The Black Student Union presents a celebration of Black figures and significant events in history

George Robert Carruthers was an African American inventor, engineer, and astrophysicist. He was the principal designer of a telescope that went to the moon in 1972 as a part of NASA’s Apollo 16 mission. At an early age, Carruthers had an interest in space science. He spent his career at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. Dr. Carruthers was a leading African American astrophysicist in the...

James Harris was an African American chemist who aided in the founding of elements 104 and 105. He studied at Huston-Tillotson College in Austin and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1973. Harris met many difficulties finding a job after college as a black man during the Jim Crow era, but after two years of perseverance, Harris landed a job at a commercial research laboratory in California...

Many consider Dr. Bettye Washington Greene the first African-American female chemist employed to work in a professional position. She was born in Texas in 1935, earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Tuskegee Institute in 1955, and earned her Ph.D. at Wayne State University in 1962. She started her working career at the Dow Chemical Company in 1865. Greene worked with latex products. She served as...

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was one of the most influential African-American musical-comedy and tap dancing performers. He performed solo for a while, making him one of the rare Black solo performers in vaudeville. In the Broadway hit, Blackbirds (1928) reached fame in the white community. He was also a dance partner to the child star Shirley Temple. He continued to act successfully despite having...

Michaela DePrince is a ballet dancer originally from Sierra Leone. Due to the Sierra Leone Civil War, she became an orphan at a young age. Her vitiligo caused people in her country to look down upon her and abuse her. Before an American family adopted her, she was inspired to pursue ballet by a magazine floating in the wind. In America, she broke the racial barriers of ballet and continued to train...

Loving v. Virginia, a Supreme Court case, terminated state laws that prevented interracial marriage in the United States. The plaintiffs of the Loving v. Virginia case were Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and a black woman. Their marriage was illegal according to Virginia state law. As a result, they faced the conviction of returning to Virginia together for 25 years in 1958. The Lovings began...

Robert Nesta Marley, or Bob Marley, was born in St. Ann, Jamaica, in 1945. In his early teens, he was exposed to ska: an American rhythm and blues genre, with a Jamaican beat. Marley took the opportunity to release his version of ska with early hits, including “Judge Not” (1961) and “One Cup of Coffee”  (1963). Years later, Marley and two other friends formed The Wailers, with Joe Higgs as...

John Lewis was born February 21, 1940, an era of racial segregation. Lewis left his home in Alabama in 1957 to attend the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, where he learned about nonviolent protests and participated in sit-ins. In 1963, Lewis became the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and one of the “Big Six” leaders of the civil rights movement,...

Aretha Franklin is arguably the greatest singer-songwriter of all time and defined soul music’s golden age in the 1960s. Adorned and recognized as a vocal prodigy, were compiled into the album “The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin” in 1956. After she switched from gospel to secular music at the age of 18 and releasing top hits, she switched back to releasing gospel music and released more world-renowned...

Booker T. Washington was born April 5, 1856, on a slavery plantation in Hale’s Ford, Virginia. He was educated at Hampton Institute and started Tuskegee in 1881 with only 30 students, having only $2,000, and a one-room shack. Alabama asked for a white man to lead the institute, but Washington got the job. Many white Americans saw educated Black Americans as dangerous; his students did not want equal...

Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. Jordan was very athletic growing up and even played basketball during his Junior and senior high school years. He was mostly known for his outstanding basketball skills, and his six championship wins with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan was given the Most Valuable Player award five times throughout his career and is known for being a fantastic...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. King was a Baptist minister, humanitarian, and renowned leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. His many academic achievements include earning: a doctorate in systematic theology, a Bachelor of Arts, and a Bachelor of Divinity from Crozier Theological Seminary. His journey as a civil rights activist began in 1955...

Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born on February 8, 1831, in Christiana, Delaware. Crumpler was raised by her aunt, who cared for sick people, starting Crumpler’s interest in medicine. In 1852, Rebecca married Wyatt Lee and began working as a nurse. In 1960, she enrolled in the New England Female Medical College, one of the few colleges accepting women. Rebecca faced opposition from male members of the ...

