Biographies of Famous African Americans

• Aaliyah–Ewing |
• Farmer–Innis |
• Jackson–Ludacris |
• Mac–Puckett |
• Rabb–Swoopes |
• Tanner–Van Der Zee

Browse by category Government Officials Civil Rights Leaders Religious Leaders Scientists and Inventors Age of Abolitionism Scholars and Educators Literary Figures Actors Musicians Visual & Performing Artists Athletes Baseball Basketball Boxing Football Track and Field Other Sports

Civil Rights

• A
  • Aaliyah
  • Hank Aaron
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • Ralph Abernathy
  • Freddy Adu
  • Alvin Ailey
  • Akon
  • Ira Aldridge
  • Archibald Alphonso Alexander
  • Ayaan Hirsi Ali
  • Muhammad Ali
  • Debbie Allen
  • Richard Allen
  • Marian Anderson
  • Maya Angelou
  • Carmelo Anthony
  • James Armistead
  • Henry Armstrong
  • Louis Armstrong
  • Matthew Ashby
  • Arthur Ashe
  • Evelyn Ashford
  • Crispus Attucks
• B
  • James Baldwin
  • Ella Baker
  • Josephine Baker
  • Vernon Baker
  • Ernie Banks
  • Tyra Banks
  • Benjamin Banneker
  • Amira Baraka
  • Charles Barkley
  • Richmond Barthé
  • Count Basie
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat
  • Angela Bassett
  • Daisy Bates
  • Elgin Baylor
  • Bob Beamon
  • Romare Bearden
  • DaMarcus Beasley
  • Harry Belafonte
  • Shari Belafonte-Harper
  • James "Cool Papa" Bell
  • Albert Belle
  • Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000)
  • Chuck Berry
  • Halle Berry
  • Mary McLeod Bethune
  • Beyoncé
  • Black Panthers
  • Eubie Blake
  • Mary J. Blige
  • Guion Bluford
  • Manute Bol
  • Julian Bond
  • Barry Bonds
  • Arna Bontemps
  • Ralph Boston
  • Edward Bouchet
  • Lil' Bow Wow
  • Boyz II Men
  • Benjamin Bradley
  • Tom Bradley
  • Brandy
  • Herman Russell Branson
  • Andre Braugher
  • Carol Moseley-Braun
  • Valerie Brisco-Hooks
  • Lou Brock
  • Edward Brooke
  • Avery Brooks
  • Gwendolyn Brooks
  • Foxy Brown
  • James Brown
  • Jim Brown
  • Willie Brown
  • Blanche Bruce
  • Kobe Bryant
  • Buck Buchanan
  • Edward Bullins
  • Ralph Bunche
  • Harry T. Burleigh
  • Leroy Burrell
  • LeVar Burton
  • Octavia Butler
• C
  • Herman Cain
  • Lee Calhoun
  • Cab Calloway
  • Roy Campanella
  • Earl Campbell
  • Milt Campbell
  • Rod Carew
  • Stokely Carmichael
  • Diahann Carroll
  • Julia Carson
  • Benny Carter
  • Betty Carter
  • Cris Carter
  • George Washington Carver
  • Wilt Chamberlain
  • Chamillionaire
  • Emmett W. Chappelle
  • Ray Charles
  • Don Cheadle
  • Charles W. Chesnutt
  • Chingy
  • Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm
  • Chuck D
  • Ciara
  • Joseph Cinqué
  • Kenneth B. Clark
  • Eldridge Cleaver
  • George Clinton
  • Alice Coachman
  • Johnny Cochran
  • Jewel Plummer Cobb
  • Natalie Cole
  • Nat "King" Cole
  • Rebecca Cole
  • Bessie Coleman
  • Gary Coleman
  • John Coltrane
  • Sean "Diddy" Combs
  • John Conyers
  • Coolio
  • Bill Cosby
  • David Crosthwait, Jr.
  • Scatman Crothers
  • Paul Cuffe
  • Countee Cullen
• D
  • Dorothy Dandridge
  • Angela Davis
  • Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
  • Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
  • Ernie Davis
  • Miles Davis
  • Ossie Davis
  • Sammy Davis Jr.
  • Viola Davis
  • Dominique Dawes
  • William L. Dawson
  • Ruby Dee
  • Anita DeFrantz
  • Martin Robinson Delany
  • Destiny's Child
  • Robert Nathaniel Dett
  • Gail Devers
  • Eric Dickerson
  • Bo Diddley
  • Harrison Dillard
  • David Dinkins
  • Father Divine
  • DMX
  • Larry Doby
  • Snoop Dogg
  • Antoine "Fats" Domino
  • Tony Dorsett
  • Thomas A. Dorsey
  • Frederick Douglass
  • James "Buster" Douglas
  • Dr. Dre
  • Charles Richard Drew
  • W. E. B. Du Bois
  • Paul Laurence Dunbar
  • Katherine Dunham
  • Jean Baptiste Point du Sable
• E
  • Marian Wright Edelman
  • Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
  • Clarence L. Elder
  • Lee Elder
  • Joycelyn Elders
  • Duke Ellington
  • Missy Elliott
  • Ralph Ellison
  • Philip Emeagwali
  • Julius "Dr. J" Erving
  • April Ericsson
  • Lee Evans
  • Medgar Evers
  • Myrlie Evers-Williams
  • Patrick Ewing

