LIST OF FAMOUS AFRICAN AMERICANS
Below is a list of famous African Americans. Obviously, there are many more famous African Americans than can be listed on a single page. But considering the challenges they've had to face throughout American History, it seems only fitting to acknowledge the many great contributions of African Americans to American culture. Included here are some of the best.
Below is a list (with photos) of outstanding African American artists, athletes, activists, educators, politicians and pioneers. Also noted are their professions, dates of birth, and the states where they grew up. Shown to your right is a black power salute. The raised fist was a symbol of the Black Power movement in the 60s, which promoted economic, social, and political separation from whites in order to gain equality.
ALABAMA
Hank Aaron............................Pro Baseball.............................1934- Charles Barkley.......................Pro Basketball...........................1963- Nat King Cole.........................Musician...................................1919-1965 W.C. Handy............................Musician..................................1873-1958
Evander Holyfield.....................Boxer......................................1962- Coretta Scott King...................Activist...................................1927-2006 Carl Lewis..............................Track & Field athlete..................1961- Joe Louis...............................Boxer.......................................1914-1981 Willie Mays............................Baseball Player...........................1931-
Jesse Owens........... ..............Track & Field athlete..... .............1913-1980
Satchel Paige.......... ..............Baseball Player........... .............1906-1982
Rosa Parks............... .............Activist....................................1913-2005 Condoleezza Rice.....................Politician..................................1954-
Willie Tyler................ .............Ventriloquist.............................1940-
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ALASKA *********************************************************** ARIZONA *********************************************************** ARKANSAS Jocelyn Elders........................U.S. Surgeon General.....................1933- Daisy Bates...........................Activist........................................1914-1999
*********************************************************** CALIFORNIA Eddie Anderson...........................Actor...........................................1898-1977
Charles Barkley...........................Basketball Player.................................1963-
Barry Bonds................................Baseball Player...................................1964- Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg).........Musician............................................1972- Michael Dorn..............................Actor.................................................1952-
Florence Griffith-Joyner................Track & Field athlete............................1959-1998
Etta James................................Musician.............................................1938- John Singleton............................Director.............................................1968- Serena Williams...........................Tennis Player......................................1981-
Venus Williams............................Tennis Player......................................1980-
Tiger Woods...............................Golfer................................................1975
*********************************************************** COLORADO *********************************************************** CONNECTICUT *********************************************************** DELAWARE Sugar Ray Leonard.........................Boxer.............................................1956-
*********************************************************** FLORIDA Angela Bassett..............................Actor..............................................1958- Zora Neale Hurston..........................Writer.............................................1891-1960 Daniel James.................................Aviator/4-Star General........................1920-1978
*********************************************************** GEORGIA Ray Charles................................Musician............................................1930-2004 Ossie Davis.................................Actor/Writer/Director...........................1917-2005 Patrick Healy...............................Catholic Priest....................................1834-1910
Martin Luther King........................Civil Rights Leader................................1929-1968
Spike Lee....................................Producer/Director................................1957 Ma Rainey...................................Musician............................................1886-1939
Jackie Robinson............................Baseball Player....................................1919-1972
Nipsey Russell..............................Comedian............................................1918-2005
Alice Walker................................Writer.................................................1944-
George Wallace............................Comedian............................................1952-
*********************************************************** HAWAII Barack Obama...............................Politician...........................................1961 *********************************************************** IDAHO *********************************************************** ILLINOIS Carol Moseley Braun.......................Senator.............................................1947- Gary Coleman................................Actor................................................1968-
Miles Davis...................................Musician.............................................1926-1991 Redd Foxx....................................Comedian............................................1922-1991 Bryant Gumbel...............................Newscaster.........................................1948-
Quincy Jones................................Musician.............................................1933-
Bernie Mac...................................Comedian............................................1958- Richard Pryor................................Comedian............................................1940-2005
*********************************************************** INDIANA Janet Jackson................................Musician............................................1966- Jermiane Jackson.............................Musician............................................1954- LaToya Jackson...............................Musician............................................1956-
Marlon Jackson................................Musician............................................1958-
Michael Jackson...............................Musician............................................1958- Randy Jackson.................................Musician............................................1956-
Tito Jackson....................................Musician............................................1953-
IOWA Eugene Baker.................................Baseball Player...................................1925-1999
