Black History Heroes You Should Know About, But Probably Don’t

Beginning at elementary, the same prominent Black figures were drilled into our heads. We’ve praised Harriet Tubman for her bravery, read every speech Martin Luther King ever wrote and cheered on Rosa Parks and Malcolm X for never going down without a fight.

And while those ancestors played vital roles in the shaping of our history, there are many other heroes whose names deserved to be known just as much.

Here are a few.

Daniel Hale Williams was the definition of young and turnt. At just 20, he began studying under a surgeon in Wisconsin. When he was 35 years old, he opened the first black-owned hospital in America– right in Chicago. Two years later, Williams performed the world’s first successful heart surgery in 1893.

Y’all know I have to put on for the journalists! Alica Allison Dunnigan, born in Kentucky, was the first Black female correspondent at the White House. She used her expertise to fuel conversations regarding the civil rights movement and the struggles of being Black in America.

Now this one hits close to home. Robert Reed Church, Sr. was not only the first millionaire in the South… but he was right around the corner! Born in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1839, Church moved up the street to Memphis in 1865. He ran it up by becoming a businessman, owning a saloon, hotel, bank and much more.

You don’t have to be young to make a change, and Claudette Colvin proved that. Mentored by Rosa Parks, Colvin was 15-years-old when she refused to give up her seat on the school bus ride home. This occurred months before Parks refused. Twinnem.

We love ‘em Black and educated. Not only was Richard T. Greener Harvard’s first Black graduate, he was also the first Black professor at the University of South Carolina. Years later, Greener went on to become the dean of the Howard University School of Law.

Everyone has heard the phrase “Black Power,” but you more than likely don’t know who started it. Stokely Carmichaelstarted the slogan in the 1960s when he was an activist. Its meaning still has a massive impact today and will never be forgotten.

“Front. Door.’ Many thanks to Marie Van Brittan Brown for inventing the first home security system in 1966. While technology has improved over time, the original patent had four peepholes, a sliding camera, television monitors and two-way microphones.

The traffic light, sewing machine and gas mask were all improved by Garrett Morgan– a black man with only a 6th grade education. He also repaired sewing machines, which led him to open his own shop as well as other businesses.

These are just a few of the people who have changed the trajectory of being Black in America. Unfortunately, we’ll never know how many of our predecessors fought for change and improved the way of living. But this is a start.