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Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer 0000000072528286 “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” —Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer was a significant civil rights leader and voting rights activist. ...
Maegan Parker Brooks
Maegan Parker Brooks NONE Maegan Parker Brooks teaches in the Civic Communication and Media Department and the American Ethnic Studies Program at Willamette University in Salem, OR. Brooks also direc...
Kay Mills
Kay Mills 0000000114412223 Kay Mills (1941–2011) was a distinguished journalist and author, known for her advocacy of civil rights and women’s rights through her writing. Born in Washington, D...
Carole Boston Weatherford
Carole Boston Weatherford 0000000042539806 Carole Boston Weatherford, a New York Times best-selling author, has written over 50 books, earning multiple awards including three Caldecott Honors and two...
Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King 000000012032932X Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) was a prominent American civil rights activist and author, and the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After her husband's assassinat...
Agyei Tyehimba
Agyei Tyehimba NONE Agyei Tyehimba, born in Harlem, is a prominent figure in academic and social activism. His diverse pursuits range from being an editor, a motivational speaker, a teacher to an aut...
Keisha N. Blain
Keisha N. Blain 0000000454429590 Keisha N. Blain is an acclaimed historian, professor at the University of Pittsburgh, president of the African American Intellectual History Society, and Washington P...
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. MULTIPLE Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Nobel laureate, was a key figure in the nonviolent civil rights movement and one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. A ...
Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.
Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. MULTIPLE Charles J. Ogletree Jr. is a renowned American attorney, legal scholar, and civil rights advocate. Renowned for his work in criminal law and civil rights law, he's h...
Gil Noble
Gil Noble 000000002469196X Gilbert “Gil” Noble was a notable television reporter, interviewer, and host of WABC-TV's weekly show “Like It Is.” His career in broadcasting started in 1962 at WLIB radio...
Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.
Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. MULTIPLE Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. (born 1948) was working a corporate job for AT&T when, at the age of 40, he discovered the art of letterpress printing on a tour of Colonia...
Hubert Henry Harrison
Hubert Henry Harrison 0000000012399179 Hubert Henry Harrison (1883–1927) was a St. Croix-born writer, orator, and activist known for founding the “New Negro” movement and influencing the Civil Righ...
John Lewis
John Lewis 0000000114586629 Born to sharecroppers, John Robert Lewis became a key figure in the US Civil Rights Movement. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a speaker at...
Lani Guinier
Lani Guinier 0000000114878162 Carol Lani Guinier (1950-2022) was a renowned legal scholar, civil rights activist, and author celebrated for her pioneering work on voting rights and racial justice. No...
Charles Euchner
Charles Euchner NONE Euchner, a renowned author and speaker, explores the Civil Rights Revolution in his work, drawing lessons for today's world from the movement's “everyday heroism.” A Vanderbilt a...
Maya Wiley
Maya Wiley NONE Maya D. Wiley, a life-long civil rights advocate and attorney, is the current president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. An influential figure in activi...
Timothy B. Tyson
Timothy B. Tyson 0000000110713432 Timothy B. Tyson, born in 1959, is a renowned North Carolina author and historian specializing in Civil Rights Movement topics. He holds appointments at Duke Univers...
Margaret A. Burnham
Margaret A. Burnham NONE Margaret A. Burnham, a notable law professor and the founding director of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University, has had a diverse caree...
Sara Rzeszutek
Sara Rzeszutek NONE Sara Rzeszutek, an associate history professor at St. Francis College, is a noteworthy contributor to books exploring the Civil Rights Movement and the contributions of James and ...
Todd Steven Burroughs
Todd Steven Burroughs 0000000140773292 Todd Steven Burroughs is a journalist, historian, and author with a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Maryland. He has co-authored and contributed t...
John O’Neal
John O’Neal NONE John O'Neal, co-founder of the Free Southern Theater and Junebug Productions, is a prominent playwright and activist. His work, which spans over 50 years, focuses on reviving the mem...