• Aaliyah–Ewing |
• Farmer–Innis |
• Jackson–Ludacris |
• Mac–Puckett |
• Rabb–Swoopes |
• Tanner–Van Der Zee

• F
  • James Farmer
  • Louis Farrakhan
  • Cecil Fielder
  • Ella Fitzgerald
  • Laurence Fishburne
  • Lil' Fizz
  • Curt Flood
  • Evan Forde
  • George Foreman
  • Jamie Foxx
  • Redd Foxx
  • Aretha Franklin
  • John Hope Franklin
  • Joe Frazier
  • Walt Frazier
  • John Freeman
  • Morgan Freeman
  • The Fugees
  • Charles Fuller
• G
  • Clarence "Big House" Gaines
  • Alonzo "Jake" Gaither
  • The Game
  • Henry Highland Garnet
  • Marcus Garvey
  • Cito Gaston
  • Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Leymah Gbowee
  • George Gervin
  • Althea Gibson
  • Bob Gibson
  • Josh Gibson
  • Dizzy Gillespie
  • Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni
  • Danny Glover
  • Whoopi Goldberg
  • Cuba Gooding, Jr.
  • Berry Gordy, Jr.
  • Louis Gossett, Jr.
  • Joe Greene
  • Greensboro Four
  • Pam Grier
  • Ken Griffey, Jr.
  • Archie Griffin
  • Florence Griffith Joyner
  • Archibald H. Grimke
  • Guru
  • Tony Gwynn
• H
  • Marvin Hagler
  • Alex Haley
  • Lloyd Augustus Hall
  • Prince Hall
  • Fannie Lou (Townsend) Hamer
  • Lisa Gay Hamilton
  • Jupiter Hammon
  • Lionel Hampton
  • Herbie Hancock
  • William Christopher Handy
  • Lorraine Hansberry
  • Ben Harper
  • Barbara C. Harris
  • Franco Harris
  • William H. Hastie
  • Richard Gordon Hatcher
  • Elvin Hayes
  • Isaac Hayes
  • Roland Hayes
  • Thomas Hearns
  • Height, Dorothy
  • Rickey Henderson
  • Jimi Hendrix
  • Matthew Henson
  • Leon A. Higginbotham, Jr.
  • Anita Hill
  • Lauryn Hill
  • Gregory Hines
  • Billie Holiday
  • Larry Holmes
  • Evander Holyfield
  • John Lee Hooker
  • Bell Hooks
  • Benjamin Hooks
  • Lena Horne
  • Charles Hamilton Houston
  • Whitney Houston
  • Terrence Howard
  • William DeHart Hubbard
  • Jennifer Hudson
  • Langston Hughes
  • Joe Hunter
  • Zora Neale Hurston
• I
  • Ice Cube
  • Ice T
  • Samuel Elmer Imes
  • Roy Innis

• Aaliyah–Ewing |
• Farmer–Innis |
• Jackson–Ludacris |
• Mac–Puckett |
• Rabb–Swoopes |
• Tanner–Van Der Zee

