Black History Month Project

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Black History Month Project
Option 1 Do a 4 page paper (double spaced) on
your topic person or event. Paper must have
citations!
Option 2 Create a piece of artwork or another
visual representation of your topic person that
represents who they are and why they matter.
Have a 2 page paper and citations(double spaced)
explaining your work or your topic person.
Projects will be presented in front of the
class and the presentation will factor into the
grade!
If you want to change your topic person, do not
just do it on your own. Clear it with us
first. Due Feb 15th!!!
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Maya Angelou Hiram Revels Langston
Hughes Muhammad Ali Jean-Michel Basquiat Jimi
Hendrix Grant Fuhr Billie Holiday Josh
Gibson Harriet Tubman Fredrick
Douglas Quincy Jones Jessie Owens Muddy
Waters Jack Johnson Motown Jackie
Robinson Louis Armstrong Althea
Gibson Sojourner Truth W.E.B. Du bios Ida B.
Wells Martin Luther King Jr. Booker T
Washington Dred Scott/ Dred Scott decision
Colin Powell Brown V. Board of education
Condoleezza Rice Thurgood Marshall Carol Mosely
Braun Oprah Winfrey Sammy Davis Jr. Josephine
Baker Spike Lee Deacon Jones Ray
Charles Satchel Paige
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Langston Hughes
- One of the key writers and figures during the
Harlem Renaissance
- Wrote over 20 volumes of poetry in his life one
his best known called Montage of a Dream
Deferred
- Wrote plays, one of which named Mulatto
appeared on Broadway in 1935
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Maya Angelou
- Won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1971
- First African American Female to direct a major
Hollywood film (Down in the Delta in 1998)
- 3 time Grammy Award winner for the spoken word
(1993, 1995 2002)
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Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Worked with such artists as Andy Warhol and
David Bowie
- One of the first African American artists to
receive acclaim from the international art
community
- Rose from obscurity after selling graffiti
postcards on the street
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Jimi Hendrix
- Thought of as one of, if not THE best electric
guitar player in music history
- Performed a legendary rendition of the Star
Spangled Banner during the Woodstock festival in
1970.
- In 1992 won the Grammy lifetime achievement
award. 22 years after his death.
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Billie Holiday
- One of the most Influential Jazz Musicians of
all time
- Her life was made into a movie in 1972 (Lady
Sings the Blues staring Diana Ross)
- In 2000 was inducted into the Rock and Roll
hall of fame
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Quincy Jones
- As a musician her performed with Dizzie
Gillespie touring the middle east and south
america in 1956
- In 1964 was named VP of Mercury Records the
first African American to hold an executive
position in a white owned company
- Is most famous for being a record producer and
writer to such artists as Michael Jacksons Off
The Wall and Thriller Album to Frank Sinatra and
his famous song Fly Me to the Moon
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Muddy Waters
- Of the grandfather of Blues Music
- He has influenced everyone from Elvis and Bob
Dylan to the Rolling Stones.
- Winner of 6 Grammy awards and was inducted into
the Blues and Rock and Roll hall of fame.
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Sojourner Truth
- Escaped Slavery with her infant daughter in 1826
- Wrote Aint I a Women? speech for the Ohio
reformers convention of 1851, A legendary speech.
- Helped Recruit Black Soldiers to the Union Army
during the civil war.
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Motown
- Founded by Berry Gordy in Detroit in 1960.
- Had a stable of artists like Marvin Gaye, the
Jackson 5, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey
Robinson and The Temptations to more modern acts
like Public Enemy, Boyz II Men and India.Arie
- The Music and sound helped to bring social
change.
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Louis Armstrong
- Considered one of the best Jazz Trumpeters in
history.
- One of the few African Americans who were able
to reach white America and be successful
- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1990
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W.E.B. Dubios
- First African American to earn a PHD from
Harvard.
- Was one of the founding members of the NAACP
- Prolific writer and intellectual who wrote 22
books in his life one of the most famous of which
called The Souls of Black Folk
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Ida B. Wells
- Fought for Racial Equality as early as 1884
refusing to give her seat up to a white train
passenger.
- Ran the Memphis paper called Free Speech and
Headlight which brought to the masses the
lynching going on in the south
- Was Also one of the founding members of the
NAACP
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Martin Luther King Jr.
- The most Influential civil rights leader
probably in American History.
- Gave his Legendary I have a Dream speech in
1963 in Washington.
- The Youngest Man to win the Nobel Peace prize
(which he won in 1964)
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Booker T. Washington
- Founded Tuskegee University
- Was more aggressive in his calls to end racial
segregation than many of his peers in the late
1800s earl 1900s
- Wrote his Autobiography Up From Slavery which
is his most read work.
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Jessie Owens
- Won 4 Gold Medals in the 1936 Olympic in
Berlin, Germany
- This was all done in front of Hitler who said
the Aryan German was the Master Race
- Hitler refused to shake his hand or award him
his medals.