James Meredith
James Meredith 0000000115004803 James Howard Meredith, born June 25, 1933, is a Civil Rights Movement veteran, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran. Notably, he was the first Black studen...
Julian Mayfield
Julian Mayfield 0000000114504355 Julian Mayfield (1928-1984) was a renowned writer, civil rights activist, and cultural icon. His works explored themes of race and identity, significantly impacting t...
John H. Bracey Jr.
John H. Bracey Jr. NONE John H. Bracey Jr. (1941-2023) was a renowned Afro-American studies professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, known for his work on African American history and cu...
Anne Spencer
Anne Spencer 0000000458445176 Anne Bannister Spencer was a lauded American poet, civil rights activist, and librarian during the Harlem Renaissance. Born in 1882, she was the first African-American w...
Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale 0000000108724909 Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, is a key figure in the civil rights and Black Power movements. He helped establish the party's ideology and Ten-Point ...
Andrew Young
Andrew Young 0000000109181731 Andrew Jackson Young Jr. is an American politician, diplomat, and activist born on March 12, 1932. He started as a pastor, became a civil rights leader, and served as th...
Rachel Howzell Hall
Rachel Howzell Hall NONE Rachel Howzell Hall is a bestselling author known for the Lou Norton series and “The Good Sister” co-authored with James Patterson. She's a board member of the Mystery Writer...
Patrisse Khan-Cullors
Patrisse Khan-Cullors 0000000486461392 Patrisse Khan-Cullors, an LA-based artist and freedom fighter, is known for co-founding Black Lives Matter and Dignity and Power Now. A Fulbright scholar and NA...
Angela Y. Davis
Angela Y. Davis 0000000110323039 Angela Davis is a renowned American political activist, scholar, and author. Notably active in the 1960s, she was a key figure in the Communist Party USA and the Civi...
Calvin C. Hernton
Calvin C. Hernton 0000000082664863 Calvin Coolidge Hernton, a pivotal figure in the Black Arts Movement, was a renowned poet, novelist, and social critic known for his exploration of race and sexuali...
Alice Walker
Alice Walker 0000000114547953 “…a genius of African-American literature.” Alice Walker, born 1944 in Georgia, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author known for her novel, “The Color Purp...
Ekwueme Michael Thelwell
Ekwueme Michael Thelwell 0000000121414796 Ekwueme Michael Thelwell made a lasting impact in the United States as a writer, activist, and educator. His work spans literature, civil rights, and academi...
William Gardner Smith
William Gardner Smith 0000000063221434 Influential writer and journalist William Gardner Smith (1927–1974) used his work to highlight racial inequality in America. His novels, such as The Stone Fac...
Bettye Collier-Thomas
Bettye Collier-Thomas 0000000122788183 Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas is professor of American history at Temple University. Her scholarship includes American social and cultural history, African American...
Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton 0000000031507112 Reverend Alfred Charles Sharpton, Jr. is a renowned civil rights leader, born in 1954. Called to ministry early on, he was ordained at 9 and later dedicated his life to a...
Adam Clayton Powell
Adam Clayton Powell 0000000121314963 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a Baptist minister and the first African-American elected to Congress from New York. He represented Harlem from 1945-71. A national De...
Useni Eugene Perkins
Useni Eugene Perkins 0000000082421407 Useni Eugene Perkins (1932-2023) was a renowned author, poet, playwright, social worker, and civil rights activist. Known for his work during the Chicago Black A...
George S. Schuyler
George S. Schuyler 0000000114970428 George Samuel Schuyler was a prolific journalist and cultural critic, known for his controversial shift from liberal views to conservative ones throughout the 20th...
Dorothy Butler Gilliam
Dorothy Butler Gilliam 0000000032505856 Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first black woman reporter for the Washington Post, dedicated over six decades to journalism. Throughout her career, she worked to ...