• J
  • Bo Jackson
  • Janet Jackson
  • Jesse Jackson
  • Jesse Jackson Jr.
  • Mahalia Jackson
  • Maynard Jackson
  • Michael Jackson
  • Reggie Jackson
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr.
  • Etta James
  • LeBron James
  • Judith Jamison
  • Ja Rule
  • Jay-Z
  • Eve Jeffers
  • Mae Jemison
  • Thomas L. Jennings
  • Derek Jeter
  • Dennis Johnson
  • Ervin "Magic" Johnson
  • Jack Johnson
  • James Weldon Johnson
  • John Johnson
  • Johnnie Johnson
  • Judy Johnson
  • Michael Johnson
  • Rafer Johnson
  • Robert Johnson
  • Robert L. Johnson
  • Deacon Jones
  • Frederick McKinley Jones
  • James Earl Jones
  • Lois Mailou Jones
  • Marion Jones
  • Mike Jones
  • Quincy Jones
  • Roy Jones Jr.
  • Scott Joplin
  • Barbara Jordan
  • Michael Jordan
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee
  • Percy Julian
  • Johanna July
  • Ernest Everett Just
• K
  • Maulana Karenga
  • Jason Kidd
  • Lil' Kim
  • Jamaica Kincaid
  • B.B. King
  • Coretta Scott King
  • Don King
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Yolanda King
  • Anna Kingsley
  • Eartha Kitt
• L
  • John Mercer Langston
  • Nella Larsen
  • Eriq La Salle
  • Queen Latifah
  • Lewis Howard Latimer
  • Martin Lawrence
  • Jacob Lawrence
  • Huddie Ledbetter
  • Spike Lee
  • Buck Leonard
  • Sugar Ray Leonard
  • Bill Lewis
  • Carl Lewis
  • Edmonia Lewis
  • John R. Lewis
  • Reginald Lewis
  • Sonny Liston
  • Earl Lloyd
  • Alain Locke
  • Greenbury Logan
  • Joe Louis
  • Toussaint L'Ouverture
  • Loving, Mildred, activist
  • Ludacris

• Aaliyah–Ewing |
• Farmer–Innis |
• Jackson–Ludacris |
• Mac–Puckett |
• Rabb–Swoopes |
• Tanner–Van Der Zee

• M
  • Bernie Mac
  • Malcolm X
  • Karl Malone
  • Moses Malone
  • Wynton Marsalis
  • Thurgood Marshall
  • Willie Mays
  • Bob McAdoo
  • Henry Cecil Ransom McBay
  • Willie McCovey
  • Elijah J. McCoy
  • Hattie McDaniel
  • Steve McNair
  • Floyd McKissick
  • Butterfly McQueen
  • Carrie P. Meek
  • James Meredith
  • Kweisi Mfume
  • Cheryl Miller
  • Dorie Miller
  • Charles Mingus
  • Arthur Mitchell
  • Parren Mitchell
  • Mo'Nique
  • Thelonious Monk
  • Warren Moon
  • Archie Moore
  • Michael Moorer
  • Garrett Augustus Morgan
  • Joe Morgan
  • Toni Morrison
  • Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton
  • Mos Def
  • Edwin Moses
  • Walter Mosley
  • Marion Motley
  • Robert Russa Moton
  • Benjamin Franklin Muhammad
  • Elijah Muhammad
  • Calvin Murphy
  • Eddie Murphy
  • Eddie Murray
  • Mya
• N
  • Nas
  • Nelly
  • Aaron Neville
  • Huey Newton
  • Thandie Newton
  • Fayard Nicholas
  • Jessye Norman
  • Eleanor Holmes Norton
  • The Notorious B.I.G.
• O
  • Barack Obama
  • Michelle Obama
  • Odetta
  • Hakeem Olajuwon
  • Shaquille O'Neal
  • Outkast
  • Jesse Owens
• P
  • Master P
  • Alan Page
  • Satchel Paige
  • Charlie "Bird" Parker
  • Gordon Parks
  • Rosa Parks
  • David Paterson
  • Floyd Patterson
  • Antwan Patton (Big Boi)
  • Walter Payton
  • Calvin Peete
  • Teddy Pendergrass
  • Ann Petry
  • John L. Phillips
  • P. B. S. Pinchback
  • Jada Pinkett-Smith
  • Horace Pippin
  • Scottie Pippen
  • Leonard Pitts, Jr.
  • Homer Plessy
  • Sidney Poitier
  • Fritz Pollard
  • Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
  • Colin Powell
  • Mike Powell
  • Leontyne Price
  • Prince
  • Richard Pryor
  • Gabriel Prosser
  • Kirby Puckett

• Aaliyah–Ewing |
• Farmer–Innis |
• Jackson–Ludacris |
• Mac–Puckett |
• Rabb–Swoopes |
• Tanner–Van Der Zee

