Today I would like to take the time to recognize 10 Black women throughout history and now who have or are currently absolutely crushing it. I have to tell you, trying to narrow this down to ten amazing women was difficult, but trying to condense some of the numerous accolades of these women was even harder. I highly encourage everyone to check out the links below if there's anyone you particularly want to know more about. I know I already purchased a book or two about Bessie Coleman and have donated to and signed the petition for Marsai Martin's passion project of School Lunch for All (http://chng.it/Z44Fg7jnCs). But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
1.Claudette Colvin: We all know about Rosa Parks and her historic refusal to give up her seat on the bus, taking one at the back instead. But do you know about Claudette Colvin? This young lady, age 15 at the time of the incident, did the exact same thing, 9 months before Rosa Parks! Colvin was the first to challenge this law stating that she had paid her fare and that it was her constitutional right to sit there.She was promptly handcuffed and jailed, put straight into an adult facility instead of the juvenile one (even though she was only 15) and not allowed to make a phone call. Once she was out, after her mother and minister posted bail for her, she was shunned by parts of her community who weren't quite ready to associate with people who were making waves and challenging white authority.
Parks became the face and name that everyone associates with fighting the bus segregation laws for a few reasons. She was well known in the NAACP and had a personality that people gravitated towards as well as a look that was appealing and more characteristic of middle class at the time (lighter skin and less kinky hair). The fact that Parks was an adult vs Colvin's young age of 15 also helped. But Colvin was involved with the Bowder vs Gayle case, her testimony and previous case was one of four chosen to use during this court case, which officially overturned bus segregation laws in Montegomery and Alabama as a whole.
2.Wilma Rudolph: This strong woman was the 20th of 22 children and refused to let anything stand in the way of her greatness. And oh how the universe tried to hold her back. When she was young, she was diagnosed with Polio, Scarlet Fever, Double Pneumonia, and told that she would never walk again. Joke's on those doctors; regaining her ability to walk by the time she was 12 and earning 3 Olympic gold medals in the relay category (breaking 3 world records at the time) just 8 years after that. This made her the first American woman to win 3 gold medals in track and field in a single Olympics. At 16, in 1956, she was the youngest U.S track and field competitor and won the bronze medal for the 4x100m relay. Proving that she was an unstoppable force at any age. Aptly receiving the moniker, "The Black Gazelle" by the European Press for her speed, beauty, and grace and "fastest woman in the world" by many. In 1960, after accumulating the three gold medals, she was named the Associated Press' Female Athlete of the Year and even refused to attend her own homecoming parade due to the segregation that the parade committee refused to get rid of.
In 1962 she stepped down from her Olympic days to devote her time to coaching and working with underprivileged children, running a community center, and later founded the Wilma Rudolph Foundation which promoted amateur athletics. In the 1980's she was finally inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame.
3.Andrea Jenkins: This is a woman who wears many hats; poet, performance artist, writer, politician, and of course American policy aide. In November 2017, she became the first Black openly transgender woman to be elected to public office, and is well known for transgender activism. Jenkins is the Curator of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota's Jean-Nikolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies and founded the Trans United Fund. One of the most notable achievements during her 12 year span of policy aide experience with the Minneapolis City Council, though she has many, is her Redevelopment of 38th St and Chicago Ave. This area, previously racked with crime, is now flourishing with the introduction of art initiatives and small business investments.
Other projects she was instrumental in implementing were the Seward Co-op Friendship Store, which brought jobs and fresh food to the community, Chicago Ave Fine Arts center, One Minneapolis One Read (which addresses racial healing and understanding to bring the community together), and The Trans*Equity Summit that brought awareness and inclusion to people of the Trans and gender non-conforming communities. As an artist she has won awards for her poetry, writing, and performing, being granted fellowships for the latter and having the first two published. Jenkins also holds two master's degrees and a bachelor degree, is a well-known public speaker and has been known to give keynote speeches at graduations.
4.Sister Rosetta Tharpe: throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was well-known for her unique combination of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic guitar. She was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist who also came out later in life as a gay. Her music became popular among the early rock-and-roll stars, many of whom were inspired by her enthusiastic and (at the time) never-before-seen type of performances, with many considering her to be the "Godmother of Rock and Roll." Tharpe's fusion of Delta Blues, New Orleans Jazz, and Gospel combined with lyrics that often "unabashedly flirted with her openness of love and sexuality" caught the ear of performers like Duke Ellington and the Dixie Hummingbirds, both of whom she collaborated with, and the Lucky Millinder Orchestra, which she toured with. Even the all white male band called the Jordanaires were in awe of her musical talent and she performed with them as well. Considered radical in the 1940s, Tharpe broke another barrier by collaborating, touring, and performing with her partner Marie Knight. The two created the song "Strange Things Happen Every Day" in 1944, which became the first gospel song to chart on Billboard's Harlem Hit Parade (later called the R&B Charts), with some considering it to be the first rock song ever.
