Lists of African Americans explained

See also: List of monuments to African Americans. This is a list of African Americans, also known as Black Americans (for the outdated and unscientific racial term) or Afro-Americans. African Americans are an ethnic group consisting of citizens of the United States mainly descended from various West African and Central African peoples with possible minor additional ancestry from Europe or indigenous Americans and other regions of Africa. As an ethnic group, African Americans are largely the modern-day descendants of West Africans and Central Africans brought to the US from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade who developed a new and distinct cultural identity during their time in the Americas.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article and references showing the person is African-American.

Activists

• List of African-American abolitionists
• List of African American activists
• List of African-American pioneers in desegregation of higher education
• List of African American suffragists

Artists

• List of African-American architects
• List of African-American visual artists

Businesspeople and entrepreneurs

• • Alton Abraham, former social entrepreneur and business manager for Sun Ra Wally Amos, founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie brand
• Donna Auguste, former founder of Freshwater Software
• Leonard C. Bailey, business owner and inventor
• Tyra Banks, television personality, former model
• LaVar Ball, owner of the Big Baller Brand sports apparel
• Christiana Carteaux Bannister, hairdressing business
• ASAP Bari, co-founder of ASAP Mob and VLONE Clothing
• Andre Barnett, founder of the Information Technology Company WiseDome INC
• Beyoncé, co-founder of Tidal
• Sarah Bickford, former owner of Virginia City Water Company
• Dave Bing, owner of Bing Steel
• Chris Brown, founder of the record label CBE
• Herman Cain, business executive
• Kenton Clarke, CEO, Computer Consulting Associates International Inc.
• Demmette Guidry, music industry executive
• Griffin Sisters, vaudeville performers and entrepreneurs
• Kerry S. Harris, entrepreneur
• Robert L. Johnson, co-founder of BET and RLJ Companies
• Lisa S. Jones, founder and CEO of EyeMail Inc.
• Walter P. Lomax Jr., founder of Lomax Health Systems
• Mary Ellen Pleasant, real estate magnate
• Henry A. Tandy, founder Tandy&Burns stone masonry and construction firm
• Vertner Woodson Tandy, first African American architect State of New York and founder of Kappa Phi Alpha fraternity
• Madam C. J. Walker, businessperson, hair care entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist
• Gertrude Pocte Geddes Willis, owner of the Gertrude Geddes Willis Life Insurance Company and Gertrude Geddes Willis Funeral Home

Chefs

• Edna Lewis^[1]
• Hercules Posey
• Mashama Bailey^[2]
• B. Smith
• Ashleigh Shanti
• Nyesha Arrington
• Michael W. Twitty

Cinematographers

• Charles Burnett
• Ernest Dickerson
• James E. Hinton
• Arthur Jafa
• Kira Kelly
• Jessie Maple
  • Janks Morton Malik Hassan Sayeed
• Bradford Young

Entertainers

• List of African-American actors
• List of African-American ballerinas
• List of African-American singers
• List of African-American women in classical music

Fashion

Beauty queens and fashion models

• Kimberly Clarice Aiken, Miss America 1994
• J. Alexander, fashion model
• Karen Alexander, fashion model
• K. D. Aubert, fashion model
• Tyra Banks, fashion model^[3]
• Deshauna Barber, Miss USA 2016
• Blac Chyna, model
• Dorothea Church, fashion model
• Pat Cleveland, model
  • Lynnette Cole, Miss USA 2000 Yaya DaCosta, fashion model
• Bruce Darnell, male model
• Jordan Emanuel, Miss Black America New York 2018
• Jaimee Foxworth, actress, model and singer
• Tomiko Fraser, fashion model
• Kaliegh Garris, model
• Lakita Garth, Miss Black California 1995
  • Carole Gist, Miss USA 1990 Quiana Grant, model
• Ethel Ernestine Harper, African American educator and performer
• Tanisha Harper, model
• Shauntay Hinton, Miss USA 2002
• Chanel Iman (African-American father), fashion model^[4]
• Beverly Johnson, model
• Jari Jones, model and trans activist
• Toccara Jones, model
• Cheslie Kryst, Miss USA 2019^[5]
• Donyale Luna, model and actress
• Eva Marcille, fashion model
• Kara McCullough, Miss USA 2017^[6]
• Demetria McKinney, actress and model
• Nana Meriwether (African-American father), Miss USA 2012
• Draya Michele, model
• Kenya Moore, Miss USA 1993
• Fionnghuala O'Reilly, Irish American model
• Sofia Richie (African-American father), fashion model^[7]
• Jasmine Sanders, model
• Neferteri Shepherd, model
• Kimora Lee Simmons (half Korean, half African American)
• Naomi Sims, model and businesswoman
• Chelsi Smith (African-American father), Miss USA 1995 and Miss Universe 1995
• Darine Stern, first African-American to be on the cover of Playboy magazine
• Renee Tenison, first African-American to be selected Playboy Playmate of the year
• Eugena Washington, model
• Veronica Webb, model

Fashion designers

• Virgil Abloh
• Karl Davis
• Kanye West
• Rasheeda
• Mychael Knight
• Pepper LaBeija
• Willi Smith
• Kimora Lee Simmons
• Stephen Burrows

Government and politics

• African Americans in the United States Congress
• African-American officeholders in the United States, 1789–1866
• List of African-American leftists
• List of African-American officeholders during Reconstruction
• List of African-American United States Cabinet members
• List of African-American United States presidential and vice presidential candidates
• List of African-American United States representatives
• List of African-American United States senators
• List of African-American speakers of U.S. state legislatures
• List of African-American officeholders during Reconstruction
• List of first African-American mayors

