Laverne Cox was the 1st black transgender person to play a transgender series regular on broadcast TV as Cameron Wirth on CBS‘s Doubt, 2017.

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William Grant Still was the 1st black composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera; the “Afro-American,” 1931.

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Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was the 1st black person to be elected from New York to Congress, 1941.

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Julie Dash directed the 1st feature film by a black woman to receive a general theatrical release, Daughters of the Dust, 1991.

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Republican, Kay Coles James, was the 1st black woman to be named president of the Heritage Foundation, 2017.

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Tarea Hall Pittman, civil rights activist, organized protests to force Kaiser Shipyards to hire blacks in 1941 and 1942.

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Letitia “Tish” James born 1958, a black woman is the 1st woman and person of color to be elected NY Attorney General, 2018.

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Shirley Chisholm 1st black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, 1968.

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Dick Gregory was the 1st black comedian to successfully cross over to white audiences, appearing on television and putting out comedy record albums, 1961.

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Dr. Maulana Karenga, né Ron Karenga, is the black creator of the pan-African and African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, 1966.  

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