELAWARE
Sugar Ray Leonard Boxer 1956 -
FLORIDA
Angela Bassett Actor 1958 -
Zora Neale Hurston Writer 1891 - 1960
Daniel James Aviator/4-Star General 1920 - 1978
Sidney Poitier Actor 1927 -
GEORGIA
Ray Charles Musician 1930 - 2004
Ossie Davis Actor/Writer/Director 1917 - 2005
Patrick Healy Catholic Priest 1834 - 1910
Martin Luther King Civil Rights Leader 1929 - 1968
Spike Lee Producer / Director 1957
Ma Rainey Musician 1886 - 1939
Jackie Robinson Baseball Player 1919 - 1972
Nipsey Russell Comedian 1918 - 2005
Alice Walker Writer 1944 -
George Wallace Comedian 1952 -
HAWAII
Barack Obama U.S. President 1961-
IDAHO
York Traveler with Lewis & Clark 1790(?) - ?
ILLINOIS
Carol Moseley Braun Senator 1947 -
Gary Coleman Actor 1968 - 2010
Miles Davis Musician 1926 - 1991
Redd Foxx Comedian 1922 - 1991
Bryant Gumbel Newscaster 1948 -
Quincy Jones Musician 1933 -
Bernie Mac Comedian 1958 - 2008
Richard Pryor Comedian 1940 - 2005
INDIANA
Janet Jackson Musician 1966 -
Jermaine Jackson Musician 1954 -
Marlon Jackson Musician 1958-
Michael Jackson Musician 1958 - 2009
Randy Jackson Musician 1956 -
Tito Jackson Musician 1953 -
IOWA
Eugene Baker Baseball Player 1925 - 1999
KANSAS
Gwendolyn Brooks Poet 1917 - 2000
KENTUCKY
Muhammad Ali Boxer 1942 -
LOUISIANA
Louis Armstrong Musician 1901 - 1971
Fats Domino Musician 1928 - 2017
Jellyroll Morton Musician 1890 - 1941
Wynton Marsalis Musician 1961 -
MAINE
MARYLAND
Eubie Blake Musician 1887 - 1983
Frederick Douglass Abolitionist 1817 - 1895
Matthew Henson Explorer 1866 - 1955
Thurgood Marshall Supreme Court Judge 1908 - 1993
Harriet Tubman Abolitionist 1820 - 1910
MASSACHUSETTS
W.E.B. Dubois Writer/Activist 1868 - 1963
Phyllis Wheatley Poet 1753 - 1784
MICHIGAN
Ralph Bunche Diplomat 1904 - 1971
Magic Johnson Basketball Player 1959 -
Calvin Peete Golfer 1943
Smokey Robinson Musician 1940 -
Diana Ross Musician 1944
Stevie Wonder Musician 1950 -
MINNESOTA
Prince Musician 1958 - 2016
MISSISSIPPI
Medgar Evers Activist 1925 - 1963
Robert L. Johnson Media Exec 1946 -
James Earle Jones Actor 1931 -
Mamie Oliver Professor 1945? -
Walter Payton Football 1954 - 1999
Charley Pride Musician 1938 -
Richard Wright Writer 1908 - 1960
MISSOURI
Maya Angelou Writer 1928 -
Josephine Baker Entertainer 1906 - 1975
Chuck Berry Musician 1926 -
George Washington Carver Botanist 1861 - 1943
Langston Hughes Writer 1902 - 1967
Jackie Joyner-Kersee Track Athlete 1962 -
MONTANA
Bill Picket Rodeo Star 1870 - 1932
NEBRASKA
Malcolm X Activist 1925 - 1965
NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
Count Basie Musician 1904 - 1984
Hurricane Carter Boxer 1937 -
Whitney Houston Musician 1963 - 2012
Jacob Lawrence Artist 1917 - 2000
Shaquille O'Neal Basketball Player 1972 -
Queen Latifah Rapper / Producer 1970 -
Paul Robeson Actor / Activist 1898 - 1976
Clerow "Flip" Wilson Comedian 1933 - 1998
NEW MEXICO
Jay Wright Poet 1935 -
NEW YORK
James Baldwin Writer 1924 - 1987