5.Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: During the 1960s and 70s she was the most well-known black feminist in the country. When she wanted to become a lawyer, she was originally rejected for being a woman, but when she threatened to sue the school for discrimination, they changed their tune. One of eight woman, and the only one of color, in her class, Kennedy graduated and went on to aid in the repeal of New York's restrictive abortion laws. She led numerous guerrilla theater protests and fought hard for both the Black Power movement as well as the Feminist movement. Due to her involvement in both, she was able to form alliances and build bridges between the mostly white feminists and the Black Power members. Because Kennedy supported feminism in a way that was weaved into the fabric of the theories of the Black Power struggle, like the commitment to end white supremacy and imperialism for example, she was never asked to choose "sides" by either movement. Instead she was able to advocate for both with a deeper understanding of the discrimination experienced on both ends and just how intertwined both movements truly were.
6.Marsai Martin: Celebrating her 16th birthday later this month, Marsai Martin has accomplished much in her young life, and the sky is looking limitless for her future. Her breakthrough role was on the hit ABC comedy, Black-ish, which premiered in 2014. Since then she has played Andre and Rainbow Johnson's youngest daughter, Diane, a role which has garnered her numerous accolades. These include, but are not limited to, being a 9-time NAACP Image Award winner (for both outstanding supporting actress in a comedy and outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series), a spot in Time's Next 100 List in 2019, BET's YoungStars Award, and nominations for several others.
Not only does she have a successful television acting career, but her major motion picture presence is ever-growing as well. In 2016 she starred in the Amazon-produced film An American Girl Story- Melody 1963: Love Has to Win and in 2019 she not only starred in, but also had a role as executive producer, on the film Little. When work began on the project, she was only 13, making her the youngest person in Hollywood to ever produce a movie. On top of that, the new streaming platform, Quibi, has designated Martin as the host for "Tiny Talk Show" as well as an executive producer for the sow under her own production company, Genius Entertainment. As of January, Forbes has listed Martin on their 30 under 30 list in the Hollywood Entertainment Category.
Martin is using her fame, resources, and her reach as a celebrity to bring awareness to a cause that is important to her and serves as a way to honor and connect with her beloved grandmother who has since passed on. She has teamed up with the Urban School Food Alliance and the nation student coalition, Student Voice, in order to encourage people to support the Lunch for All Campaign. She is passionate about children K-12 being able to go to school knowing they'll be able to enjoy lunch without worry about having enough funds or not having enough food at home to bring a lunch. Martin's grandmother was a school lunch lady who believed that all children should have food to eat and not feel shame because they couldn't afford it.
Sign the School Lunch for all Petition here you can also donate via the same link if you have anything to spare for the cause.
7.Bessie Coleman: Born in the late 1800's, her brothers both served in the military and were stationed in France. When they returned, they teased her about how women there were allowed to fly airplanes and that she wouldn't be able to do something like that. Challenge accepted. Unfortunately American flight schools turned her away because she was a woman, however Coleman wasn't one to take "no" for an answer. She learned French, took the exam (in French) at a flight school in Paris, passed with flying colors (pun intended), and received her license. This made her the first civilian licensed black pilot inthe world, accoring to the National Aviation Hall of Fame. With the license in her hand, she became a stunt pilot/daredevil and from then on it was hard to get her out of a plane. She toured around the country performing aerial maneuvers and tricks, and when she wasn't in the air she was speaking about aviation. In both cases, she would only agree to show up if the audience was desegregated- everyone allowed to enter through the same gate.
Her dream was to encourage women, and men, of color to pursue flight through funding schools and clubs across the nation dedicated to aviation. Sadly, she passed away before she could realize this goal, falling to her death when a plane she took on a test flight malfunctioned. Later on, William J Powell founded the Bessie Coleman Aero Club in Coleman's honor. This club trained many black pilots, some of whom became the Tuskagee Airmen during WWII and also sponsored the first all-black flight show in 1931. IN fact, the first show was so successful, that they put on another one in order to raise funds for the Los Angeles City Unemployment Fund during the Great Depression. It was also in 1931 that the Challenger Pilots' Association of Chicago began a tradition of flying over Bessie Coleman's grave every year. In 2006, Coleman was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
8. Ida B Wells-Barnett: This woman has A LOT going on. Oh boy, where to start? In May of 1884, her role as an activist would be solidified. She had purchased a first-class train ticket, but was ordered to move to the car designated for African-Americans. When she refused, she was dragged off of the bus, biting the hand of one of the men as they forcibly removed her. She sued the railway company and actually one, but the victory was short lived as it was later overturned. In light of this, she became a journalist and was juggling that with being a publisher and a teacher all at the same time. She wrote about issues of race and politics in the south and published numerous articles in Black newspapers and periodicals under the moniker "Lola." However, when she began to speak out and criticize the conditions of Black-only schools in the city, the district fired her.
