List of African Americans

This is a list of famous African-Americans.

Please add more notable people here.

Aaliyah, (1979-2001), singer, actor
Michael Abels, (born 1962), composer
Ralph Abernathy, (1936-1996), civil rights leader
Muhal Richard Abrams, (born 1930), musician
Mumia Abu-Jamal, (born 1954), prisoner and activist
Muhammad Ali, boxer, war protester, member of the Nation of Islam, civil rights protester, and poet
Richard Allen (Reverend), (1760-1831), ex-slave, religious leader, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
Marian Anderson, (1897-1993), famous opera and concert singer
Louis Armstrong, (1901-1971), jazz musician
Emmett L. Ashford, first African-American umpire in organized baseball
Crispus Attucks, (1723-1770), killed in Boston Massacre
David Baker, (born 1931), composer
Josephine Baker, singer, entertainer
William Banfield, (born 1961), composer
Benjamin Banneker, (1731-1806), 18th century astronomer
Angela Bassett, actor
Count Basie, (1904-1984), pianist, band leader
Daisy Bates, (1914-1999), civil rights leader
Sidney Bechet, (1897-1959), jazz musician
Eubie Blake, (1883-1983), composer and musician
Anthony Braxton, (born 1945), composer and multi-reedist
Arthur M. Brazier, Minister,community activist, and civil rights leader
Edward Brooke, former Massachusetts Attorney General, first African-American elected to the United States Senate (November 8, 1966).
Shelton Brooks, (1886-1975), songwriter and entertainer
Ron Brown, served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
Ralph Bunche, (1904-1971) diplomat, Nobel Laureate 1950
William Harvey Carney, (1842-1908), American Civil War hero
George Washington Carver, (1860-1943), plant scientist
Ray Charles, (born 1930), pop musician
Charles Chesnutt, (1858-1932), author
Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998), Black Panther leader & activist
Bill Cosby, actor, entertainer
John Coltrane, (1926-1967), jazz musician
Roque Cordero, (born 1917), composer
Angela Davis, (born 1944), author and activist
Benjamin O. Davis Sr, general
Benjamin O. Davis Jr, (1912-2002), military airman
Miles Davis, (1926-1991), jazz musician
Dominique Dawes, (born 1976), first African American female gymnast to medal in an Olympics (Gold (Team) and Bronze (Floor) Medalist at the 1996 Olympic Games)
Chris Dickerson, (born 1939), bodybuilder
Taye Diggs, actor
Rockin' Dopsie, (born Alton Rubin) February 10, 1932 Carencro LA - 1993 Zydeco musician
Bob Douglas, first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Frederick Douglass, (1818-1895), orator and abolitionist, ex-slave
Charles R. Drew, (1904-1950), physician, pioneer of blood transfusion techniques
W. E. B. DuBois, (1868-1963), writer, activist
Paul Laurence Dunbar, (1872-1906), poet
Oscar Dunn, first African American lieutenant governor of a US state (Lousiana)
Julius Eastman, (1940-1991), composer and musician
Duke Ellington, (1899-1974), jazz composer and musician
Ralph Ellison, (1914-1994), writer
Medgar Evers, (1925-1963), civil rights activist
Jessie Fauset, novelist
Ella Fitzgerald, (1918-1996), singer
Aretha Franklin, (born 1942), singer, often referred to as the Queen of Soul
Marcus Garvey, (1887-1940), political leader and nationalist
Adolphus Hailstork, (born 1941), composer
W.C. Handy, (1873-1958), blues composer
Frances E. W. Harper, poet, novelist, lecturer and activist in turn of the century temperance and racial uplift movements.
Fletcher Henderson, band leader, orchestrator, pianist
Jimi Hendrix, (1942-1970), rock and roll musician
George Herriman, (1880-1944), cartoonist
Robert L. Hill, (1892-?), black leader at Elaine Race Riot
Billie Holiday, (1915-1959), singer
Langston Hughes, (1902-1967), poet
Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist and political leader
Samuel L. Jackson, actor & golfer
Tony Jackson, (1876-1921), pianist & composer
Mae Carol Jemison, first African-American woman in space
Leroy Jenkins, (born 1932), composer and musician
George W. Johnson (c.1855-1914), pioneer recording artist
James P. Johnson (1894-1955), pianist & composer
James Weldon Johnson, (1871-1938), author, poet, folklorist, and civil rights leader