Tamika D. Mallory
Tamika D. Mallory NONE Tamika D. Mallory, born in 1980, is a globally recognized civil rights activist, co-founder of Until Freedom and the Women's March, and author of 'State of Emergency'. She was ...
Huey P. Newton
Huey P. Newton 000000010924806X Huey P. Newton, born February 17, 1942, was a key figure in the US civil rights and Black Power movements. A co-founder of the Black Panther Party, he championed self-...
Allison Matulli
Allison Matulli NONE Allison Matulli is a Fulbright Global Scholar, Fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum, Award-Winning Florida International University Faculty Excellence 2025, legal...
Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson 0000000108617396 Paul Robeson gained international attention for his work in the arts and spoke out for the equality of minorities and the rights of workers throughout the world. Paul Le...
Aimé Césaire
Aimé Césaire 0000000121474035 One of the Founders of the Négritude Movement in Francophone Literature Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was a Martinican poet, playwright, and politician who co-founded...
Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman 0000000083893625 “The Godfather of the Civil Rights Movement” Howard Thurman was a significant African American author, theologian, civil rights leader, and Dean of Chapel a...
David Levering Lewis
David Levering Lewis 0000000121202232 David Levering Lewis is a Pulitzer Prize-winning professor and historian at New York University. He has written extensively on American civil rights history and ...
Lewis V. Baldwin
Lewis V. Baldwin 0000000109176289 Born in 1949, Lewis V. Baldwin is a civil rights activist and professor emeritus of religious studies at Vanderbilt University. Inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., ...
Michael G. Long
Michael G. Long NONE Michael G. Long is a distinguished author and editor specializing in civil rights and gender issues. Known for his in-depth works on key American historical figures like Jackie R...
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin 0000000448828317 Claudette Colvin is a civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat led to the Montgomery bus boycott and helped bring an end to segregation on buses t...
Gail Milissa Grant
Gail Milissa Grant NONE Gail Milissa Grant (1949–2024) was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri at the cusp of the modern civil rights movement. She is currently a writer and public speaker,...
Askia M. Toure
Askia M. Toure 0000000043979889 Askia Muhammad Touré, born Rolland Snellings in 1938, is a renowned poet, essayist, and political editor associated with the Black Arts Movement. He has served as edi...
Richard B. Moore
Richard B. Moore 0000000082432341 Moore was an early advocate for the use of “African American” as opposed to “Negro” or “Black.” Richard Benjamin Moore was an infl...
Robyn C. Spencer
Robyn C. Spencer 0000000117365645 Robyn C. Spencer is a historian and Associate Professor at Lehman College, CUNY. She specializes in post-WWII social protest, urban and working-class radicalism, and...
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu 0000000108644191 Desmond Mpilo Tutu, former Archbishop of Southern Africa, was a renowned advocate for justice and racial reconciliation. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and the Pr...
Samuel D. Proctor
Samuel D. Proctor NONE Samuel DeWitt Proctor (1921-1997) was a prominent African American minister, educator, and humanitarian, known for his significant contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. S...
Septima Clark and Cynthia Stokes Brown
Septima Clark and Cynthia Stokes Brown MULTIPLE Cynthia Stokes Brown is an Education Professor at Dominican College, San Rafael, California. She is recognized for her extensive work on Septima Clark,...
Angela P. Dodson
Angela P. Dodson NONE Angela P. Dodson is a contributing editor for Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, former senior editor at The New York Times, and ex-executive editor of Black Issues Book Revie...
J. A. Faulkerson
J. A. Faulkerson NONE J.A. Faulkerson is a Northern Virginia-based writer known for classics like Adinkrahene and Real Men Raise CHAMPIONS. He's a Phillis Wheatley Book Award finalist and has recentl...
Julian Bond
Julian Bond 0000000110860184 Horace Julian Bond was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement, politician, professor, and writer. He co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and t...
Albert B. Cleage, Jr.
Albert B. Cleage, Jr. MULTIPLE Albert B. Cleage Jr., also known as Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, was a Black nationalist Christian minister, author, and political organizer. He founded the Shrine of the Bl...
