20th-century African-American women

lawyer and former First Lady of the United States (2009-2017)

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American civil rights activist. She is best known for her 1955 refusal to move from her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in defiance of Jim Crow racial segregation laws, which sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. She is sometimes known as the "mother of the civil rights movement".

American diplomat and political scientist (born 1954)

African-American abolitionist (1822–1913)

American author, activist, and civil rights leader; wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its first-ring suburbs.

American actress and LGBT advocate (born 1972)

Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of 10. After college, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she began her recording career in hip-hop. Lizzo released two studio albums, Lizzobangers (2013) and Big Grrrl Small World (2015), before signing with Nice Life Recording Company and Atlantic Records. Her first major-label extended play (EP), Coconut Oil, was released in 2016.

American television producer, television and film writer, and author

American mathematician and aerospace engineer

American civil rights activist

American aviator (1892–1926)

African American chemist (1892–1916)

American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line (1920–1951)

American pornographic actress

American mathematician (1930–2026)

American actress, writer and producer

African-American civil rights and human rights activist (1903–1986)

American comedian and actress (born 1979)

American singer

American mathematician and rocket scientist

American jazz pianist and composer (1910–1981)

American physicist (born 1946)

Ghanaian-American novelist

American engineer and NASA astronaut

American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut born 1970

American activist and writer (born 1981)

American actress and model

American professional wrestler

American ophthalmologist and inventor (1942-2019)

American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi

Lena Waithe is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series The Chi (2018–present) and the BET comedy series Boomerang (2019–20) and Twenties (2020–21). She also wrote and produced the crime film Queen & Slim (2019) and is the executive producer of the horror anthology series Them (2021–present).

Katherine Esther Jackson is the matriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers that includes her children Michael and Janet Jackson. Michael dedicated his sixth studio album Thriller (1982) to her. Janet did the same with her fourth studio album Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). In 1985, acknowledging the positive impact on her children's successful music careers, national urban magazine Essence honored her as "Mother of the Year".

American writer

American actress and singer

American artist and activist

American actress, activist (b. 1964)

Katrina Laverne Kearse (née Taylor) is an American rapper who rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles "Nann Nigga", "Shut Up", and "Take It to da House". In 2000, she released her debut album Da Baddest Bitch. Afterwards, she made an appearance on the remix of "One Minute Man" by Missy Elliott and Ludacris. In 2002, she released the Kanye West-produced single "B R Right" featuring Ludacris, from her sophomore album Diamond Princess (2002).

American composer and jazz pianist (1957-2017)

American singer and songwriter

American actress

American geophysicist and planetary scientist (1959-2015)

American children's writer and novelist (born 1963)

American actress, model, author, and entrepreneur

American inventor

American mathematician (1890–1980)

American model and actress (born 1981)

American biochemist (1921–2003)

American basketball player (1955–2022)

American actress, TV host and fashion model (born 1984)

Marietta Sangai Sirleaf (born April 12, 1970), known professionally as Retta, is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her roles as Donna Meagle on NBC's Parks and Recreation and Ruby Hill on NBC's Good Girls. She has appeared in several films and television shows, and has performed stand-up on Comedy Central's Premium Blend.

African-American mathematician (1924–2023)

American actress (1911-1995)

Attorney General of New York since 2019

Kimora Lee, formerly known as Kimora Lee Simmons is an American fashion designer, television personality and former fashion model. Discovered as a teenager, she was signed to Chanel and went on to walk the runway for major fashion houses such as Fendi and Valentino and appeared on the covers of Vogue and Elle. She launched the global lifestyle brand Baby Phat in 1999. She ventured into reality television alongside her family, starring in the E! Network reality series Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane (2007-11), Kimora: House of Fab (2013), and currently in Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane (2025-present).

American professional wrestler

American rapper

American professional wrestler

American poet

American political scientist and university administrator