Celebrating Black Excellence

4. American figure skater who won a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics.
6. Slam poet and author of The Poet X
11. Muslim boxer known for his social message of black pride and black resistance to white domination.
14. American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion.
15. Didn’t stand up to give up her seat on the bus
16. First Black woman to travel into space in 1992
24. Professional tennis player who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles
25. Civil rights speaker who wrote “I Have a Dream” speech
27. The first Black female “computer” working for NASA
29. Woman who led hundreds of people through the Underground Railroad.
30. Author of the bestselling novel The Hate U Give.

1. One of the Exonerated Five, co-author of Punching the Air
2. Black woman, songwriter, singer, rapper, and flutist who stands for body positivity and female empowerment.
3. Featured on the Canadian $10 bill
5. The first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the U.S.
7. Jamaican Singer, songwriter, and musician known for his Redemption songs
8. Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator who wrote in Jamaican Patois.
9. Late actor who portrayed Black Panther
10. The first Black female publisher in North America.
12. One of the most famous Black female rappers in history
13. First Black president in American history
17. Played for the Lakers with jersey number 24
18. First Black woman to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting
19. Award-winning American stand-up comedian
20. Inaugural poet and first National Youth Poet Laureate
21. African American Muslim minister and human rights activist, popular during the civil rights movement.
22. South African Anti-Apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist
23. Female poet and civil rights activist, author of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
26. The 49th and current Vice President of the United States
28. American rap icon of the 1990s