Isabella Baumfree or Sojourner Truth was a former slave-turned-abolitionist during the 1800s. Around age 30, she escaped slavery and settled with an abolitionist family, who bought her freedom for $20. Her 5-year old son, who was illegally shipped to Alabama, returned to her after successfully suing the state for their deeds. Moving to New York City in 1828, she found an occupation: being ...

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. or Muhammad Ali, was born on January 17, 1942. He was a renowned heavyweight champion with a professional record of 56–5. His most well-known quote is “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” which references his “rope-a-dope” boxing technique. After boxing, Muhammad Ali fought back against America engaging in the Vietnam War. Ali’s quote, “Every yo...

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in March 1822 in Dorchester Country, Maryland. Known as the “Moses of her people,” Tubman escaped her life as a slave in 1849. After her escape, Tubman dedicated the rest of her days to risking her life as a conductor on the Underground Railroad to ensure others’ escape from slavery. Tubman led over 300 enslaved people out of captivity. Harriet Tubman will...

Stevie Wonder was born May 30, 1950, six weeks early. As a result, Wonder lost his sight as a newborn, however, he never let his blindness stop him. He is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Stevie Wonder is most known for his upbeat, inspirational music that is loved all across the world. His cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin' in the Wind” became the American Civil Rights movement song....

Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958. Over a career spanning five decades, Jackson would bend all emerging cultural forces to his will. Through his innovative music videos, Jackson established his musical mastery and a quirky fashion sense that incorporated multi zippered jackets and a single sequined glove; he was an artist that changed the music industry. His releases of “Billie Jean,”...

Born in 1961 in Hawaii to a black father and white mother, Barack Obama grew up embracing his black culture while breaking all the stereotypes that black people are contained to. Obama attended Harvard Law school, Columbia College, and Occidental College before moving on to become a senator for Illinois. In 2007, Obama declared his candidacy for president, receiving next to no support from other senators....

Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954. As a child, numerous men in her life sexually assaulted her, but she persevered. At Tennessee University, Oprah began broadcasting, starting her broadcasting career. In 1986 she began The Oprah Winfrey Show, the most celebrated and longest-running daytime talk show. Oprah Winfrey became the first African American female billionaire in 2003...

Madame C.J. Walker, also known as Sarah Breedlove, was born to slaves in Louisiana, in 1867. Out of her siblings, she was the first free-born child. Throughout her life, she made money picking cotton and doing housework as a washerwoman. As a young adult, Walker had scalp issues like alopecia and dandruff. Unfortunately, there were few hair care products for Black women. As a result, she launched "Walker's...

James Mercer Langston or Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri, where his grandmother raised him until he was 13 years old. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio, with his mother and her husband, where he began writing poetry. Langston wrote many other influential pieces that made him known for his discerning portrayals of what life was like in America for Black folks from the twenties...

“Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka” was a Supreme Court case that ruled segregation based on race in public school systems is unconstitutional. In 1896, racially segregated facilities and schools became legal, as long as departments for black and white people were equal. This is known as the “separate but equal” principle. In 1951, Oliver Brown filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education of Top...

Jesse Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama. Jesse Owens was a famous track and field runner who broke countless records. He is best known for his performance in the 1936 Olympic games, where he won gold medals in the long jump, the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 4 x 100-meter relay. Owens was the first American track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a...

Edward Kennedy Ellington, also known as Duke Ellington, was an American composer and pianist. Born in 1899, he lived in Washington DC for most of his childhood. Duke wrote his first composition in 1914. He did not know how to read or write music and had created the piece entirely by ear. He formed his first group in 1917 and was well-respected among white and black crowds, rare to find in the heavily-segregated...

Louis Armstrong was an influential trumpeter and composer, gaining popularity throughout the 1900s. Born and raised in New Orleans, Armstrong influenced the jazz scene by focusing on solo performance. His stage presence and voice made him famous internationally. Louis was one of the first African-American musicians to break through to white and international audiences. During the Little-Rock crisis...

Many regard Shawn Corey Carter or rapper Jay Z as one of the most influential rappers in history. The Marcy projects in Brooklyn, New York, surrounded him with gang violence and drugs, but his love for music blossomed. Things changed for the better when, in 1996, he kindled his rap career with his debut album “Reasonable Doubt.” Today, Jay Z is a businessman, songwriter, record executive and has...