Black History Month is an annual observance during February created to remember key individuals and events in black history. This remembrance initially started in the U.S. as Negro History Week, but evolved into Black History Month in 1976, as was recognized by President Gerald Ford. This month has also received recognition from the Canadian and United Kingdom governments.
To show reverence toward Black History Month, here are some influential figures, both past and present in U.S. history.
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a minister and Civil Rights activist who had a major impact on racial relations during the Civil Rights movement. His activism, marches and speeches, all played a role toward the end of segregation, as well as all pieces of legislation such as The Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act. King received many awards and honors for his leadership, one of them being the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of his hotel. He was there to lead a protest for garbage workers.
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Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou was an activist, poet, award-winning author, screenwriter and dancer. She obtained several honors during her career, including two NAACP Image Awards for her nonfiction literary work. Angelou made literary history by becoming the first African American woman nonfiction bestseller for her 1969 memoir, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” She died at 86 on May 28, 2014, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
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Kamala Harris
On Jan. 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 49th vice president of the U.S. She is the first woman, African American and Asian American vice president in U.S. history. Harris has a background of politics. She served as district attorney of San Francisco, California, as well as attorney general and U.S. Senator. She was born in Oakland, California, on Oct. 20, 1960, to parents who emigrated from India and Jamaica. Harris went to college at Howard University and University of California Hastings College of Law, gaining a degree in political science and economics, along with a Juris Doctor degree. Although Harris is the first vice president to be a woman and person of color, she is determined to not be the last.
Nicholas Johnson
Born in Montreal, Canada, Nicholas Johnson was recognized as valedictorian of Princeton University’s class of 2020. Johnson is the first and only black valedictorian in the school’s 275-year history. “Being the first black valedictorian in Princeton’s history feels incredibly empowering, in particular given the university’s historical beginnings and its ties to the institution of slavery,” Johnson said to CNBC Make It. He is now working toward his doctorate in operation research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Image courtesy of cnbc.com
Noah Harris
In November 2020, Noah Harris became the first black man to be elected as Harvard’s student body president. Harris was a junior at the time from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. During Harris’ interview with CNBC, he mentioned he had served as student body president at Oak Grove High School in Mississippi, but he had never been involved in a student government body that had a huge financial budget such as Harvard’s. He is currently studying government as a senior, planning to attend Harvard Law School after graduating to become a courtroom attorney.
