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Here’s the complete list of all 28 black people you probably don’t know about.
1) Bayard Rustin
History has largely ignored the man who taught nonviolence to Martin Luther King, Jr.
2) NH Smith
A Birmingham minister carried a torch while Martin Luther King was in jail. I sat in his church for seventeen years and never knew.
3) Ralph Abernathy
Martin Luther King’s best friend became a champion for the working poor. Ralph Abernathy helped created the Food Stamp Program.
4) John Lewis
The last living civil rights leader is now a congressman. Did you know?
5) Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer might be most famous for saying “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired”, but she should be remembered as the woman that saved the Democrat Party.
6) Toussaint L’Ouverture
Before Toussaint L’Ouverture led the Haitian Revolution, slave-owners never dreamed their slaves might revolt. After him, they had nightmares.
7) Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls stole a Confederate warship, fought for the United States during the Civil War, then became a member of U.S. Congress.
8) William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown escaped slavery and wrote the first novel by a black American.
9) Robert Charles
In 1900, three white police officers approached Robert Charles, a “suspicious negro”. Afterwards, nothing was the same.
10) Jack Trice
Jack Trice, the first black athlete at Iowa State University, only wanted to honor his race and his family. His story ended in tragedy.
11) Johnny Bright
During a football game, Johnny Bright’s jaw was broken by a racist. His resolve was not.
12) Keith Ellison
America’s first Muslim congressman is a man you should know about.
13) Abram Petrovich Gannibal
The great grand-father of Alexander Pushkin was born in Africa. He became a prominent member of Russian nobility.
14) Hans Massaquoi
The former editor of Ebony magazine was born in Nazi Germany. He lived through Nazism in Germany and racism in the United States.
15) Robert Robinson
Robert Robinson sought to escape American racism by moving to the USSR. He found more of the same. Then, the USSR refused to let him leave.
16) Jourdon Anderson
After the U.S. Civil War, Jourdon Anderson’s former master wrote a letter requesting that Anderson return to the plantation. Jourdon Anderson was having none of it.
17) Anderson Ruffin Abbott
Canada’s first black doctor was also a surgeon during the U.S. Civil War. He was present at Abraham Lincoln’s death bed.
18) Diane Nash
“Who the hell is Diane Nash?”
19) Madison Washington
Madison Washington led the most successful slave revolt in U.S. history.
20) Hiram Rhodes Revels
There have only been nine black U.S. Senators in American history. Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first.
21) Joseph Cinque
The revolt aboard The Amistad and the subsequent Supreme Court trial indicated a shift in U.S. views towards slavery. In a sense, Joseph Cinque heralded the beginning of the end of slavery in the United States.
22) P.B.S. Pinchback
There have only been four black governors of U.S. states. Pinckney Pinchback was the first.
23) Jupiter Hammon
Jupiter Hammon was the first published black American poet. He was writing before the United States even existed.
24) Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
His son wrote a book loosely based on his life. That book is The Count of Monte Cristo.
25) Orrin Evans
The journalist who helped end segregation in the military also published the first comic book with black heroes and black creators.
26) Juan Almeida
Juan Almeida overcame racism and poverty to become one of the most important revolutionaries in Cuba.
27) Dwayne McDuffie
Mainstream comic book companies long denied having a diversity problem. Dwayne McDuffie made them take notice.
28) Hughes brothers
How many black Hollywood directors can you name?
Photo— Flickr/ Steve Snodgrass
The post The Complete List of 28 Black People You Probably Don’t Know About (But You Should) appeared first on The Good Men Project.