Scipio Africanus Jones, (1863-1943), attorney for Elaine Race Riot accused
Michael Jackson, pop music star
Scott Joplin, (1868-1917), ragtime composer
Barbara Jordan, first African-American woman elected to Texas Senate
Michael Jordan, professional basketball player
Louis Jordan, (1908-1975), jazz musician and bandleader
Hubert Julian, (born 1900), aviator
Ulysses Kay, (1917-1995), composer
B.B. King, (born 1925), blues musician
Martin Luther King Jr, (1929-1968), leader
Rodney King, motorist beaten by police, videotaped by bystander
Nella Larsen, (1891-1964), novelist
Oliver Law, (1899-1937), officer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, first African American to command white soldiers
Robert Jr. Lockwood, (born 1915), blues musician
Jair Lynch, (born 1971), first African American male gymnast to medal in an Olympics (Silver Medalist on Parallel Bars at the 1996 Olympic Games)
Elijah J. McCoy (1844-1929), inventor
Wynton Marsalis, a jazz trumpeter
Thurgood Marshall, (1908-1993), first non-white U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
Oscar Micheaux, (1884-1951), author and pioneer filmmaker
Roscoe Mitchell, (born 1940), composer and musician
Thelonious Monk, (1917-1982), composer and musician
Toni Morrison, author, Nobel laureate 1993
Huey P. Newton, (1942-1989), founder of the Black Panther Party
Brandy Norwood, (born 1979), singer and actor
Willie 'Ray-J' Norwood Jr, (born 1981), singer and actor, brother of the precedent
Willie O'Ree, the first African American NHL player
Jesse Owens, (1913-1980), track and field athlete
Charlie Parker, (1920-1955), jazz musician
Rosa Parks, started the Birmingham bus boycott
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, (born 1932), composer
P. B. S. Pinchback, (1837-1921), first serving African American governor of a US state (Lousiana)
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, (1745-1813), first resident of Chicago
Colin Powell, (born 1937), U.S. Secretary of State
Percival Prattisbecame, the first African American news correspondent allowed in the United States House and Senate press gallery.
Hiram Rhoades Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, the first African American ever to sit in the United States Congress
Willy T. Ribbs, the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 (May 19, 1991)
Norbert Rilleaux, (1806-1894), inventor
RuPaul, (born 1960) drag queen
David Robinson, professional basketball player and U.S. Navy veteran
Bayard Rustin, (1912-1987), civil rights activist
Bobby Seale, Co founder of the Black Panther Party
Al Sharpton, a clergyman and politician
Assata Shakur, (born 1947), exile and political activist
Bessie Smith, (1894-1937), blues singer
Clara Smith, blues singer
Hale Smith, (born 1925), composer
Mamie Smith, blues singer
Willie The Lion Smith (1897-1963), pianist & composer
Wesley Snipes, (born 1962), actor and producer
Peter Spencer, (1782-1843), ex-slave, religious leader, A.U.M.P. Church founder
William Grant Still, (1895-1978), composer
Marshall Taylor, (1878-1932), aka "Major Taylor", champion competition cyclist
Clarence Thomas, (born 1948), U.S. Supreme Court associate justice
Nat Turner, (1800-1831), leader of major slave revolt
Sojourner Truth, (1797?-1883), ex-slave, abolitionist
Harriet Tubman, (1820-1913), ex-slave, writer, abolitionist
Luther Vandross, singer, actor
C. J. Walker, she was the first African-American millionaire
George Walker, (born 1922), composer
Fats Waller, (1904-1943), composer, singer, jazz musician
Booker T. Washington, (1856-1915), educator
Ethel Waters, (1896-1977), vocalist
Muddy Waters, (1915-1983), blues musician
Phillis Wheatley, (1753-1784), poet
Joseph White, (1835-1918) Cuban born composer
Douglas Wilder, (born 1931), first elected African American governor of a US state (Virginia)
Clarence Williams, (1893-1965), composer, publisher, jazz musician
Sonny Boy Williamson, (1897-1965), blues musician
Tiger Woods, (born 1975), first African American (and Asian American) to win a major golf championship
Malcolm X, (1925-1965), (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, born Malcolm Little), one time Nation of Islam and civil rights leader
Andrew Young, (1932-), politician