*********************************************************** KANSAS Gwendolyn Brooks.............................Poet...............................................1917-2000
*********************************************************** KENTUCKY Muhammad Ali.................................Boxer...............................................1942-
*********************************************************** LOUISIANA Louis Armstrong..............................Musician............................................1901-1971 Fats Domino...................................Musician............................................1928- Jellyroll Morton...............................Musician............................................1890-1941
Wynton Marsalis..............................Musician............................................1961-
*********************************************************** MAINE *********************************************************** MARYLAND Eubie Blake....................................Musician............................................1887-1983
Frederick Douglass............................Abolotionist........................................1817-1895
Matthew Henson..............................Explorer............................................1866-1955
Thurgood Marshall............................Supreme Court Judge...........................1908-1993
Harriet Tubman................................Abolotionist........................................1820-1910
*********************************************************** MASSACHUSETTS W.E.B. Dubois................................Writer/Activist.....................................1868-1963 Phyllis Wheatley.............................Poet..................................................1753-1784
*********************************************************** MICHIGAN Ralph Bunche.................................Diplomat............................................1904-1971 Magic Johnson................................Basketball Player.................................1959- Calvin Peete...................................Golfer................................................1943
Smokey Robinson.............................Musician...........................................1940- Diana Ross......................................Musician...........................................1944 Stevie Wonder................................Musician............................................1950-
*********************************************************** MINNESOTA Prince..........................................Musician............................................1958-
*********************************************************** MISSISSIPPI Medgar Evers.................................Activist............................................1925-1963 Robert L. Johnson............................Media Exec.......................................1946- James Earle Jones............................Actor...............................................1931- Walter Payton.................................Football Player...................................1954-1999 Charley Pride...................................Musician...........................................1938-
Richard Wright................................Writer...............................................1908-1960
*********************************************************** MISSOURI Maya Angelou.................................Writer...............................................1928- Josephine Baker...............................Entertainer........................................1906-1975 Chuck Berry....................................Musician............................................1926- George Washington Carver.................Botanist............................................1861-1943 Langston Hughes..............................Writer...............................................1902-1967 Jackie Joyner-Kersee.........................Track & Field athlete............................1962-
*********************************************************** MONTANA Bill Picket......................................Rodeo Star..........................................1870-1932
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NEBRASKA Malcolm X.....................................Activist..............................................1925-1965
*********************************************************** NEVADA ***********************************************************
NEW HAMPSHIRE *********************************************************** NEW JERSEY Count Basie..................................Musician............................................1904-1984 Hurricane Carter.............................Boxer...............................................1937-
Whitney Houston............................Musician............................................1963- Jacob Lawrence..............................Artist...............................................1917- Shaquille O'Neal..............................Basketball Player.................................1972- Queen Latifah................................Rapper/Producer..................................1970- Paul Robeson.................................Actor/Activist......................................1898-1976 Clerow "Flip" Wilson..........................Comedian...........................................1933-1998
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NEW MEXICO Jay Wright.....................................Poet..................................................1935-
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NEW YORK James Baldwin................................Writer..............................................1924-1987 Harry Belafonte...............................Entertainer/Humanitarian.....................1927-
Cab Calloway..................................Musician...........................................1907-1994 Godfrey Cambridge...........................Comedian.........................................1933-1976
Diahann Carol..................................Entertainer.......................................1935-
Sean "Puffy" Combs..........................Musician...........................................1971- Sammy Davis Jr...............................Entertainer........................................1925-1990
Julius Erving....................................Basketball Player................................1950- Laurence Fishburne...........................Actor...............................................1961-
Whoopee Goldberg............................Comedian..........................................1955- Gregory Hines...................................Dancer/Entertainer..............................1946-2003
Lena Horne......................................Musician............................................1917-
Kareem Abdul Jabar...........................Basketball Player..................................1947- Michael Jordan..................................Basketball Player.................................1963- Eddie Murphy....................................Comedian..........................................1961- Colin Powell......................................U.S. Army General...............................1937- Chris Rock........................................Comedian..........................................1966- Al Roker...........................................Weatherman......................................1954-
