This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "List of African-American activists" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Part of a series on | ||||||||||||
African Americans | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
History | ||||||||||||
Culture
|
||||||||||||
Religion
|
||||||||||||
Politics
|
||||||||||||
Civic/economic groups
|
||||||||||||
Sports
|
||||||||||||
Sub-communities
|
||||||||||||
Dialects and languages
|
||||||||||||
Population
|
||||||||||||
Prejudice
|
||||||||||||
This is a list of African-American activists covering various areas of activism, but primarily focused on those African-Americans who historically and currently have been fighting racism and racial injustice against African-Americans. The United States has a long history of racism against its Black citizens. The names detailed below include only notable African-Americans who are known to be activist (sorted by surname).
List of activists
Contents
A
- Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist and minister
- Muhammad Ali, civil rights activist
- Naomi Anderson, civil and women's rights activist
- Maya Angelou, civil rights activist, writer, poet
B
- Ella Baker, civil rights activist
- James Baldwin, civil rights activist, novelist, playwright
- Marion Barry, civil rights activist, politician
- Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, lecturer
- Carl Bean, AIDS/HIV and LGBT activist and minister
- Arekia Bennett, voting rights activist
- Mary McLeod Bethune, civil rights activist, educator
- James Bevel, minister, leader of the civil rights movement
- Sojourner Truth, civil rights activist
- Gloria Blackwell, civil rights activist, educator
- Unita Blackwell, civil rights activist
- W. E. B. Du Bois, civil rights activist
- Julian Bond, civil rights activist, professor and writer
- Lillie Mae Bradford, civil rights activist
- Ruby Bridges, civil rights activist
- Aurelia Browder, civil rights activist
- Ralph Bunche, civil rights activist, scientist, academic, diplomat
- Nannie Helen Burroughs, civil and women's rights activist, educator, religious leader and businesswoman
C
- Melanie L. Campbell, voting rights activist
- Beatrice Morrow Cannady, civil rights activist, publisher
- Archibald Carey Jr., civil rights activist, lawyer, judge, politician, diplomat and clergyman
- Bunchy Carter, civil rights activist
- Christine Michel Carter, advocate for caregivers, specifically working mothers
- Jeannette Carter (1886–1964), lawyer, labor organizer, and suffragist
- Julius L. Chambers, civil rights activist
- Fannie Lee Chaney, civil rights activist
- James Chaney, civil rights activist
- Josie Brown Childs, civil right activist, civic leader
- Shirley Chisholm, civil rights activist, educator
- Xernona Clayton, civil rights activist
- Septima Poinsette Clark, civil rights activist, educator
- Eldridge Cleaver, civil rights activist
- Kathleen Cleaver, civil rights activist
- Charles E. Cobb Jr., civil rights activist, journalist, professor
- John Conyers, civil rights activist
- Vivian E. J. Cook, educator and activist
- Marvel Cooke, civil rights activist
- Annie Lee Cooper, civil rights activist
- Dorothy Cotton, civil rights activist
- Claudette Colvin, civil rights activist, nurse
- Anna J. Cooper, civil and women's rights activist, author, educator, sociologist, scholar
- John Anthony Copeland Jr., abolitionist
- Patrisse Cullors, civil rights activist, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement
- Elijah Cummings, civil rights advocate
D
- Angela Davis, civil rights activist, academic, and author
- Ossie Davis, civil rights activist
- William L. Dawson, civil rights activist, politician
- Ruby Dee, civil rights activist
- Doris Derby, civil rights activist, photographer
- Charles Diggs, civil rights activist
- Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, black rights activist, women's rights activist, organizer – February 20, 1895
- W. E. B. Du Bois, activist, writer, founder of NAACP
E
- Marian Wright Edelman, civil rights activist
- Soffiyah Eliijah, activist for prisoner rights
- Ruth Ellis, LGBT rights activist
- Keith Ellison, politician
- Theresa El-Amin, civil rights activist and union organizer
- Charles Evers, civil rights activist
- Medgar Evers, civil rights activist
- Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights activist
F
- David Fagen, civil rights and labor activist
- James L. Farmer Jr., civil rights activist
- Walter E. Fauntroy, civil rights activist
- Sarah Mae Flemming, civil rights activist
- James Forman, civil rights activist
- Aretha Franklin, civil rights activist
- C. L. Franklin, civil rights activist, minister
- Elizabeth Freeman, first former slave to win a freedom suit in Massachusetts
- Frankie Muse Freeman, civil rights activist, attorney
G
- Erica Garner, civil rights and Black Lives Matter activist
- Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement
- Ernest Green, civil rights activist, part of the Little Rock Nine
- Fred Gray, civil rights lawyer
- Shields Green, abolitionist
- Dick Gregory, civil rights activist
- Vicki Garvin, civil rights activist
H
- Vincent Harding, civil rights activist, historian
