Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” published in 1982 won a Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

Manley West discovered compound in cannabis to cure glaucoma

Harold Washington was elected Mayor of Chicago in 1983.

Ronald E. McNair was first African American to travel into space. He died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, in which he was serving as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven.

Jesse Jackson runs for President in 1984 & 1988.

In 1980, Jackson won three American Music Awards for his solo work: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". He also won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal
Performance for 1979 with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist, essayist, book editor, and college professor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award and her book, “Beloved” won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988.

Patricia Bath was an Ophthalmologist who invented a tool for removing cataracts.

Valerie L Thomas invented an “illusion transmitter” that creates three dimensional projections of the object. (3D)

Carl Lewis was a dominant track and field Olympian. In 1981, Lewis was named the top U.S. amateur athlete after becoming just the second person in NCAA history to win the 100 meters and long jump at the college championships. The first person to achieve that accomplishment had been Lewis' idol, Jesse Owens.