This is a list of African-American activistsEvan F. Moore "In honor of Black History Month, here's a list of Chicagoans you should know", Chicago Sun-Times, February 1, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019. covering various areas of activism, but primarily focused on those African-Americans who historically and currently have been fighting racism and racial injustice against African-Americans. The United States has a long history of racism against its Black citizens.Kleinig, John, Handled with Discretion: Ethical Issues in Police Decision Making, Rowman & Littlefield (1996), p. 157, . Retrieved 7 March 2019. The names detailed below include only notable African-Americans who are known to be activist (sorted by surname).
List of activists
A Thandiwe Abdullah, civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist and ministerBio of "Ralph David Abernathy", Frye Gaillard, University of South Alabama, March 14, 2007, (archive) Muhammad Ali, civil rights activist Naomi Anderson, civil and women's rights activistSmith, Jessie Carney; Phelps, Shirelle, Notable Black American Women, Book 2, VNR AG (1996), p. 11, . Maya Angelou, civil rights activist, writer, poet
B Ella Baker, civil rights activist Sarah Randolph Bailey, educator and Girl Scout pioneer James Baldwin, civil rights activist, novelist, playwrightHenneberg, Susan. James Baldwin: Groundbreaking Author and Civil Rights Activist, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc (2014), pp. 6–8, 66, . Marion Barry, civil rights activist, politician Daisy Bates, civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, lecturer Carl Bean, AIDS/HIV and LGBT activist and minister Arekia Bennett, voting rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, civil rights activist, educator James Bevel, minister, leader of the civil rights movement Sojourner Truth, civil rights activist Gloria Blackwell, civil rights activist, educator Unita Blackwell, civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, civil rights activist Julian Bond, civil rights activist, professor and writer Lillie Mae Bradford, civil rights activist Ruby Bridges, civil rights activist Aurelia Browder, civil rights activist Ralph Bunche, civil rights activist, scientist, academic, diplomat Dorothy Burnham, civil rights activist Louis Burnham, civil rights activist, journalist, editor of Freedom Nannie Helen Burroughs, civil and women's rights activist, educator, religious leader and businesswoman
C Melanie L. Campbell, voting rights activist Beatrice Morrow Cannady, civil rights activist, publisher Archibald Carey Jr., civil rights activist, lawyer, judge, politician, diplomat and clergymanDickerson, Dennis C., "The Wesleyan Witness in the US Civil Rights Movement: The Allen Legacy against 20th Century American Apartheid", 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2019. Bunchy Carter, civil rights activist Christine Michel Carter, advocate for caregivers, specifically working mothers Jeannette Carter (1886–1964), lawyer, labor organizer, and suffragist Julius L. Chambers, civil rights activist Fannie Lee Chaney, civil rights activist James Chaney, civil rights activist Josie Brown Childs, civil right activist, civic leader Shirley Chisholm, civil rights activist, educator Xernona Clayton, civil rights activist Septima Poinsette Clark, civil rights activist, educator Eldridge Cleaver, civil rights activist Kathleen Cleaver, civil rights activist Charles E. Cobb Jr., civil rights activist, journalist, professor John Conyers, civil rights activist Vivian E. J. Cook, educator and activist Marvel Cooke, civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper, civil rights activist Dorothy Cotton, civil rights activist Claudette Colvin, civil rights activist, nurse"Claudette Colvin Biography, Activist, Civil Rights Activist, Medical Professional (1939–)", Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, April 1, 2014. Anna J. Cooper, civil and women's rights activist, author, educator, sociologist, scholarFoundations of African-American Sociology . Hampton University Department of Sociology. Hampton University. Retrieved 7 March 2017. From Melvin Barber; Leslie Innis; Emmit Hunt, African American Contributions to Sociology. John Anthony Copeland Jr., abolitionist Patrisse Cullors, civil rights activist, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movementGoldhill, Olivia (November 15, 2016). "'We can feel sad, hurt, demoralized. But we can't give up': A Black Lives Matter founder on Trump's presidency". Quartz.Garza, Alicia, "Herstory". Black Lives Matter. Retrieved 7 March 2019.Queerness on the front lines of #BlackLivesMatter. MSNBC. February 19, 2015 (video). Elijah Cummings, civil rights advocate
D Angela Davis, civil rights activist, academic, and author Ossie Davis, civil rights activist William L. Dawson, civil rights activist, politician Ruby Dee, civil rights activist Doris Derby, civil rights activist, photographer Charles Diggs, civil rights activistHaskins, James, Distinguished African American Political and Governmental Leaders. Oryx Press (1999), p. 67. , Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, black rights activist, women's rights activist, organizer"Frederick Douglass Biography : Journalist, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Government Official (c. 1818–1895)". Biography.com. – February 20, 1895"Later Years and Death", Frederick Douglass Heritage. Retrieved March 9, 2019. W. E. B. Du Bois, activist, writer, founder of NAACP
E Marian Wright Edelman, civil rights activist Soffiyah Eliijah, activist for prisoner rights Ruth Ellis, LGBT rights activist Keith Ellison, politician Theresa El-Amin, civil rights activist and union organizer Charles Evers, civil rights activist Medgar Evers, civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights activist
F David Fagen, civil rights and labor activist James L. Farmer Jr., civil rights activist Walter E. Fauntroy, civil rights activist Sarah Mae Flemming, civil rights activist James Forman, civil rights activist Aretha Franklin, civil rights activist C. L. Franklin, civil rights activist, minister Elizabeth Freeman, first former slave to win a freedom suit in Massachusetts Frankie Muse Freeman, civil rights activist, attorney
