Author: Kareem

  • First African American to win Broadway theater’s Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play: Phylicia Rashad

    Phylicia Rashad (/fɪˈliːʃə rəˈʃɑːd/ fih-li-shə rə-shahd) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress. She is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University and best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her Emmy Award nominations…

  • First African-American to win an Oscar: Halle Berry

    Halle Maria Berry (/ˈhæli/ HAL-ee; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in…

  • First African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison

    Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and…

  • First African-American astronaut: Guion Bluford

    Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. (born November 22, 1942) is an American aerospace engineer, retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer and fighter pilot, and former NASAastronaut, in which capacity he became the first African American to go to space.[1][2][a] While assigned to NASA, he remained a USAF officer…

  • First African-American Miss America: Vanessa L. Williams

    Vanessa Lynn Williams[1] (born March 18, 1963) is an American actress, singer, producer, and dancer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984, but resigned her title amid a media controversy…

  • First African American to give a White House Command Performance: Josh White

    Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the South during the 1920s and…

  • First African American to be portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp: Booker T. Washington

    Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915)[1] was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black…

  • First African American to win an Oscar: Hattie McDaniel

    Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedienne. For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. She…

  • First African-American NCAA ice hockey coach: Kelsey Koelzer

    Kelsey Koelzer (born June 16, 1995) is an American ice hockeydefender, currently serving as head coach of the Arcadia University women’s ice hockey program, the first black female head coach in NCAA ice hockey history, as well as the Advisor to the Commissioner on…

  • First African-American general manager of an NHL team: Mike Grier

    Michael James Grier (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey winger and current general manager of the San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, and San Jose Sharks. Primarily a checking forward, he played 1,060 games over 14…