From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This is a list of 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