Robert F. Williams
Robert F. Williams 0000000354196689 Robert Franklin Williams (February 26, 1925 – October 15, 1996) was an influential civil rights leader, author, and advocate of armed self-defense in the fa...
Etan Thomas
Etan Thomas 0000000044387420 Etan Thomas, born 1978, is more than an athlete. Known as “The Activist Athlete”, this former NBA player has turned his focus to a successful literary career, mentoring, ...
Belinda Rochelle
Belinda Rochelle NONE Belinda Rochelle is a notable author known for her works on civil rights and women's issues, including “Witnesses to Freedom.” She also has experience as a lobbyist for women's ...
Larry Dane Brimner
Larry Dane Brimner 0000000082811384 Larry Dane Brimner, born 1949, is an award-winning author known for his innovative non-fiction for young readers. He won the 2018 Robert F. Sibert Award for his bo...
Nadia Salomon
Nadia Salomon NONE Nadia Salomon is a #PitMad Success Story and award-winning author of A Voice of Hope: The Myrlie Evers Williams Story, the first picture book biography ever written about the iconi...
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells 0000000083935290 Ida B. Wells, born a slave in 1862, was an influential African-American journalist, editor, suffragist, and early Civil Rights leader. Notable for her documentation of l...
Jon B. Eckels
Jon B. Eckels NONE Jon B. Eckels (1929-2014) was an acclaimed poet, essayist, activist, and teacher. Renowned for his 14 volumes of poetry, he won an American Book Award and made significant contribu...
Beauty Bragg
Beauty Bragg 0000000125620829 Beauty Bragg is a Professor of African American Literature at Georgia College with a BA from USC and a MA and Ph.D from UT Austin. She authored a book exploring black wo...
Ben Crump
Ben Crump NONE Renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump is nationally recognized for representing high-profile cases such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Named 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, a...
Tracy Snipe with Sarah Collins Rudolph
Tracy Snipe with Sarah Collins Rudolph MULTIPLE Dr. Tracy Snipe, Associate Professor at Wright State University, specializes in Politics and Film, Black Women and Politics, and French Politics. He's ...
William W. Sales Jr.
William W. Sales Jr. NONE William W. Sales, Jr., an Associate Professor at Seton Hall University, is an acknowledged expert on Malcolm X, authoring two books and numerous articles on the subject. A v...
Ben Jealous
Ben Jealous 0000000417015073 Benjamin Todd Jealous is a notable American civil rights leader and social impact investor. He was the youngest-ever national leader of the NAACP (2008-2013) and ran for ...
Yohuru Williams
Yohuru Williams 0000000063137216 Yohuru Williams is a renowned historian, author, and educator specializing in African American history, civil rights, and social justice. He's known for making histor...
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. NONE Dr. Benjamin Franklin Chavis Jr. is an activist, author, and journalist, currently the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Previously, he s...
Betty DeRamus
Betty DeRamus NONE Betty DeRamus is an award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist known for her nonfiction books on slavery and post-slavery era. Her works, “Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories f...
t’ai freedom ford
t’ai freedom ford NONE t’ai freedom ford is a NYC high school English teacher, Cave Canem Fellow, and award-winning poet. She has been published in numerous reviews and anthologies, and is an editor ...
George Jackson
George Jackson 0000000140482524 George Jackson, born September 23, 1941, was a key figure in the Black Power movement and a member of the Black Panther Party. He gained prominence through his activis...
Dane Reid
Dane Reid NONE Dane Reid is a professional African American male voiceover talent who offers voiceover and commercial production services for brands, agencies, and producers seeking high-quality voi...
June Jordan
June Jordan 0000000114793687 June Millicent Jordan (1936-2002) was a renowned poet, activist, teacher, and essayist, known for her influential voice in liberation. A professor at UC Berkeley, she dir...
