Jack Roosevelt Robinson, born in 1919 was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

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"Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life." - Jackie Robinson

Henry Louis Aaron born in 1934, nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", for hitting more home runs than any other baseball player in history. The baseball icon also spoke out against pervasive racism in major league baseball and broke racial barriers throughout his career. Despite hate mail, death threats against him, Aaron broke Babe Ruth's homerun record on April 8, 1974 when he hit his 715th home run. He became one of the first blacks in Major League Baseball upper-level management when Braves owner Ted Turner appointed him vice president of player development. He co-founded with his wife, educator Billye, the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation to help children develop their potential.

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“Failure is a part of success.” - Hank Aaron 

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“...the important thing is not that I am black, but that I did a good job as a scientist and an astronaut.” - Guy Stewart Bluford Jr

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“Today, do what others won’t so tomorrow you can accomplish what others can’t.” -  Simone Biles 

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“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” - Mae Jemison

Barack Obama born in 1961 as the 44th President of the United States. He was the first African American to serve as president. In 2008, he was elected as the president. He won a second term in 2012. Before his presidency, he was the President of the Harvard Law Review and a U.S. senator for Illinois.

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“ Keep exploring. Keep dreaming. Keep asking why. Don’t settle for what you already know. Never stop believing in the power of your ideas, your imagination. your hard work…” - Barack Obama 

Ruby Nell Bridges Hall born in 1954 is an American civil rights activist.  At the tender age of six, Ruby Bridges advanced the cause of civil rights when she became the first African American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960. A lifelong activist for racial equality, in 1999, Ruby established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education.

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“Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail.” - Ruby Bridges 

Maya Angelou born in 1928, as  Marguerite Annie Johnson was one of the most celebrated African-American writers of the 20th century and one of the most important literary voices of America, perhaps most famed for her autobiographical novel I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (1969) and her pivotal involvement with the Civil Rights Movement.  

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“...people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Bessie Coleman born in 1892 in Texas,  was the first African American woman to earn her pilot's license back in 1922.  She paved the way for women in aviation.  She loved to perform for people using stunts and aerial tricks.  

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“I refused to take no for an answer.” - Bessie Coleman 

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“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” - George Washington Carver

Thurgood Marshall born in 1908, became the first African American justice of the Supreme Court. After graduating with a law degree from Howard University, he worked for equality for African Americans. In 1954, he won the Brown v. Board of Education case which ended racial segregation in public schools. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967.

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“Each of you, as an individual, must pick your own goals. Listen to others, but do not become a blind follower.” - Thurgood Marshall

Wilma Rudolph born in 1940, was sick often as a  child had to wear a brace on her left leg. She overcame her disabilities to compete in the 1956 Summer Olympic Games, and in 1960, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics. 

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“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion; the potential for greatness lives within each of us." - Wilma Rudolph 

Shirley Chisholm born in 1924, was the first Black woman elected to Congress (1968). She represented New York's 12th District from 1969 to 1983, and in 1972, she became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbossed and Unbought—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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“You make progress by implementing ideas." - Shirley Chisholm 

Jesse Owens was born in 1913 and was a phenomenal track and field athlete. He broke two world records and won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. His record for the long jump was undefeated for 25 years. His Olympic performance at the 1936 Olympics affirmed that individual excellence, not race or nationality, is what makes a champion.

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“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” - Jesse Owens 

Jane Bolin born in 1908, she was a  pioneer in law, Jane Bolin was the first Black woman to attend Yale Law School in 1931. In 1939, she became the first Black female judge in the United States, where she served for 10 years. One of her significant contributions throughout her career was working with private employers to hire people based on their skills, as opposed to discriminating against them because of their race. She also served on the boards of the NAACP, Child Welfare League of America, and the Neighborhood Children’s Center.

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“...families and children are so important to our society…” - Jane Bolin 

Booker T. Washington was born in 1856, as a  slave. He put himself through school and became a teacher. In his lifetime, he was an African American leader. In the late 19th century, he founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Tuskegee became a top school in the country.

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Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Bomfree in 1797. A former slave, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century. Her Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.

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“Life is a hard battle anyway, and if we laugh and sing a little...it makes it all go easier.” - Sojourner Truth

Benjamin Banneker, a mathematician and astronomer, was born on November 9, 1731, in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. Largely self-taught, Banneker was one of the first African Americans to gain distinction in science. In 1752, Banneker garnered public acclaim by building a clock entirely out of wood. The clock, believed to be the first built in America, kept precise time for decades. In 1789, Banneker began making astronomical calculations that enabled him to successfully forecast a solar eclipse. Benjamin Banneker saw astronomical patterns from which he could make calculations and predictions. 

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“Never abandon your vision. Keep reaching to further your dreams.” - Benjamin Banneker