African American History
Discover the people and events that shaped African American history, from enslavement and activism to the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement.
![](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/lIfywKyhbUgfM_HKEF8n8i1ROmc=/360x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/tax2_image_history_culture-58a22d1368a0972917bfb546.png)
![Martin Luther King on the tarmac in London after deplaning in October 1961](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/wiGIdjBE8m-PPgLOFGxcInKc4C8=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-3322004-5c53512e46e0fb0001c07a37-e4d0b05f7ecc4c8db0485ae2367a6e5d.jpg)
How Martin Luther King Jr. Day Became a Federal Holiday
![Statue of Carter G. Woodson](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/8qNd9mBSJC9Arbo6uaPRi1OmOrw=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/CGWoodson_statue-56a8cc135f9b58b7d0f53c50.jpg)
What Is Black History Month and How Did It Begin?
![Lit Kinara candles slided apple and ears of corn for Kwanzaa celebration](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/xL-uakA3U54D8Ewb_ZpVYcbL83E=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Kwanzaa-5a01907d9e9427003ce291a5.jpg)
Kwanzaa: 7 Principles to Honor African Heritage
![William Still](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/9jKwo5vLX-SVVisHK1KZEgsfjco=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/WilliamStil-6518348c64c343a18b8113538837d287.jpg)
Biography of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad
![Pan-Africanism Mural](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/eG7_x-z0SSMsmLApKHEr8iLNKS0=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Pan_Africanism_mural_in_Tanzania-9534350afbf34c25adce763682346a78.jpg)
4 Pan-African Leaders You Should Know
![Colonist Reading](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/Y8dKlXs3MT4uoBmafWOTe4GZ67Q=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/colonist-reading-522331864-59c6fa3baad52b00114f9e66.jpg)
African Americans in the Revolutionary War
![The Apollo Theater in between Banana Republic and GameStop](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/OqqEj7u_02P09hd7Pz_1gij3Ghk=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-872018548-e623971ef8f14122b3d14c0b051aa48a.jpg)
4 Publications of the Harlem Renaissance
![The AME Church on a sunny day.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/nJvV4HVdnO-5w7BA1nuzmKSxn4Y=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/2689884321_9b8276e240_o-5895bed63df78caebca8c6e0.jpg)
The African Methodist Episcopal Church
![Octavia Butler beside bookcase](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/se-mG5SmURaQSBBwIrTyB3fPJgA=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/octavia_butler-1024x549_res-590788c83df78c5456eb2c7c.jpg)
Afrofuturism: Imagining an Afrocentric Future
![Audre Lorde](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/ZzW-VA6VsmOzQn2Hayp44miKRxc=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/audre-lorde-631986974-5a83051343a1030037419915.jpg)
Women of the Black Arts Movement
![](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/IivQ6KSRbxo1kCJEqb_tnkCZDqA=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Hurston-Zora-Neale-LOC-5895bdab3df78caebca71eff.jpg)
6 Revealing Autobiographies by African American Thinkers
![mmbethune.jpg](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/NVnnIM6E-gd-slxTUEKvRz00rgw=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/mmbethune-5895bd9f5f9b5874eee7e727.jpg)
Mary Mcleod Bethune: Educator and Civil Rights Leader
![bannedafricanamericanbooks.jpg](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/zaPvDaNMUSJza1wms6qV_cqQb74=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/collageofbannedbooks-5705c02d5f9b581408ca9df0.jpg)
Banned Books by African-American Authors
![Lucy Prince, Anthony Benezet and Absalom Jones](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/3gPerxxxF4pTjnOyVBzucl0KlDE=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/18thcenturycollage-5895bf163df78caebca900e6.jpg)
Black American Firsts of the 18th Century
![maggie_walker_1900.jpg](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/yQ2nPiGAc14HKrmqqzMrFKm4duk=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/maggie_walker_1900-5895bdf93df78caebca78da7.jpg)
African-American Businesswomen in the Jim Crow Era
![groupnegrobaseballleaguegettyimages.jpg](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/jBrfkL940Fr4FKcqqmJ14ZFA4lg=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/groupnegrobaseballleaguegettyimages-5895be263df78caebca7eab5.jpg)
