WRobert Sengstacke Abbott was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and editor. Abbott founded The Chicago Defender in 1905, which grew to have the highest circulation of any black-owned newspaper in the country. An early adherent of the Baháʼí Faith in the United States, Abbott founded the Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic in August 1929. The parade, which has developed into a celebration for youth, education and African–American life in Chicago, Illinois; Is the second largest parade in the United States.
WThe Black Seminoles or Afro-Seminoles are black Indians associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free blacks and of escaped slaves who allied with Seminole groups in Spanish Florida. Many have Seminole lineage, but due to the stigma of having dark skin, they all have been categorized as slaves or freedmen.
WJames Nathaniel Brown is an American former professional football player, sports analyst and actor. He was a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he had shattered most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.
WLenard Larry McKelvey, known professionally as Charlamagne tha God, is an American radio presenter, television personality, and author. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club with DJ Envy and Angela Yee, is the founder of the Black Effect Podcast Network, and was featured on Guy Code, Guy Court and Girl Code. He was also a VJ for The Week in Jams with DJ Envy and Sofi Green. In 2015, McKelvey began hosting the MTV2 show Uncommon Sense. He was previously on The Wendy Williams Experience with Wendy Williams on VH1. In the shock jock tradition, one of McKelvey's personal mantras is "bite my tongue for no one."
WJulie Ethel Dash is an American film director, writer and producer. Dash received her MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmmakers known as the L.A. Rebellion. After she had written and directed several shorts, her 1991 feature Daughters of the Dust became the first full-length film directed by an African-American woman to obtain general theatrical release in the United States.
WDaughters of the Dust is a 1991 independent film written, directed and produced by Julie Dash and is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States. Set in 1902, it tells the story of three generations of Gullah women in the Peazant family on Saint Helena Island as they prepare to migrate off the island, out of the Southern United States, and into the North.
WThomas "Sam" Doyle (1906–1985) was an African-American artist from Saint Helena Island, South Carolina. His colorful paintings on sheet metal and wood recorded the history and people of St. Helena’s Gullah community.
WJoseph William Frazier, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. Frazier was known for his strength, durability, formidable punching power, and relentless pressure fighting style. He was also the first boxer to beat Muhammad Ali. He reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970 to 1973, and as an amateur won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
WMarquetta L. Goodwine, who was elected Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, is a native of St. Helena Island, South Carolina. She is an author, preservationist, and performance artist. The Gullah/Geechee corridor begins in North Carolina and extends southward to Jacksonville, Florida, encompassing the Sea Islands and the Lowcountry.
WGullah Gullah Island is an American musical children's television series that was produced by and aired on the Nick Jr. programming block on the Nickelodeon network from 1994 to 1998. The show starred Ron and Natalie Daise, who also served as the cultural advisors, and was inspired by the Gullah culture of Ron Daise's home of St. Helena Island, South Carolina, part of the Sea Islands.
WMary Jackson is an African American fiber artist. She is best known for her sweetgrass basket weaving using traditional methods combined with contemporary designs. A native of coastal South Carolina and a descendant of generations of Gullah basket weavers, Jackson was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 2008 for "pushing the tradition in stunning new directions."
WMichelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American attorney and author who was the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She is married to the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, and was the first African-American First Lady.
WJoseph Hayne Rainey was an American politician. He was the first black person to serve in the United States House of Representatives and the second black person to serve in the United States Congress. His service included time as presiding officer of the House of Representatives. Born into slavery in South Carolina, he and his family were freed in the 1840s when his father purchased their freedom. Revels and Rainey were both members of the Republican Party.
WSamuel Johnson, better known by his stage name Samwell is an American entertainer whose hit video "What What " made him an Internet celebrity.
WRobert Smalls was an American politician, publisher, businessman, and naval pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort-Port Royal-Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.
WClarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the U. S. Senate to succeed Thurgood Marshall, and is the second African American to serve on the Court. Since 2018, Thomas has served as the Senior Associate Justice, the longest-serving member of the Court, with a tenure of 29 years, 81 days as of January 12, 2021.
WMaurice Samuel Young, better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from Miami's Liberty City.
WDenmark Vesey was an African American leader in Charleston, South Carolina. He worked as a carpenter. In June 1822 he was accused and convicted of being the leader of "the rising," a potentially major slave revolt which was scheduled to take place in the city on July 14. He was executed on July 2.
WRoger Ross Williams is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Oscar, with his short film Music by Prudence.