Martin Kilson, 1931-2019 was Harvard University’s first black tenured professor.

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Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr. attended the University of Chicago at the age of 13 in 1936, becoming its youngest student to ever attend.

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Ruth Negga became the first Irish and Ethiopian actress to be nominated as Best Actress in a Leading Role in the Academy Awards for her role in Loving in 2016.  

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Dexter Gordon was the first jazz musician to be nominated for Best Actor in the Academy Awards for his role in Round Midnight in 1986.

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Kathleen Adebola Okikiolu was the first black person to receive a Sloan Research Fellowship in 1997.

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Yance Ford was the first openly transgender man and director to be nominated for any Academy Award in 2017 after directing Strong Island.    

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Dee Rees became the first black woman to direct a film for which an actor or actress was nominated for an Academy Award in 2017 after Mary J. Blige was nominated for her role in Mudbound.

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Wilton Daniel Gregory is the 1st black president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 2001-2004.

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Virgil Abloh is the first black person to be named artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection in the fashion house’s 164-year history, in 2018.

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