Famous Players in the Negro Baseball Leagues
![Actor, film director, author and diplomat Sidney Poitier, African-American jazz vocalist, songwriter and actress Abbey Lincoln, Beau Bridges, Lauri Peters, Nan Martin and Carroll OConnor during filming of the movie For Love Of Ivy, August 31, 1968.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/dXQzbi5flsvhCDC3VCoMSP_wMOE=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-529095077-ba6edd804c7b4feea061ecc6f517f5e6.jpg)
Black American Firsts in Film and Theatre
![Protesters at the Open Housing March, Chicago](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/RVzJPhXzcv1DQ9Y00OfXBqc8txk=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-537165393-5895c0a25f9b5874eeeb3229.jpg)
How the Definition of African American History Has Evolved
![Black Civil Rights](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/1G5-PqLTt3iVCLVp2S0zTfUrMVU=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Black_Civil_Rights_darken-5a7a11d2ba617700368adddd.jpg)
The Black Struggle for Freedom
![sugarhillgang.jpg](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/QK3qwOW6AqMhStJX7P080nG8ZoE=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/sugarhillgang-5895beb53df78caebca8a77a.jpg)
Hip Hop Culture Timeline: 1970 to 1983
![Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller sits on a wicker chair, poised for a photo](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/WmnJcQg0s9Ok70OSeU4avCdUym4=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/51000333_537771643400914_3859168190331319245_n-835742db1317420cb318355fe219da81.jpg)
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller: Visual Artist of the Harlem Renaissance
![langston-hughes-biography.png](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/qEL4g1rk-ufUzL9c7yYXveuk6CI=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/langston-hughes-biography-5895bde53df78caebca7761d.png)
African-American Playwrights
![Illustration depicting violence of Nat Turner's Rebellion](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/wM5suT4zzhNT-42bbETMeNLGZCw=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Nat-Turner-rebellion-depicted-3000-3x2gty-57bb05515f9b58cdfdda55dc.jpg)
The Story of Nat Turner's Rebellion
![Full color drawing of Nat Turner and other slaves in a forested area.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/Fawo_nfwrQYwRKSIppDabXT5Soo=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Nat-Turner-58e528ce3df78c5162b35906.jpg)
3 Major Ways Enslaved People Showed Resistance to a Life in Bondage
![Illustration of abolitionist pamphlets being burned in South Carolina.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/WQpuznqdkz5gDyfpcAKv95Skgoc=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Abolitionist-pamphlets-burned-3000-3x2gty-56a48a263df78cf77282df42.jpg)
Abolitionist Pamphlet Campaign
![Artist's depiction of enslaved people escaping from Maryland on the Underground Railroad](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/s1SJIHWAd2cTfPxOj8RA62clMxs=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Underground-RR-MD-3000-3x2gty-56a4896f5f9b58b7d0d7706c.jpg)
The Underground Railroad
![Illustration of a fugitive slave being seized.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/qftM0EeyWImLpr8ZNInphP9XBh8=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Fugitive-slave-seized-3000-3x2gty-5a71f3126edd65003686c029.jpg)
Fugitive Slave Act
![Sojourner Truth](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/Ab6lVviVHnVxFKiODjbA1jYoK4U=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Sojourner-Truth-2173036x-56aa21ec5f9b58b7d000f7d6.png)
How Women Abolitionists Fought Enslavement
![United States, 1821](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/JLYkYvCYxi_fUkeJE82wBDMVMkU=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-556653959-5bd51599c9e77c00510d5136.jpg)
The Missouri Compromise
![Engraved portrait of abolitionist fanatic John Brown](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/KcgSsUDcaNaX15Fu0dK2Foai8Qg=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/John-Brown-2668-3x2gty-56a489713df78cf77282de2c.jpg)
Biography of John Brown
![Illustrations of 4 causes of the Civil War: economic, states rights, slavery, and election of Lincoln](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/wREl1LRJL8Nc-n4NWisRsoJMay8=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/top-causes-of-the-civil-war-104532-final-5b562334c9e77c0037177f20.png)
What Were the Top Causes of the Civil War?
