Unit 2

• Angela Davis


  • Advocated for prison reform, women's rights, racial equality, and the inequality of capitalism
  • Advocate for the LGBTQ community
  • Came out as a lesbian in the late 1990s
• Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz


  Taught courses on the history of consciousness
• Angela Davis


  • Interests in prisoner rights
  • Founded Critical Resistance, an organization working to abolish the prison-industrial complex
• Harriet Tubman


  • Empathy
  • Healing
  • Paving the way
  • Foresight
  • Taking part in a shared purpose
• Harriet Tubman made an underground railroad for the enslaved people to escape
• Harriet Tubman guided the escape of approximately 300 slaves between the 1850 and 1860
• Claudette Colvin


  • Courage
  • Resilience
• At just 15 years old, Colvin displayed remarkable bravery by refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus, knowing the potential consequences and backlash she could face in a deeply segregated society
• Claudette's refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus served as an early catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 381 days and eventually led to the desegregation of public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama
• Claudette Colvin


  • American civil rights advocate
  • Goal setter and achiever
  • Demonstrated courage
  • Possessed, persevere, strong will
• Claudette Colvin and three other women participated in a legal case that made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1956 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the women, making segregation on buses illegal
• The book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others. It can be used to bring the story of Colvin and the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott to middle school readers
• Daisy Bates


  • Strong will
  • Courage
  • Resilience
• Bates became the president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1952
• In 1957, she helped nine African American students to become the first to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, who became known as the Little Rock Nine
• Three years later, her account of the school integration battle was published as The Long Shadow of Little Rock
• For a few years, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Democratic National Committee and on antipoverty projects for Lyndon B. Johnson's administration
• In 1942 she joined her husband on the weekly newspaper he had launched the previous year, the Arkansas State Press. The newspaper focused on the need for social and economic improvements for the Black residents of the state and became known for its fearless reporting of acts of police brutality against Black soldiers from a nearby army camp
• Martin Luther King


  • Always prioritized others and their needs above himself
  • Extremely dedicated and convicted to the betterment of society eliminating all kinds of prejudice, injustice, and bias in society concerning the Black community
  • Extremely inspiring and motivating through his empowering speeches and acts to remove the ideology of the White being superior over the Black
  • Never gave up even when his life was in danger painting the picture of a brave, unstoppable, and committed man pushing for a change in society forever
• He helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 which was an organization that worked for civil rights
• He was the leader of the entire civil rights movement in the 1960s that called for working out conflicts with kindness and love as opposed to hate and violence
• Martin Luther King Jr. fought for and achieved mandatory equal voting rights in America for blacks and whites
• Martin Luther King Jr. led lunch counter sit-ins where he and other blacks and whites demanded equal treatment in restaurants for people of all races
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent peaceful demonstrations proved to the world that action without violence can be effective and successful
• Because of Martin Luther King Jr., it is no longer legal in the United States to segregate or discriminate based on skin color
• The standard has been set for all nations to treat everyone equally regardless of skin color because of the work of Martin Luther King Jr.
• Beyoncé


  • Empowerment
  • Creativity
  • Resilience
• Beyoncé has broken barriers and paved the way for greater representation of women, especially women of color, in the music industry and popular culture. She has allowed for people of colour to venture out in various genres of music and be recognized for their contributions in the music industry
• Kwame Nkrumah


  1. Initiated a campaign of "positive action" in January 1950, involving nonviolent protests, strikes, and noncooperation with the British colonial authorities

  2. In 1951 Nkrumah and the CPP received a decisive majority of votes in Ghana's first general elections

  3. On 22 March 1952, Nkrumah became the first prime minister of the Gold Coast

  4. It would be five more years before full independence was realized, and the Gold Coast became the self-governed nation of Ghana
• Kwame Nkrumah was a prominent Pan-African organizer whose radical vision and bold leadership helped lead Ghana to independence in 1957
• In 1947 Nkrumah's activism attracted the attention of Ghanaian politician J. B. Danquah, who hired Nkrumah to serve as general secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention, an organization pursuing independence for the British colony. However, ideological differences between the two men led Nkrumah to found his own party, the Convention People's Party (CPP), in 1949
• Rosa Parks


  • Leadership through actions
  • Ambitious nature for actively pursuing equality for all Americans
  • Courageous actions for diligently leading the country toward that goal
  • Considered as "the mother of the civil rights movement"
• Rosa Parks was an active member of several organizations which worked to end racial injustice
• Rosa was elected secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
• Fannie Lou Hamer


  • Courage
  • Resilience
  • Persistence
  • Empathy
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Inspiration
• Fannie Lou Hamer's contributions

  • Voting Rights
  • Political Empowerment
  • Educational Equality
  • Civil Rights Legislation
  • Community Organizing
• Oprah Winfrey


  • Courage
  • Resilience
  • Kindness
  • Empowerment
  • Generosity
• Oprah Winfrey has provided successful representation of a Black Woman through media, books, Philanthropy etc. She changes the negative narrative of what Black Women are to society and shows Black Women in a strong and powerful light
• Lincoln Alexander


  • First black member of Parliament in Canada
  • First Black Canadian to serve as a federal cabinet minister
  • Broke down racial barriers
  • Championed diversity and inclusion in politics
  • Served as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario where he continued to advocate for equality and social justice
• Mary Ann Shadd


  • Courage
  • Determination
  • Vision
  • Resilience
  • Empowerment