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Althea Gibson
- One of the greatest tennis players of all time
- First African American Women to win a Major
Tennis Title.
- Won 5 Grand Slam Titles in her career - US
Open (Twice), Wimbledon (Twice) and the French
Open
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Dred Scott/Dred Scott Decision
- Lived in free land in the United States and
sued to gain his freedom
- Supreme Court Ruled against him in what history
calls the Dred Scott Decision
- He was freed in 1857 but died in 1858
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Thurgood Marshall
- At the age of 32 was appointed Chief Counsel to
the NAACP after winning his very first supreme
court case
- John F Kennedy Appointed him to the US court of
Appeals in 1961.
- The first African American to serve on the
Supreme Court in 1967
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Jack Johnson
- First African American Heavyweight Boxing
Champion
- Was Married 3 times, all to white women which
caused many in the south to call for his lynching
- Lost his title in 1915 after being KOd in the
26th round by Jess Willard.
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Grant Fuhr
- Was the Goaltender for the legendary Edmonton
Oilier teams that won 5 Stanley Cups
- 6 time all star, won the best Goaltender award
(the Vezina trophy) in 1988.
- Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
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Fredrick Douglas
- Leader of the Abolitionist Movement
- Also one of the first men to be in favor of
Womens Rights
- Worked wit the Underground Railroad to get
slaves to free land.
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Condoleezza Rice
- Was named National Security Advisor in 2000
until 2005
- First African American women to be Secretary of
State in 2005 until 2009
- Was a key Member of George W Bushs Cabinet
during his 2 terms in office
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Muhammed Ali
- One of the Greatest of all time in the sport
of boxing.
- Was stripped of his title and convicted of
draft dodging during the Vietnam war. The
supreme court later overturned this conviction.
- He crossed over into mainstream pop culture,
even scoring a cover of his boxing Superman
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Brown V Board of Education
- Law that established Segregated school
unconstitutional
- 1957 Little Rock Arkansas called the National
Guard to block admittance to Little Rock High
School of African American Students
- The 101st airborne has to be called in for the
students to get into the school.
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Jackie Robinson
- Broke the color barrier in Major League
Baseball
- Inducted into the MLB hall of fame in 1962
- His 42 has since been retired throughout major
league baseball (only those who wore it before
the retirement can continue to wear it)
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Colin Powell
- National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan in
the late 1980s
- Was instrumental in the success of the first
Gulf War in 1991
- First African American appointed Secretary of
State in 2001.
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Josh Gibson
- One of the greatest power hitters in baseball
history. Was said to have hit 75 HRs in 1931 in
the Negro league
- Rumored to have hit a ball clear out of the Old
Yankee Stadium some 600 feet away (the only ball
ever hit out of the stadium)
- Never played in the Major leagues but was
elected to the hall of fame in 1972
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Carol Mosely Braun
- First African American Women elected to the
Senate
- Ambassador to New Zealand from 1999-2001
- Ran for president in 2004 as a Democrat, losing
the nomination to John Kerry
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Harriet Tubman
- One of the most important people of the
Underground Railroad.
- Escaped from Slavery in 1849
- Later in life supported the cause of Womens
Sufferage.
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Hiram Revels
- First African American Senator
- He represented Mississippi in 1870
- His election was met with opposition from
people in the south who thought him not a citizan
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Oprah Winfrey
- One of the greatest African American business
person in the history of the United States
- Her highly rated Television show which began in
1984 will end in 2011 a run of 27 years on TV
- Owner of O magazine and co founder of the
Oxygen network
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Sammy Davis Jr.
- Known for his singing and dancing, he was a
member of the Rat Pack
- Starred in Numerous films, including the
original Oceans Eleven
- Won a lifetime achievement Grammy award in 2001
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Josephine Baker
- The First African American female to star in a
major movie
- Notable Civil Rights activists who was offered
the leadership position after Martin Luther King
was assassinated
- One of the leading figures of the French
Revolution Resistance during WW II
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Spike Lee
- Influential film maker who made such movies as
Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X
- His production company 40 acres and a mule
have produced over 35 movies.
- Lifetime Knick fan who often sits courtside!!
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Deacon Jones
- The most feared pass rusher of his era. The
term QB sack was named so in his honor.
- In 1967 he had 26 sacks in 14 games (before
sacks were kept as an official record). In 1968
he had 24 in 14 games.
- The Secretary of Defense as he was nicknamed
was elected to the football hall of fame in 1980
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Ray Charles
- A prolific writer and singer during the 1950s.
He sand Gospel, RB and Soul music
- Lost his eyesight at the age of 7 due to
Glaucoma
- Won the lifetime achievement Grammy award in
1987 and the 2005 show was done in his honor.
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Satchel Paige.
- Legendary baseball pitcher who played in the
Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball.
- He was called up to the Cleveland Indians at
the age of 42. The oldest rookie in baseball
history
- He played Semi Pro ball till the age of 62 and
was the first negro league player elected into
The Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971