![Engraved print of Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/vRBJku_iqfTgQqiz8p3spI5MceE=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Lincoln-Emancipation-Cabinet-3000-56a488cf3df78cf77282dd4d.jpg)
Background and Significance of the Emancipation Proclamation
![African-American sharecroppers working in the field.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/nwMeep_54tVqz_vY7FdQNPlTw70=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/1481px-Sharecroppers_chopping_cotton_-_1941-9b3e5b613c384ac696afbf40b76c7ef2.jpg)
The Black Codes and Why They Still Matter Today
![Thaddeus Stevens speaking at President Johnson's impeachment trial](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/FDqqOx6yR9BD8v3UIR5lxrtWP1k=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-615293244-f0ae5a91228045c0b03172059f80fc7d.jpg)
The Powerful Congressional Faction That Championed Reconstruction
![1930s KU KLUX KLKKK.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/L0JH6Z1tXh4qYRto3rBg7RVO4EU=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/1930s-ku-klux-klkkk---604433873-5a6117187bb2830037aaa55f.jpg)
Timeline History of the Ku Klux Klan
![W. E. B. DuBois wearing glasses, seated at a table, looking at paperwork](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/OpkIukBULCZmcOUaq0zMKmvS9cI=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-50499171-5c64d6c0c9e77c0001d9335b.jpg)
The Origins, Purpose, and Proliferation of Pan-Africanism
![Zora Neale Hurston and friends, black and white photograph.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/yZ_mP4YjGXqIif0-tbQoXGVwoUQ=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/zora-neale-hurston-96801446-5a66142d90030d00375fe377.jpg)
5 Leaders of the Harlem Renaissance
![Image of the Harlem Hellfighters standing in formation](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/_wdGjnmDFAg20_NRdH7DZ9z-NbU=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-129092127-5a6f6a5ac064710037f0efe9.jpg)
The Role of Black Americans in World War I
!["End The New Jim Crow."](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/Z3iXfFg2Upexhcuggmi0t0yqvGY=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/thenewjimcrow-5744a1035f9b58723d1cbf84.jpg)
Understanding Jim Crow Laws
![The Chicago Defender newspaper with headline "PUSHing Forward"](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/5Mrft41fKewBjZ3iUe9BV8WB6wA=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/TheChicagoDefender-3680245a82af4b99ae8c9dbcf0758d9a.jpg)
The Power of the Press: Black American News Publications in the Jim Crow Era
![Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking before crowd of 25,000 Selma to Montgomery, Ala., civil rights marchers, 1965](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/QUTfV7XgLwBM7IaxPN8iyArh920=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/martin-luther-king-GettyImages-459534214-569916665f9b58eba49ed7ba.jpg)
A Profile of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
![MLK with members of SNCC](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/cF2F6m_k6_rIaN2LtvayR6RKUq4=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/withmembersofsncc-5895c3de3df78caebcad3202.jpg)
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's Role in Civil Rights
![Rosa Parks on bus](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/h1xUhXZvvT4O6Je3e460XjXxL84=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-142622448-5895c40f5f9b5874eeee3c2b.jpg)
Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1951 to 1959
![President Lyndon Johnson shakes hands with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., after handing him one of the pens used in signing the Civil Rights Act of July 2, 1964 at the White House in Washington.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/I-oNxb7LD-laUM-Ml56S-ibKXMo=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/5332424980_3cf4159ee2_o-5895c2ef3df78caebcac6ce7.jpg)
Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1960 to 1964
![Montgomery March](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/VGAnmD2IjuRnmTN2m6uAE0XLgqI=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-3324866-5895c5c73df78caebcaeb446.jpg)
Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969
![A redlining map of New Orleans](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/ZFys3qcyROGi2D0BsifLngKWDmE=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/holc-scan-small2_wide-dd66bf22dcd08c10bb10e53c032c92a645948bda-5a65fc8dd92b090036ed76c0.jpg)