- Craig G. Harris, HIV/AIDS and LGBT activist, writer, poet
- Curtis W. Harris, civil rights activist, minister, politician
- Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights activist
- Fred Hampton, civil rights activist
- Lorraine Hansberry, civil rights activist, playwright, author
- Frances Harper, abolitionist and women's rights activist
- Robert Hayling, civil rights activist, dentist
- Lola Hendricks, civil rights activist, secretary
- Aaron Henry, civil rights activist, politician
- Dorothy Height, educator and civil rights activist
- Benjamin Hooks, civil rights activist, minister, attorney
- Lena Horne, civil rights activist
- Elbert Howard, civil rights activist
- T. R. M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon
- Langston Hughes, civil rights activist, poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist
- Bobby Hutton, civil rights activist
- Nipsey Hussle, community activist
I
- Rizza Islam, civil rights activist, member of the Nation of Islam
J
- George Jackson, civil rights activist, author
- Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist
- Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist
- Mahalia Jackson, civil rights activist
- Marsha P. Johnson, civil rights activist
- Richie Jean Jackson, civil rights activist, author, teacher
- T. J. Jemison, civil rights activist, minister
- James Weldon Johnson, writer of Black National Anthem
- Alberta Odell Jones, civil rights lawyer
- Clarence B. Jones, civil rights activist
- Quincy Jones, civil rights activist
- Barbara Jordan, civil rights activist
- Vernon Jordan, civil rights activist
K
- Colin Kaepernick, BLM activist, former football player
- Sarah Louise Keys, civil rights activist
- Nupol Kiazolu, civil rights and homelessness activist
- A. D. King, civil rights activist
- Alveda King, civil rights activist, author, politician
- Bernice King, civil rights activist, minister
- Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist
- Dexter King, civil rights activist
- Martin Luther King III, civil rights activist
- Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader and pastor
- Martin Luther King Sr., civil rights leader, pastor and missionary
- Alberta Williams King, civil rights activist
- Yolanda King, civil rights activist
- Eartha Kitt, civil rights activist
L
- Bernard Lafayette, civil rights activist, organizer
- Sarah Willie Layton, suffragist, civil rights activist
- James Lawson, civil rights activist, professor
- John Lewis, congressman, Nashville Student Movement, organizer
- Audre Lorde, civil rights activist, feminist, poet, author
- Joseph Lowery, civil rights activist and minister
- Julius Lester, civil rights activist, author, professor
- Conrad Lynn, civil rights activist, lawyer
M
- Thurgood Marshall, civil rights activist, lawyer, judge
- Benjamin Mays, civil rights activist, minister
- Franklin McCain, civil rights activist
- DeRay Mckesson, civil rights activist, podcaster
- Floyd McKissick, civil rights activist, lawyer
- John Berry Meachum, civil rights activist, educatior, religious leader, involved in the Underground Railroad
- James Meredith, civil rights figure, writer, political adviser
- Anne Moody, civil rights activist, author
- Harry T. Moore, civil rights activist, educator
- Harriette Moore, civil rights worker, educator
- Amzie Moore, civil rights leader, entrepreneur
- Irene Morgan, anti-segregation activist
- Bob Moses, civil rights activist, educator
- Elijah Muhammad, civil rights leader
- Khalid Abdul Muhammad, black nationalist leader, minister
- Pauli Murray, civil rights activist, lawyer, author, priest
N
- Diane Nash, civil rights activist
- Dangerfield Newby, abolitionist
- Huey P. Newton, civil rights activist
- Bree Newsome, activist, filmmaker
- Denise Nicholas, civil rights activist
- Nellie B. Nicholson, suffragist
- E. D. Nixon, civil rights activist, NCAAP official
O
- James Orange, civil rights activist
- Sarah Massey Overton, women's rights activist
P
- Rosa Parks, activist, NCAAP official, Montgomery Bus Boycott inspiration
- Lucy Parsons, activist, labor organizer
- James Peck, civil rights activist
- William Pleasant, Jr., civil rights activist
- Adam Clayton Powell Jr., civil rights activist, pastor
- Gloria Johnson-Powell, civil rights activist
- Elizabeth Piper Ensley, educator and suffragist
- Jewel Prestage, activist, political scientist
R
- Lincoln Ragsdale, civil rights activist, aviator
- A. Philip Randolph, civil rights activist
- Emma J. Ray, civil rights and social activist, suffragist
- George Raymond, civil rights activist
- George Raymond Jr., civil rights activist
- Frederick D. Reese, civil rights activist, educator, minister
- Gloria Richardson, civil rights activist
- David Richmond, civil rights activist
- Paul Robeson, civil rights activist
- Amelia Boynton Robinson, civil rights activist
- Jackie Robinson, civil rights activist
- Jo Ann Robinson, civil rights activist
- Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist
- Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, civil rights activist
S
- Bobby Seale, political activist and author
- Cleveland Sellers, civil rights activist, educator
- Betty Shabazz, civil rights activist
- Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, minister
- Mary Ann Shadd, anti-slavery activist, journalist, lawyer
- Al Sharpton, civil rights and social justice activist
- Charles Sherrod, civil rights activist, minister
- Fred Shuttlesworth, civil rights activist
- Mary Louise Smith, civil rights activist
- Nina Simone, civil rights activist
- Mavis Staples, civil rights activist
- Marion Stamps, civil rights and housing rights activist
- Charles Kenzie Steele, civil rights activist
- Charles Steele Jr., civil rights activist, politician
- Bryan Stevenson, criminal justice reform activist
- Tupac Amaru Shakur, black America activist, iniquity
T
- Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and suffragist
- Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and humanitarian
- Samuel Wilbert Tucker, civil rights activist, lawyer
V
- C. T. Vivian, civil rights activist, author, minister
W
- Madam C. J. Walker, political and social activist, entrepreneur, philanthropist
- Wyatt Tee Walker, pastor, civil rights leader
- Booker T. Washington, educator, founder of Tuskegee University
- Ida B. Wells, civil rights activist, co-founder of the NAACP
- Cornel West, civil rights activist, philosopher, author, minister
- Roy Wilkins, civil rights activist
- Hosea Williams, civil rights activist, minister, businessman, philanthropist, scientist, politician
- Robert F. Williams, civil rights leader, author
- Bobby E. Wright, political activist, psychologist, scholar
X
- Malcolm X, human rights activist, minister
Y
- Andrew Young, politician, diplomat, and activist
- Whitney Young, civil rights activist
- Sammy Younge Jr., civil rights activist
References
- Evan F. Moore "In honor of Black History Month, here's a list of Chicagoans you should know", Chicago Sun-Times, February 1, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- Kleinig, John, Handled with Discretion: Ethical Issues in Police Decision Making, Rowman & Littlefield (1996), p. 157, ISBN 9780847681778. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- Bio of "Ralph David Abernathy", Frye Gaillard, University of South Alabama, March 14, 2007, (archive)
- Smith, Jessie Carney; Phelps, Shirelle, Notable Black American Women, Book 2, VNR AG (1996), p. 11, ISBN 9780810391772.
- Henneberg, Susan. James Baldwin: Groundbreaking Author and Civil Rights Activist, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc (2014), pp. 6–8, 66, ISBN 9781477778975.
- Schwartz, Barry (June 2009). "Collective Forgetting and the Symbolic Power of Oneness: The Strange Apotheosis of Rosa Parks". Social Psychology Quarterly. 72 (2): 123–142. doi:10.1177/019027250907200204. JSTOR 25593914. S2CID 3450932.
- "Nannie Helen Burroughs papers, 1900–1963 (Library of Congress), Biographical Note (Woman's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention of the United States of America)". Hdl.loc.gov. 2001. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- Dickerson, Dennis C., "The Wesleyan Witness in the US Civil Rights Movement: The Allen Legacy against 20th Century American Apartheid", 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- Carter, Christine Michel (2019-04-19). "How I Got My Employer to Acknowledge My Nursing Issue". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
- "Claudette Colvin Biography, Activist, Civil Rights Activist, Medical Professional (1939–)", Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, April 1, 2014.
- Foundations of African-American Sociology Archived 2017-03-06 at the Wayback Machine. Hampton University Department of Sociology. Hampton University. Retrieved 7 March 2017. From Melvin Barber; Leslie Innis; Emmit Hunt, African American Contributions to Sociology.
- Goldhill, Olivia (November 15, 2016). "'We can feel sad, hurt, demoralized. But we can't give up': A Black Lives Matter founder on Trump's presidency". Quartz.
- Garza, Alicia, "Herstory". Black Lives Matter. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- Queerness on the front lines of #BlackLivesMatter. MSNBC. February 19, 2015 (video).
- "Angela Davis". CCCB. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- Haskins, James, Distinguished African American Political and Governmental Leaders. Oryx Press (1999), p. 67. ISBN 9781573561266,
- "Frederick Douglass Biography : Journalist, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Government Official (c. 1818–1895)". Biography.com.
- "Later Years and Death", Frederick Douglass Heritage. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- "SNCC passes the torch | The CLog". Creative Loafing Charlotte. February 29, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- Rafael, Vicente (11 February 2007). "David Fagen (1875–?)". Black Past.
- Wang, Vivian (December 30, 2017), "Erica Garner, Activist and Daughter of Eric Garner, Dies at 27", The New York Times
- Shipley, Alberta D.; Shipley, David O. (1976). The History of Black Baptists in Missouri. Missionary Baptist State Convention of Missouri. pp. 24–25, 227.
- "Rosa Parks". www.history.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- "Booker T. Washington". www.history.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.