G Erica Garner, civil rights and Black Lives Matter activist Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement Ernest Green, civil rights activist, part of the Little Rock Nine Fred Gray, civil rights lawyer Shields Green, abolitionist Dick Gregory, civil rights activist Vicki Garvin, civil rights activist
H Vincent Harding, civil rights activist, historian Craig G. Harris, HIV/AIDS and LGBT activist, writer, poet Curtis W. Harris, civil rights activist, minister, politician Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights activist Fred Hampton, civil rights activist Lorraine Hansberry, civil rights activist, playwright, author Frances Harper, abolitionist and women's rights activist Robert Hayling, civil rights activist, dentist Lola Hendricks, civil rights activist, secretary Aaron Henry, civil rights activist, politician Dorothy Height, educator and civil rights activist Benjamin Hooks, civil rights activist, minister, attorney Lena Horne, civil rights activist Elbert Howard, civil rights activist T. R. M. Howard, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon Langston Hughes, civil rights activist, poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist Bobby Hutton, civil rights activist Nipsey Hussle, community activist
I Rizza Islam, civil rights activist, member of the Nation of Islam
J George Jackson, civil rights activist, author Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson, civil rights activist Marsha P. Johnson, civil rights activist Richie Jean Jackson, civil rights activist, author, teacher T. J. Jemison, civil rights activist, minister James Weldon Johnson, writer of Black National Anthem Alberta Odell Jones, civil rights lawyer Clarence B. Jones, civil rights activist Quincy Jones, civil rights activist Barbara Jordan, civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, civil rights activist
K Colin Kaepernick, BLM activist, former football player Sarah Louise Keys, civil rights activist Nupol Kiazolu, civil rights and homelessness activist A. D. King, civil rights activist Alveda King, civil rights activist, author, politician Bernice King, civil rights activist, minister Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist Dexter King, civil rights activist Martin Luther King III, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader and pastor Martin Luther King Sr., civil rights leader, pastor and missionary Alberta Williams King, civil rights activist Yolanda King, civil rights activist Eartha Kitt, civil rights activist
L Bernard Lafayette, civil rights activist, organizer Sarah Willie Layton, suffragist, civil rights activist James Lawson, civil rights activist, professor John Lewis, congressman, Nashville Student Movement, organizer Audre Lorde, civil rights activist, feminist, poet, author Joseph Lowery, civil rights activist and minister Julius Lester, civil rights activist, author, professor Conrad Lynn, civil rights activist, lawyer Earl Lloyd, first African American NBA player (professional basketball player) Desegregated the NBA
M Thurgood Marshall, civil rights activist, lawyer, judge Benjamin Mays, civil rights activist, minister Franklin McCain, civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson, civil rights activist, podcaster Floyd McKissick, civil rights activist, lawyer John Berry Meachum, civil rights activist, educator, religious leader, involved in the Underground Railroad James Meredith, civil rights figure, writer, political adviser Anne Moody, civil rights activist, author Brittany Chrishawn Moore, anti-police brutality activists Harry T. Moore, civil rights activist, educator Harriette Moore, civil rights worker, educator Amzie Moore, civil rights leader, entrepreneur Irene Morgan, anti-segregation activist Sara Mokuria, police brutality activist, educator Bob Moses, civil rights activist, educator Elijah Muhammad, civil rights leader Khalid Abdul Muhammad, black nationalist leader, minister Pauli Murray, civil rights activist, lawyer, author, priest
N Diane Nash, civil rights activist Dangerfield Newby, abolitionist Huey P. Newton, civil rights activist Bree Newsome, activist, filmmaker Denise Nicholas, civil rights activist Nellie B. Nicholson, suffragist E. D. Nixon, civil rights activist, NCAAP official
O James Orange, civil rights activist Sarah Massey Overton, women's rights activist
P Rosa Parks, activist, NCAAP official, Montgomery Bus Boycott inspiration Lucy Parsons, activist, labor organizer James Peck, civil rights activist William Pleasant Jr., civil rights activist Adam Clayton Powell Jr., civil rights activist, pastor Gloria Johnson-Powell, civil rights activist Elizabeth Piper Ensley, educator and suffragist Jewel Prestage, activist, political scientist
R Lincoln Ragsdale, civil rights activist, aviator A. Philip Randolph, civil rights activist Emma J. Ray, civil rights and social activist, suffragist George Raymond, civil rights activist George Raymond Jr., civil rights activist Frederick D. Reese, civil rights activist, educator, minister Gloria Richardson, civil rights activist David Richmond, civil rights activist Paul Robeson, civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson, civil rights activist Jackie Robinson, civil rights activist Jo Ann Robinson, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, civil rights activist
S Bobby Seale, political activist and author Cleveland Sellers, civil rights activist, educator Betty Shabazz, civil rights activist Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, minister Mary Ann Shadd, anti-slavery activist, journalist, lawyer Charles Sherrod, civil rights activist, minister Fred Shuttlesworth, civil rights activist Mary Louise Smith, civil rights activist Nina Simone, civil rights activist Mavis Staples, civil rights activist Marion Stamps, civil rights and housing rights activist Charles Kenzie Steele, civil rights activist