The History of Redlining
![Berkeley Students Protest Repeal of Affirmative Action](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/AHe84ljNS7Hzg6P52UbbOut1neQ=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/berkeley-students-protest-repeal-of-affirmative-action-534277388-598b60fc03f4020010b3cdd5.jpg)
5 Key Events in Affirmative Action History
![Washington D. C.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/heQl_CZHiK3y2Rh8BnHFNsYinKM=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/177470917-56a153095f9b58b7d0be45f1.jpg)
A Short History of the War on Drugs
![Black Lives Matter protesters](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/BvbEEhpTneqWcT1Qx6au4mbPyAc=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/blacklivesmatterla-578554563df78c1e1f8a6dd4.jpg)
5 Common Misconceptions About Black Lives Matter
![Racism Protest](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/D7Wl50LCj3IfbOYG35HYwkVu9uk=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/RacismProtest-58bf352f5f9b58af5cd8f631.jpg)
Guide to Being an Anti-Racism Activist
![Photograph of Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers kneeling during the national anthem.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/MAMWRqb-IxfaA1KpwuwJQ6CqoCY=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-599672740-7f168ed9c6654191abf2e9d821dce5a8.jpg)
Kneeling During the National Anthem: History of the Peaceful Protest
![Black Panther Bobby Seale](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/UrChCVGYJqf7tU7RYfTcTcF0c7c=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/BobbySeale-5c53a998c9e77c0001599b28.jpg)
Biography of Activist Bobby Seale
![Poet, playwright, and activist Amiri Baraka](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/RsdFHwWNIkPJJmOkyQgH6mXMSoU=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/AmiriBaraka-5bff808046e0fb0026f2ce5e.jpg)
Biography of Amiri Baraka
!['Assata Shakur is Welcome Here' Public Demonstration Hosted by Talib and Mos Def](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/48FeXsMz1n_z2xcVwe1dVl0R5Ms=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/-assata-shakur-is-welcome-here--public-demonstration-hosted-by-talib-and-mos-def-85445609-5bdc5863c9e77c0026f57e52.jpg)
Biography of Assata Shakur
![Chicago Police killed Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton when he was just 21 years old.](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/NeZbJgGaZuhfYnqZMUac2JbLkGo=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/FredHampton-5c2ae5f6c9e77c0001ed1bbf.jpg)
Biography of Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Leader
![Ma Rainey In Chicago](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/WrzlsqZFENJnCy9CUh9hcYmvGY4=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/ma-rainey-in-chicago-74292312-5be5eeaf46e0fb002631cc42.jpg)
Biography of Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues
![photo of Huey Newton in a holding cell](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/wqOfm_LcDariAXVDDLRSrsvTuJo=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Huey-Newton-holdingcell-3000-3x2gty-5c2a205e46e0fb0001e13edb.jpg)
Biography of Huey Newton, Co-Founder of the Black Panthers
![Activist Stokely Carmichael at a 1966 press conference](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/tvQ8bRqwvY6ECLdmAW0k-4qfuI8=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Stokely-Carmichael-3000-3x2gty-5b60696846e0fb0050de81c7.jpg)
Biography of Stokely Carmichael, Civil Rights Activist
![Shirley Chisholm At Protest](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/wz5slqsBWe41LP6DbWukTlJFe8k=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-2693173-5c8987b3c9e77c00010c2309.jpg)
10 of the Most Important Black Women in U.S. History
![Site of Stono Rebellion, near Charleston, SC](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/MW4lx83sOgKyKArPHZt7Jqbv3_4=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/3779530279_5965b05416_o-57a8eac85f9b58974a645806.jpg)
Black History Timeline: 1700 - 1799
![U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens running ahead of two other runners](https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/iPyMpZPu3KSEpf3GCOL-Wyii5Dg=/219x146/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/JesseOwens-c7e897d2224e411ebb9d4d1dd1eeeec1.jpg)
Black History Timeline: 1930–1939