Black History Month Project
Across
- 7. Pro-basketball player, Chicago Bulls, 6 NBA championships, USA Olympic team
- 8. Pro-boxer, WBC heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020, only lost to Tyson Fury
- 11. Professional cowboy, competed in rodeos inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame
- 12. 1st black woman to travel into space, spending 80 days on the STS-47 mission, National Medical Association Hall of Fame, appeared on Star Trek
- 13. 1st African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana
- 14. Dancer, singer, actress, 1st black woman to star in a major motion picture, broke many gender stereotypes
- 15. American Muslim minister & civil rights activist, fought racism by promoting Nation of Islam
- 17. Former First Lady of the U.S., created the Let’s Move Campaign to fight child obesity
- 18. Olympic runner who won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Games, dealt with racism throughout his career
- 20. Pro-basketball player, only player to score 100 points in a single game & average 50 points in a season
- 26. Youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, writer, overcame struggles with a speech impediment
- 27. 1st African American President, served as Senator to Illinois, born in Hawaii
- 29. Explorer who is believed to have been one of the 1st to reach the North Pole
- 32. Famous for refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white man, initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott
- 33. Escaped slave & Conductor in the underground railroad, helping many other slaves to escape
- 34. Jazz pianist, composer & leader of his big-band jazz orchestra which included a group of 14 musician from 1923 until his death
- 35. Actress known for playing the voice of Tianna, the 1st Black Disney Princess & Dreamgirls
Down
- 1. Pro-tennis player who has overcome struggles as a Black female in the sport
- 2. MLB player for the Indianapolis Clowns before baseball was desegregated, 21 seasons with Milwaukee Braves
- 3. Famous actor, known for playing Black Panther, continued to act through cancer diagnosis before dying in 2020
- 4. 1st African American to win the individual all-around title at 2012 Summer Olympic Games
- 5. Singer, rapper, actress, American Musical & Dramatic Academy & Georgia State University, The Electric Lady peaked #5 on Billboard Top 200
- 6. Group of African American military pilots & airmen who fought in WWII, deployed in 1942, flew pursuit missions over Italian controlled North Africa
- 7. 1st black women to ever become self-made millionaire through her hair care company
- 9. Pro-basketball player, LA Lakers, youngest player to score 40 points in a game, broke the all-time scoring record of 38,387 points
- 10. Surgeon who founded the 1st non-segregated hospital in the U.S., publicly championed by Frederick Douglass
- 14. 1st African American to play in Major League Baseball, 1947 Rookie of the Year
- 16. Civil Rights Activist, “I Have a Dream” Speech, March on Washington
- 19. Olympic all-around gymnast, grew up in foster care, tied for most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast
- 21. Real name is Cassius Clay, pro-boxer & heavyweight champion, grew up struggling with dyslexia
- 22. Chef, teacher, wrote the Taste of Country Cooking, which helped refine the American view of Southern cooking
- 23. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina and escaped during the Civil War
- 24. NASA engineer, innovator & inventor of the super soaker
- 25. 1st black dancer to be promoted to principal dancer of the American Ballet Theater, featured in a music video for Prince, member of President Obama's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition
- 28. Pro-soccer player labeled "the greatest" by FIFA & only player to win 3 world cups
- 30. Escaped slave, autobiography became best-seller and made people think critically about slavery
- 31. Neurosurgeon, ran for President in 2016, served as Secretary of Housing & Urban Development