With teaching off the table and the wrongful deaths of her friend and his two business partners via lynching, Wells-Barnett had a new crusade to put her all into. She spent the next two months after their deaths traveling in the south trying to dig up information about other lynching incidents. She penned an in-depth report on Lynching in America for the New York Age, a Black newspaper run by former slave T. Thomas Fortune. In 1893 she used her research to write A Red Record which was a personal examination of lynchings in America. Wells went abroad that same year to lecture and gather support for her cause, but was surprised to find that she was not allowed at the World's Columbian Exposition due to a ban on African-American exhibitors. So, Wells did what she did best- she wrote. The circulated pamphlet entitled, "The Reason Why the Colored American is Not in the World's Columbian Exposition" was both funded and supported by Frederick Douglass and lawyer Ferdinand Lee Barnett. Ferdinand would later marry Ida, and Ida would become one of the first American women to keep her maiden name.
In 1896 Wells created the National Association of colored Women and is also a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). IN 1898 she brought her campaign to the White House, urging President McKinley to make reforms. Wells founded and was the president of the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago, which organized women in the city to elect candidates who had the Black community's best interest at heart. The 1913 Suffrage Parade was organized and she was invited to attend, but she would have to be in the back of the parade. They clearly didn't know Ida B. Wells-Barnett, because that was certainly not going to happen. She, instead, marched proudly right after the Chicago contingent of white women passed by.
9. Tarana Burke: Best known for the creation of the "MeToo" movement in 2006, but not gaining worldwide recognition until it took off like wildfire in 2017 after Alyssa Milano used the hashtag; shedding light on the magnitude of the problem of sexual violence. As a sexual violence survivor herself, Burke first established the movement to bring resources, support, and pathways towards healing to places where none previously existed. Places where rape crisis centers and sexual assault workers weren't serving- underprivileged communities- through the mantra of "empowerment through empathy." Originally a grassroots mission, becoming a global movement overnight was an eye-opening experience for many who witnessed it unfold. The stories poured in and many realized that they were not alone in their experiences while others saw just what an impact sexual violence has in our social circles, neighborhoods, communities, cities, and countries around the world. 2017 saw her win the Time Person of the Year Award and in 2019 she won the Sydney Peace Prize.
Before the MeToo movement, Burke worked in social justice and Black arts for over 25 years. During this time she had many different roles, accomplishments, and successes. With the 21st Century Leadership Movement, she helped develop hundreds of youth leaders all of the US, curator consultant and director for special events at the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute where she aided in the organization of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Created and oversaw cultural community programs for under-served youth while appointed the executive director of the Black Belt Art and Culture Center, and was the managing director of Art Sanctuary- a Black arts organization in Philadelphia. It's clear to see that she is dedicated to the plight of both people of color and marginalized communities through her actions, involvement in such communities and the advocacy she has shown for those who struggle to speak for themselves.
Burke dealt with issues from economic justice to police brutality and everything in between. Even being invited to speak as a UN delegate for the World Summit on Information Systems. In 2003 she co-founded Jendayi Aza, which is an African-American Rites of Passage Program for Girls. The program evolved into Just Be Inc, reaching out to and helping and supporting girls nationwide. This then evolved into what we know now as the MeToo movement.
10. Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi: In 2013, as a response to the acquittal of Treyvon Martin's murderer, George Zimmerman, these three ladies created a "black-centered will and movement building project called Black Lives Matter." It has grown to include more than 40 chapters around the world run by members of the group. These members "organize and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by state and 'vigilantes.'"
Patrisse Cullors is an artist, organizer, and freedom fighter hailing from Los Angeles, California. She is the founder of Dignity and Power Now, established in 2012, that brings dignity and power to incarcerated individuals and their families. Giving support to youth who have been impacted by incarceration, leadership support for people coming home from prison, and a reentry program inside Soledad State Prison, just to name a few of their initiatives. Cullors is also a NY Times bestseller for her memoir, "When They Call You a Terrorist," a Fulbright scholar, accomplished public speaker, and Sydney Peace Prize Awardee.
Alicia Garza is also a public speaker, from Oakland, who excels in writing and organizing events. She is a "Queer black woman, challenging the notion that only cisgender black men encounter police and state violence" and the Special Projects Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance which gives a voice to the millions of domestic workers here in the United States. In 2016 she was named on Roots' list of 100 African-American Achievers and Influencers, presented with the Glamour Woman of the Year Award, awarded the Marie Claire New Guard award, and recognized as a Community Change Agent at the BET Black Girls Rock Awards.
Opal Tometi is a Nigerian-American writer, strategist, and community organizer with a ton of accolades under her belt. Currently residing in NY, she is credited with creating the online platforms and initiating the social media strategy during the Black Lives Matter's early days. She has a passion for helping immigrants get the rights, reunifications, and freedoms that they deserve. Tometi is in charge of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) which educates and advocates on the behalf of immigrants to further their rights and fight for racial justice. This organization also helped win reunification visas for Haitians displaced by the 2010 earthquake. She helped shape the work done by the Pan African Network and the Black Immigration Network (BIN). The UN's Global Forum on Migration and Commission on the Status of Women has seen Tometi both as a presenter and as a participant. The Smithsonian is even featuring her in the New National Museum for African American History and Culture because of her historic contributions and involvement in countless social movements for over a decade.
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