Marcus Garvey
Modern “black is beautiful” ideas got their start with Garvey, who led the biggest organized mass movement in black history. He is now best known as the leader of the back-to-Africa movement. Garvey, the creator of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), was well-known. The UNIA, which was founded in Jamaica in July 1914, celebrated African history and culture with the goal of achieving black nationalism. Garvey also worked to encourage the “back to Africa” movement. He also promoted dining establishments and retail malls to support black economic self-sufficiency. Apart from his endorsement of pan-Africanism,. Garvey established the Black Star Line to serve as the black-owned passenger line that would transport passengers back and forth to Africa through the UNIA.
Maya Angelou
American poet, singer, memoirist, civil rights activist, and historian Maya Angelou had a complex and painful past that was described in her best-known autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
Her creations have been regarded as a celebration and defense of black culture. She is recognized for a list of plays, films, and television shows that span more than 50 years, in addition to publishing seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and numerous books of poetry.
Arthur Ashe
I have the honor of being the first black athlete chosen for the US Davis Cup team and the first black man to ever win the Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open singles championships. He started the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, which promotes safe sex education and works to increase public awareness of the epidemic. President Bill Clinton presented Ashe with the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on June 20, 1993.
Nina Simone
Simone, an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, arranger, and civil rights activist, was born Eunice Waymon in Troy, North Carolina. Her repertoire included pop, R&B, gospel, folk, jazz, blues, and classical music. As a young child, she picked up the piano and performed at the church where her father was a pastor.
Mae C. Jemison
Mae C. Jemison was chosen for enrollment in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s astronaut training program after earning two undergraduate degrees, a medical degree, and two years of service as a Peace Corps medical officer in West Africa. Jemison became the first female African-American space traveler in the history of the United States during her eight-day space mission on board the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