Harry Belafonte Entertainer/Humanitarian 1927 -
Cab Calloway Musician 1907 - 1994
Godfrey Cambridge Comedian 1933 - 1976
Diahann Carol Entertainer 1935 -
Sean "Puffy" Combs Musician 1971 -
Sammy Davis Jr Entertainer 1925 - 1990
Julius Erving Basketball Player 1950 -
Laurence Fishburne Actor 1961 -
Whoopee Goldberg Comedian 1955 -
Gregory Hines Dancer 1946 - 2003
Lena Horne Musician 1917 -
Kareem Abdul Jabar Basketball Player 1947 -
Michael Jordan Basketball Player 1963 -
Eddie Murphy Comedian 1961 -
Colin Powell U.S. Army General 1937 -
Chris Rock Comedian 1966 -
Al Roker Weatherman 1954 -
Tupac Shakur Musician / Poet 1971 - 1996
Al Sharpton Activist 1954 -
Sojourner Truth Abolitionist 1797 - 1883
Luther Vandross Musician 1951 - 2005
Denzel Washington Actor 1954 -
Damon Wayans Comedian 1960 -
Keenan Ivory Wayans Entertainer 1958 -
Kim Wayans Entertainer 1960 -
Marlon Wayans Entertainer 1972 -
Sean Wayans Entertainer 1971 -
NORTH CAROLINA
John Coltraine Musician 1926 - 1967
Moms Mabley Comedian 1897 - 1975
Thelonius Monk Musician 1917 - 1982
Nina Simone Musician 1933 - 2003
NORTH DAKOTA
OHIO
Halle Berry Actor 1966 -
Dorothy Dandridge Entertainer 1922 - 1965
Paul Laurence Dunbar Poet 1872 - 1906
Toni Morrison Writer 1931 -
Granville Woods Inventor 1856 - 1910
OKLAHOMA
Ralph Ellison Writer 1914 - 1994
Wayman Tisdale Basketball, Jazz Guitarist 1914 - 1994
OREGON
PENNSYLVANIA
Ed Bradley Journalist 1941 - 2006
Wilt Chamberlain Basketball Player 1936 - 1999
Billie Holiday Musician 1915 - 1959
Reggie Jackson Baseball Player 1946 -
Judith Jamison Dancer 1943 -
Will Smith Actor 1968 -
RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA
James Brown Musician 1933 - 2006
Chubby Checker Musician 1941 -
Dizzy Gillespie Musician 1917 - 1993
Jesse Jackson Activist 1941 -
William Perry Football Player 1962 -
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
Aretha Franklin Musician 1942 - 2018
Morgan Freeman Actor 1937 -
Alex Haley Writer 1921 - 1992
Isaac Hayes Musician/Actor 1942 - 2008
Samuel L. Jackson Actor 1948 -
Wilma Rudolph Track Athlete 1940 - 1994
Tina Turner Singer 1939 -
TEXAS
Alvin Ailey Dancer/Choreographer 1931 - 1989
George Foreman Boxer 1948 -
Jamie Foxx Comedian 1967 -
Bernard A. Harris Jr Astronaut / MD 1956 -
Beyonce Knowles Musician 1981 -
UTAH
VERMONT
VIRGINIA
Archibald Alexander Educator 1772 - 1851
Arthur Ashe Tennis 1943 - 1993
Clara Brown Philanthropist 1800 - 1880
Ella Fitzgerald Musician 1918 - 1996
Wanda Sykes Comedian 1964 -
Booker T. Washington Educator 1856 - 1915
Douglas Wilder Politician 1931 -
WASHINGTON
Gail Devers Track Athlete 1966 -
Jimi Hendrix Musician 1942 - 1970
WASHINGTON DC
Edward Brooke Senator 1919 - 2015
Duke Ellington Musician 1899 - 1974
Marvin Gaye Musician 1939 - 1984
WEST VIRGINIA
Henry Louis Gates Educator 1950
WISCONSIN
Al Jarreau Musician 1940 -
Oprah Winfrey
Talk Show Host / Philanthropist 1954 -
WYOMING
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