Black History Facts

In 1959, Ella Fitzgerald became the first African-American woman to earn a Grammy Award. She won five awards that year, including an award for best jazz soloist and one for best female pop vocalist.

Mute Spittah XXL Sophomore Freestyle

Black History Facts

Entrepreneur Suzanne de Passe is the first and to date only African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for screen writing.

Black History Facts

Before becoming a professional baseball player, Jackie Robinson played football for the semipro Honolulu Bears.

Black History Facts

Black civil rights activist Ida B. Wells was one of the first American women to continue to keep her last name after her marriage.

Black History Facts

Civil Rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D from Harvard University

Black History Facts

In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first black astronaut to travel in space.

Black History Facts

Before Forest Whitaker was a film star, he was accepted to the Music Conservatory at the University of Southern California to study opera as a tenor.

Black History Facts

As a young girl in Harlem, Althea Gibson was a local table tennis champion. Her skills were eventually noticed by musician Buddy Walker, who invited her to play tennis on local courts.

Black History Facts

A serious student, Condoleezza Rice entered college at the age of 15, and was an assistant professor at Stanford by age 26.

Black History Facts

"Strange Fruit", the song about black lynching in the south made famous by blues singer Billie Holiday, was originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx.