With the month of February, yes, comes Valentines’ day and President’s day, but it is also Black History Month. According to the History Channel, “Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history.” In honor of these celebrations, here are five strong, and empowering African-American women we should all know about:
Katherine Johnson
Back in 2016, the movie, Hidden Figures, was released based on the book written by Margot Lee Shetterly. The book and movie feature the work of Katherine Johnson. She was one of the few African-American women to work for NASA, as a mathematician, in the 1950s. She even had the nickname of a “human computer.” With her arithmetic skills, she was able to solve and develop the extremely complicated equations that were able to send man to space.
Madam C.J. Walker
Walker was America’s first black woman millionaire. She reached this level of wealth by creating a line of hair care products. Starting off working as a laundress, she first had a treatment for hair loss and would sell it to black women. With the proper self-promotion and marketing skills she was able to build this business from the bottom up and create an empire. And you can even buy her products at Sephora today! Not to mention, she invested in scholarships for women at the Tuskegee Institute and donated a significant amount of money to the NAACP and black YMCA.
Misty Copeland
Although Misty Copeland is not from the past, she has still achieved so many things. Misty Copeland was the first African American female principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre- a very prestigious company. Born in Missouri and raised in California, Copeland actually started her ballet career quite late at the age of thirteen. However, at the age of fifteen she won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards. Not only did her ballet career boom into becoming the number one ballet dancer for the American Ballet, but she also wrote New York Times Bestselling memoir- Life in Motion.
Shirley Chisholm
Chisholm first began her career as a teacher, and then became the first African American woman to be elected to Congress. Her position was working on the Education and Labor Committee, and was a part of forming the Black Caucus. In addition, she was the representative of New York’s 12th Congressional District for between the years 1969 and 1983. After seven terms as a representative she retired from office and went back to her roots of being an educator.
Zora Neale Hurston
This amazing author is close to home, as her work and achievements took place right here in Eatonville, Florida. Hurston once stated, “I’ve got the map of Florida on my tongue.” So, you can tell she was very proud and happy to be Floridian. Zora Neale Hurston is the first Black American to put together and publish African American folklore. Not only that, but she also wrote her own books and even an autobiography. Her most renowned novels are Their Eyes Were Watching God, Dust Tracks on a Road, and Mules and Men.