President

• Barack Obama, (Kenyan-American father) 2009–2017, 44th president of the United States

Vice president

• Kamala Harris, (Jamaican-American father) 2021–present, 49th vice president of the United States

First Ladies of the United States

• Michelle Obama (2009–2017), first African American First Lady and the 44th First Lady^[8]

Governors

• • Archie Alexander, former governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands David Paterson (African-American mother), served as the 55th Governor of New York.
• Deval Patrick, served as the 71st Governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015, so far the only African American to serve as Governor of Massachusetts.^[9]
• P.B.S. Pinchback, served as the 24th Governor of Louisiana from 1872 to 1873, the first African American to become governor of a U.S. State.
• Wes Moore, serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023, the first African American to serve as Governor of Maryland.
• Douglas Wilder, served as the 66th Governor of Virginia, became the first elected African-American governor, became the first African American to serve as governor of U.S. State since Reconstruction.^[10]

Other political fields

• Stephen Bates, first African American sheriff in the state of Vermont.
• Perry B. Jackson, first African American elected judge in the state of Ohio.
• Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to former president Barack Obama, and co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition project.^{[11] [12]}
• Mazi Melesa Pilip, Ethiopian-born American politician
• Dr. Kimbery A. McClain, Assistant Secretary for the Department of Housing of Urban Development

Journalism and media

• List of African American journalists

Legal system

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

Military and law enforcement

See also: List of African-American Medal of Honor recipients.

• Colin Powell
• Henry Johnson
• Cathay Williams
• Charity Adams Earley
• Bass Reeves
• Eugene Goodman
• Georgia Ann Robinson
• Carmen Best

Ministers and other religious leaders

• Ralph Abernathy
• Richard Allen
• Thea Bowman
• Alexander Crummell
• Henriette DeLille
• Louis Farrakhan^[13]
• Henry Highland Garnet
• Julia Greeley
• Wilton Gregory
• Jesse Jackson
• Mother Mary Lange
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Malcolm X
• Warith Deen Mohammed
• Elijah Muhammad
• Al Sharpton
• Augustus Tolton
• Pierre and Juliette Toussaint
• T. D. Jakes
• Benjamin Hooks
• Vashti Murphy McKenzie
• Raphael G. Warnock
• Calvin O. Butts III
• Kirbyjon Caldwell
• Delman Coates
• Fred Luter Jr.

Science and mathematics

• List of African-American astronauts
• List of African-American inventors and scientists
• List of African-American mathematicians
• List of African American women in STEM fields
• List of African-American women in medicine

Sports

• List of African American sportspeople

Writers

• List of African-American writers
• List of African-American nonfiction writers
• List of African American poets

Publishers

• W. Paul Coates, founder of Black Classic Press
• Jayne Cortez, founder of Bola Press
• Charles F. Harris, founder of Amistad Press
• John H. Johnson
• Naomi Long Madgett, poet and founder of Lotus Press
• Haki Madhubuti, co-founder of Third World Press
• Dudley Randall, founder of Broadside Press
• Ishmael Reed
• Glenn Thompson, co-founder of Writers and Readers Cooperative

Other notables

• • List of African-American Jews List of LGBT African Americans
• List of unarmed African Americans killed by law enforcement officers in the United States
• List of winners of the William E. Harmon foundation award for distinguished achievement among Negroes

See also

• Lists of black people
  • • • African diaspora in the Americas Black Canadians List of Black Canadians

Books

• 100 Greatest African Americans
• The Afro-American Press and Its Editors
• Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
• Music and Some Highly Musical People

External links

• President Obama's Speech to the NAACP on July 16, 2009 - full video by MSNBC
• Famous African Americans

Notes and References

1. Web site: 9 Black Chefs Who Have Changed the Way We Eat. Melba. Newsome. February 9, 2021. Taste of Home.
2. News: l 16 Black Chefs: Changing Food in America. John. Eligon . Julia Moskin. The New York Times. July 16, 2019.
3. Web site: At 45, Tyra Banks is Back on the Cover of Sports Illustrated. Trebay. Guy. May 8, 2019. The New York Times. February 6, 2020.
4. News: Chanel Iman Strikes A Pose for 'the Edit' and speaks out again on Fashion Diversity. m.huffpost.com. July 12, 2018.
5. News: North Carolina lawyer Cheslie Kryst named Miss USA 2019. www.nbc.com. May 2, 2019.
6. News: Miss USA 2017 is Kara McCullough. people.com. July 12, 2018.
7. News: Sofia Richie touches on Race and Religion in new interview. www.vanityfair.com. July 12, 2018.
8. News: First Lady Michelle Obama. www.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. February 20, 2019.
9. News: Milevski . Laila . How many Black governors have served in the U.S. before Wes Moore? . January 19, 2023 . . January 19, 2023.
10. News: Douglas L. Wilder. www.wilder.vcu.edu. November 13, 2018. October 13, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161013081229/http://www.wilder.vcu.edu/people/faculty/l-douglas-wilder.html. dead.
11. News: Valerie Jarrett. www.washingtonpost.com. November 4, 2018.
12. News: Valerie Jarrett's Extraordinary Family tree. www.cbsnews.com. February 20, 2019.
13. Web site: Who is Louis Farrakhan? 10 things to know about the Nation of Islam leader, black activist. Pirani. Fiza. October 18, 2018. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 10, 2020.