Alex Haley wrote the best-selling novel “Roots” that traced his family back to its African origins. It became a very successful TV Series.

Colonel Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. became the first African American in Space

Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician, educator, and author. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing New York's 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In the 1972 United States presidential election, she became the first African-American candidate for a major party's nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist of the 1960s organized in 1971 People United to Save Humanity (PUSH). The organization pressured major businesses into granting more franchises to African Americans.

Andrew Young was former United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter.

Max Robinson was the first African American broadcast news anchor of ABC World News Tonight.

Patricia Harris was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1976.

Barbara Jordan was the first African American woman from a former Confederate State, to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Thomas Bradley was Mayor of Los Angeles and was the first African American to hold that position.