• R
  • Maurice F. Rabb, Jr.
  • Gertrude "Ma" Rainey
  • Joseph Rainey
  • A. Philip Randolph
  • Virginia Randolph
  • Charles Rangel
  • Otis Redding
  • Willis Reed
  • Irene Reid
  • Gloria Reuben
  • Hiram R. Revels
  • Butch Reynolds
  • Ving Rhames
  • Condoleezza Rice
  • Jerry Rice
  • Pretty Ricky
  • Norbert Rillieux
  • Max Roache
  • Oscar Robertson
  • Paul Robeson
  • David Robinson
  • Eddie Robinson
  • Frank Robinson
  • Holly Robinson-Peete
  • Jackie Robinson
  • Smokey Robinson
  • Sugar Ray Robinson
  • Chris Rock
  • Dennis Rodman
  • Esther Rolle
  • Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
  • Lil' Romeo
  • Diana Ross
  • Carl Rowan
  • Darius Rucker
  • Wilma Rudolph
  • Bobby Rush
  • Bill Russell
  • John Russwurm
  • Bayard Rustin
  • Busta Rhymes
• S
  • Ignatius Sancho
  • Barry Sanders
  • Deion Sanders
  • Augusta Christine Fells Savage
  • Gale Sayers
  • Dred Scott
  • Seal
  • Bobby Seale
  • Myra C. Selby
  • Betty Shabazz
  • Tupac Shakur
  • Ntozake Shange
  • Fred Shuttlesworth
  • Gabourey Sidibe
  • Charlie Sifford
  • Nina Simone
  • O.J. Simpson
  • Sinbad
  • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
  • Robert Smalls
  • Tavis Smiley
  • Bessie Smith
  • Emmitt Smith
  • Lee Smith
  • Ozzie Smith
  • Will Smith
  • Wesley Snipes
  • Octavia Spencer
  • Joel Elias Spingarn
  • Leon Spinks
  • Latrell Sprewell
  • Willie Stargell
  • C. K. (Charles Kenzie) Steele
  • William Grant Still
  • Carl B. Stokes
  • Moorfield Storey
  • Lynn Swann
  • Howard Swanson
  • Sheryl Swoopes

• Aaliyah–Ewing |
• Farmer–Innis |
• Jackson–Ludacris |
• Mac–Puckett |
• Rabb–Swoopes |
• Tanner–Van Der Zee

• T
  • Henry Tanner
  • Lawrence Taylor
  • Mary Eliza Church Terrell
  • Clarence Thomas
  • Frank Thomas
  • Isiah Thomas
  • Thurman Thomas
  • John Thompson
  • Wallace Thurman
  • Tone-Loc
  • Jean Toomer
  • Pierre Toussaint
  • Virgil Garnett Trice, Jr.
  • Sojourner Truth
  • Harriet Tubman
  • Chris Tucker
  • Charles Henry Turner
  • Ike Turner
  • Tina Turner
  • Nat Turner
  • Cicely Tyson
  • Mike Tyson
  • Wyomia Tyus
• U
  • Gene Upshaw
  • Usher
• V
  • Luther Vandross
  • Gustavus Vassa
  • Sarah Vaughan
  • Mo Vaughn
  • Denmark Vesey
• W
  • Dwyane Wade
  • Derek Walcott
  • Jersey Joe Walcott
  • Alice Walker
  • Herschel Walker
  • Maggie Lena (Mitchell) Walker
  • Sarah "Madame C J Walker" Walker
  • Thomas "Fats" Waller
  • Quvenzhané Wallis
  • Charlie Ward
  • Booker T. Washington
  • Denzel Washington
  • Dinah Washington
  • Harold Washington
  • Maxine Waters
  • Muddy Waters
  • Faye Wattleton
  • J. C. Watts
  • Damon Wayans
  • Keenan Ivory Wayans
  • Carl Weathers
  • Robert C. Weaver
  • Junior Wells
  • Ida B. Wells-Barnett
  • Cornel West
  • Dorothy West
  • James West
  • Kanye West
  • Phyllis Wheatley
  • Forest Whitaker
  • Pernell Whitaker
  • Bill White
  • Reggie White
  • Walter White
  • John Edgar Wideman
  • Lenny Wilkens
  • Dominique Wilkins
  • Roy Wilkins
  • Daniel Hale Williams
  • George Washington Williams
  • Jayson Williams
  • Peter Williams, Jr.
  • Peter Williams, Sr.
  • Serena Williams
  • Vanessa Williams
  • Venus Williams
  • Fred Williamson
  • John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson
  • August Wilson
  • Cassandra Wilson
  • Flip Wilson
  • Dave Winfield
  • Paul Winfield
  • Oprah Winfrey
  • Howlin' Wolf
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Granville T. Woods
  • Tiger Woods
  • Carter G. Woodson
  • Jacqueline Woodson
  • Alfre Woodard
  • Richard Wright
  • Wu-Tang Clan
• X
  • Malcolm X
• Y
  • Andrew Young
  • Lester Young
  • Roger Arliner Young
  • Whitney M. Young, Jr.
• Z
  • James Van Der Zee

• More from Black History Month