Aidan Levy
Aidan Levy 0000000449590961 Aidan Levy is a acclaimed journalist and memoirist. Known for the award-winning biography Saxaphone Colossus. Aidan Levy is the author of Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music ...
Monique Clesca
Monique Clesca 0000000045216260 Monique Clesca has led two incredibly fulfilling lives. First, as an activist, she worked in the field of international development, advocating for children and women...
Julius Lester
Julius Lester 0000000114547822 Julius Bernard Lester (1939-2018) was a Missouri-born author, musician, and civil rights activist. Graduating from Fisk University, he went on to host radio and TV show...
Paula Young Shelton
Paula Young Shelton NONE Born in NYC during the 1960s, author Paula Young Shelton moved to Atlanta as a baby during the civil rights movement. An NAACP Image Award nominee, she has written children's...
Randal Maurice Jelks
Randal Maurice Jelks 0000000035838680 Dr. Randal Maurice Jelks is a Professor at the University of Kansas, specializing in American and African American Studies. He has authored two award-winning boo...
Kathryn M. Johnson
Kathryn M. Johnson NONE Compiler of “The Two Foot Shelf of Negro Literature” Kathryn Magnolia Johnson, born in the Jim Crow Era, was a champion for literacy, education, and social justice....
Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay 000000035624500X Ava DuVernay is an award-winning writer, producer, and director in independent film. She founded DVA Media + Marketing and the African-American Film Festival Releasing M...
Damario Solomon-Simmons
Damario Solomon-Simmons NONE Damario Solomon-Simmons is a civil rights attorney, educator, and advocate for restorative justice. Widely recognized for his work on behalf of the last survivors of the...
James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson 0000000120206864 James Weldon Johnson was a legendary civil rights activist, renowned author, and key figure in the Harlem Renaissance. His diverse career spans roles as a U.S. c...
Nita Wiggins
Nita Wiggins NONE Nita Wiggins is a Paris-based American author, speaker, and journalism instructor. She is recognized for her expertise in journalism strategies and regularly appears on TV networks,...
Keith Boykin
Keith Boykin 0000000034973717 Keith Boykin is a multi-talented author, political science professor at Columbia University, CNN commentator, and actor with a history of LGBT advocacy. A Harvard and Da...
International Human Rights Association of American Minorities
International Human Rights Association of American Minorities NONE IHRAAM, an international NGO with UN consultative status, facilitates the access of individuals and unrepresented groups to human ri...
Desmond Meade
Desmond Meade NONE Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, is a renowned advocate for voting rights. A former homeless retur...
JR Ford and Vanessa Ford
JR Ford and Vanessa Ford MULTIPLE JR and Vanessa Ford are renowned advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, particularly for transgender youth. Featured in major publications and part of the Human Rights Campaig...
Martin R. Delany
Martin R. Delany 0000000080985970 Martin Delany (1812-1885) was a pioneering African American abolitionist and the first African American Field Officer in the U.S Army. Post-Reconstruction, he promot...
Gloria J. Browne-Marshall
Gloria J. Browne-Marshall 0000000115887079 Gloria J. Browne-Marshall is a civil rights attorney, writer, playwright, and Constitutional Law professor at John Jay College (CUNY). She previously taught...
Thulani Davis
Thulani Davis 0000000001538348 Thulani Davis is an interdisciplinary scholar and writer, with focus on black political thought, slavery, and African American literature. She's a recipient of numerous...
Steve Cannon
Steve Cannon 0000000363821597 Steve Cannon (1935-2019) was a key figure in the Black Arts Movement and a prominent Black writer from New Orleans. He moved to NYC in 1962, where he engaged in literary...
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 0000000082809671 Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is an Oklahoma-born author and activist known for her commitment to social justice and the Indigenous movement. Winner of the 2017 Lannan Cu...
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano 0000000110225228 Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was a freed slave and influential abolitionist. His autobiography, published in 1789, played a crucial role in ending the African slave tr...