Tupac Shakur....................................Musician...........................................1971-1996
Sojourner Truth...................................Abolitionist......................................1797-1883
Luther Vandross.................................Musician..........................................1951-2005 Denzel Washington..............................Actor..............................................1954-
Damon Wayans...................................Comedian.........................................1960- Keenan Ivory Wayans...........................Entertainer.......................................1958- Kim Wayans........................................Entertainer.......................................1960- Marlon Wayans....................................Entertainer........................................1972- Sean Wayans......................................Entertainer........................................1971-
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NORTH CAROLINA John Coltraine...................................Musician............................................1926-1967 Moms Mabley....................................Comedian...........................................1897-1975 Thelonius Monk..................................Musician............................................1917-1982 Nina Simone......................................Musician............................................1933-2003
*********************************************************** NORTH DAKOTA
*********************************************************** OHIO Halle Berry......................................Actor................................................1966- Dorothy Dandridge............................Entertainer.........................................1922-1965 Paul Laurence Dunbar........................Poet.................................................1872-1906 Toni Morrison...................................Writer...............................................1931- Granville Woods................................Inventor............................................1856-1910
*********************************************************** OKLAHOMA Ralph Ellison................................Writer..............................................1914-1994
*********************************************************** OREGON
*********************************************************** PENNSYLVANIA Ed Bradley...................................Journalist..........................................1941-2006 Wilt Chamberlain............................Basketball Player...............................1936-1999
Bill Cosby......................................Comedian/Producer/Writer...................1937- Billie Holiday...................................Musician..........................................1915-1959
Reggie Jackson...............................Baseball Player..................................1946 Judith Jamison................................Dancer.............................................1943- Will Smith......................................Actor...............................................1968-
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RHODE ISLAND
*********************************************************** SOUTH CAROLINA James Brown...................................Musician...........................................1933-2006 Chubby Checker...............................Musician...........................................1941- Dizzy Gillespie..................................Musician...........................................1917-1993
Jesse Jackson..................................Activist............................................1941-
William "Refrigerator" Perry......................Football Player.....................................1962-
*********************************************************** SOUTH DAKOTA ***********************************************************
TENNESSEE Aretha Franklin.................................Musician..........................................1942-
Morgan Freeman...............................Actor..............................................1937- Alex Haley.......................................Writer.............................................1921-1992 Samuel L. Jackson.............................Actor..............................................1948- Wilma Rudolph..................................Track & Field athlete..........................1940-1994 Tina Turner......................................Musician..........................................1939-
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TEXAS Alvin Ailey........................................Dancer/Choreographer........................1931-1989 George Foreman................................Boxer..............................................1948- Jamie Foxx.......................................Comedian.........................................1967-
Bernard A. Harris Jr.............................Astronaut/MD.....................................1956-
Beyonce Knowles...............................Musician..........................................1981-
*********************************************************** UTAH ***********************************************************
VERMONT ***********************************************************
VIRGINIA Archibald Alexander........................Educator............................................1772-1851 Arthur Ashe..................................Tennis Player.......................................1943-1993
Clara Brown..................................Philanthropist......................................1800-1880 Ella Fitzgerald................................Musician............................................1918-1996
Wanda Sykes................................Comedian............................................1964- Booker T. Washington.....................Educator............................................1856-1915 Douglas Wilder...............................Politician............................................1931-
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WASHINGTON Gail Devers..................................Track & Field athlete...............................1966- Jimi Hendrix.................................Musician................................................1942-1970
*********************************************************** WASHINGTON DC Edward Brooke................................Senator............................................1919 Duke Ellington...............................Musician............................................1899-1974 Marvin Gaye..................................Musician............................................1939-1984
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WEST VIRGINIA Henry Louis Gates............................Educator............................................1950
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WISCONSIN Al Jarreau......................................Musician...................................................1940- Oprah Winfrey................................Talk Show Host/Philanthropist.......................1954
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WYOMING ***********************************************************
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