Stephen Burrows was the first black designer to win the Coty Award for best women’s wear designer in 1977.

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Anne Cools born in 1943 was the first Black member of any gender of the Senate in Canada. She also ran one of the first domestic violence shelters in Canada.

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Robert Smalls, 1839 – 1915, was a businessman, publisher, and politician. He was born into slavery and freed himself, a crew and their families by commandeering a Confederate transport ship in 1862. After learning of Smalls’ escape President Abraham Lincoln accepted Black soldiers in the Union army.

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Bernadine Anderson was the first Black woman celebrity makeup artist. She did makeup for TV series “Roots” and for the films “Coming To America” and many more.

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Chiwetel Ejiofor became the first black British actor to be nominated for Best Actor in 2013 for his role in 12 Years A Slave.

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In 2015, Beyoncé became the first black singer to cover Vogue’s coveted September issue.

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Frank Greene Jr. became the founding CEO of Technology Development Corporation, a computer software company that would grow with annual revenues of over $30 million in 1971.

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Yvonne Atwell born in 1943 was the first Black woman elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Canada.

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Martin Puryear is the first black visual artist to receive a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, otherwise known as the “genius grant” in 1989.

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RuPaul was the first black spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics’ Viva Glam campaign, which was a created for HIV/AIDS awareness in 1994.

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