Black History Month - Page 7

Bessie Coleman: First Black Woman Pilot’s Trailblazing Legacy

By Leah Asmelash, CNN Born to sharecroppers in a small Texas town, Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman became interested in flying while living in Chicago, where stories about the exploits of World War I pilots piqued her interest. But flight schools in the US wouldn’t let her in because of her race and gender. Undeterred, Coleman learned French, moved to Paris and enrolled in a prestigious aviation school, where in 1921 she became the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license. Back in the US, Coleman began performing on the barnstorming circuit, earning cheers for her daring loops, acrobatic figure-eights and

Max Robinson: First Black Nightly News Anchor Trailblazer

By Amir Vera A trailblazer in broadcasting and journalism, Max Robinson in 1978 became the first Black person to anchor the nightly network news. But his road to the anchor’s chair wasn’t easy. Robinson got his start in 1959 when he was hired to read the news at a station in Portsmouth, Virginia. His face was hidden behind a graphic that read, “NEWS.” One day he told the cameraman to remove the slide. “I thought it would be good for all my folks and friends to see me rather than this dumb news sign up there,” Robinson once told an

Michigan Mom Teaches Daughter Black History Through Dress-Up

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By Sydney N. Walton, CNN One Michigan mother is using a daily game of dress-up to teach her daughter about some of the most influential Black figures. For the third year in a row, Taylor Trotter is dressing her daughter Paisley as some of the most influential Black trailblazers. Every day she takes a picture of Paisley dressed as a different historical figure, posts a side-by-side picture on Facebook, and adds a caption explaining each person’s contribution to American history. February is Black History Month. Five-year-old Paisley has dressed up as Serena Williams, Kamala Harris, Jackie Robinson, Mae Jemison and

Fannie Lou Hamer: Voice of Courage in Civil Rights

By Alaa Elassar, CNN Most of the civil rights movement’s leaders were Black male preachers with impressive degrees and big churches. Fannie Lou Hamer was a poor, uneducated Black woman who showed that a person didn’t need fancy credentials to inspire others. She was so charismatic that even the President of the United States took notice. Hamer was the youngest of 20 children born to a sharecropping family in Mississippi. She had a powerful speaking and gospel singing voice, and when activists launched voter registration drives in the mid-1960s, they recruited her to help out. She paid a price for

Paul Robeson: The Renaissance Man Who Fought for Justice

By Alaa Elassar, CNN Paul Robeson was a true Renaissance man – an athlete, actor, author, lawyer, singer and activist whose talent was undeniable and whose outspokenness almost killed his career. An All-American football star at Rutgers University, where he was class valedictorian, Robeson earned a law degree at Columbia and worked for a New York City law firm until he quit in protest over its racism. In the 1920s, he turned to the theater, where his commanding presence landed him lead roles in Eugene O’Neill’s “All God’s Chillun Got Wings” and “The Emperor Jones.” He later sang “Ol’ Man

Constance Baker Motley: Trailblazing Civil Rights Lawyer

By Nicole Chavez, CNN Constance Baker Motley graduated from her Connecticut high school with honors, but her parents, immigrants from the Caribbean, couldn’t afford to pay for college. So Motley, a youth activist who spoke at community events, made her own good fortune. A philanthropist heard one of her speeches and was so impressed he paid for her to attend NYU and Columbia Law School. And a brilliant legal career was born. Motley became the lead trial attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and began arguing desegregation and fair housing cases across the country. The person at the NAACP

National Freedom Day: Honoring Richard R. Wright Sr.’s Legacy

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by:Destin Howard, February 1st marks the start of Black History Month but is it also recognized as National Freedom Day, which Savannah State University’s founding president Major Richard R. Wright, Sr. had a significant role in establishing. February 1st marks the start of Black History Month but is it also recognized as National Freedom Day, which Savannah State University’s founding president Major Richard R. Wright, Sr. had a significant role in establishing.February 1st marks the start of Black History Month but is it also recognized as National Freedom Day, which Savannah State University’s founding president Major Richard R. Wright, Sr.

Charles Drew: Father of the Blood Bank and Medical Pioneer

By Sydney Walton, CNN Anyone who has ever had a blood transfusion owes a debt to Charles Richard Drew, whose immense contributions to the medical field made him one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. Drew helped develop America’s first large-scale blood banking program in the 1940s, earning him accolades as “the father of the blood bank.” Drew won a sports scholarship for football and track and field at Amherst College, where a biology professor piqued his interest in medicine. At the time, racial segregation limited the options for medical training for African Americans, leading Drew to

Biden Visits Pentagon, Honors First Black Defense Secretary

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By Kate Sullivan, CNN President Joe Biden on Wednesday will make his first trip to the Pentagon since taking office and will speak to the significance of having the first African American in the nation’s history serving as secretary of defense, according to the White House. The trip comes as Biden forges ahead with his agenda while his predecessor former President Donald Trump faces an impeachment trial in the Senate. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior military and civilian leadership during the visit. The President and vice president will then

George Dinning: Freed Slave Who Defied Mob and Fought for Justice

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By Faith Karimi, CNN On the night of January 21, 1897, a mob of White men armed with pistols and shotguns surrounded the home of freed slave George Dinning in southern Kentucky. They falsely accused him of stealing livestock from a neighboring farm and unleashed a hail of bullets into his house, wounding him in the arm and forehead. Terrified for his wife and children, Dinning fired back, killing one of his assailants. In a remarkable story filled with dramatic twists and unusual alliances, Dinning eventually became perhaps the first Black man in the country to win damages against a

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