Influential Black Women

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Influential Black Women

By Stephanie Santiago

Multiple Choice

Who was the first Black woman to win an Olympic goal medal in 1948?

• Simone Biles

• Alice Coachman

• Jackie Joyner-Kersee

• Serena Williams

Alice Coachman (1923-2014)

• ​Bested her opponents in the high jump, an incredible feat considering she grew up in Albany, GA where Black people couldn’t access training facilities.

• Her rise to fame was during a time when society largely frowned upon women in sports.​

• She was the first Black woman to become a Coca-Cola spokesperson.

• Alice Coachman’s accomplishment opened doors for future track legends like Flo Jo, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Allyson Felix.​

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Multiple Choice

Who was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus?

• Rosa Parks

• Ida B. Wells-Barnett

• Fannie Lou Hamer

• Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin (1939-present)

• An American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide.​

• Colvin did not receive the same attention as Parks for a number of reasons: she did not have 'good hair', she was not fair-skinned, she was a teenager, she got pregnant.

• The leaders in the Civil Rights Movement tried to keep up appearances and make the 'most appealing' protesters the most seen.

• The record of her arrest and adjudication of delinquency was expunged by the district court in 2021.

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Multiple Choice

This Black trans woman has been credited as the person who threw the first brick at the Stonewall Inn riots. Although, she stated she did not arrive until after the riots began.

• Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

• Laverne Cox

• Marsha P. Johnson

• Sylvia Rivera

• ​It was large and relatively cheap to enter. It welcomed drag queens, who received a bitter reception at other gay bars and clubs. It was a nightly home for many runaways and homeless gay youths, who panhandled or shoplifted to afford the entry fee. And it was one of the few—if not the only—gay bar left that allowed dancing.

• June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village.

• ​Police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar.

​Stonewall Inn

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Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson (1945–1992)

• ​She was an American gay liberation activist and self-identified drag queen.

• ​The consensus is that on the second night, she climbed a lamppost and threw a very heavy object that was in a bag and shattered a police car window.

• ​The P in her name stood for "pay it no mind" and she used the phrase sarcastically when questioned about gender, saying "it stands for 'pay it no mind'"

• ​With Sylvia Rivera, Johnson established STAR HOUSE, a shelter for homeless gay and trans youth in 1970.

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Multiple Choice

This lesbian, Black, female poet’s 1973 collection, From a Land Where Other People Live, was nominated for a National Book Award and increased America’s awareness of intersectionality, or the convergence of race, gender, and class that can put particular groups at a disadvantage or lead to discrimination.

• Audre Lorde

• Maya Angelou

• Lucille Clifton

• Gwendolyn Brooks

Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/fp19.lgbtq.lorde/audre-lorde/​

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Multiple Choice

In 1992, she became the first Black woman to fly to space on the space shuttle Endeavour. She was also the first Black woman admitted to the astronaut training program, in 1987.

• Stephanie Wilson

• Dr. Mae Jemison

• Joan Higginbotham

• Dr. Sian Proctor

Dr. Mae Carol Jemison (1956-present)

• ​She is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut.

• Jemison was a doctor for the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1983-1985 and worked as a general practitioner.​

• ​Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.

• ​Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded a technology research company. She later formed a non-profit educational foundation.

• Jemison also wrote several books for children and appeared on television several times.

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Exit Questions

Choose one name from this list:

1. ​Jackie Joyner-Kersee

2. Simone Biles​

3. Ida B. Wells-Barnett

4. ​Fannie Lou Hamer

5. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

6. ​Laverne Cox

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7. Maya Angelou​

8. Lucille Clifton

9. Gwendolyn Brooks

10. ​Stephanie Wilson

11. Joan Higginbotham

12. Dr. Sian Proctor

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Exit Questions

Once you've chosen a name, do the following:

1. ​Google the name of the Black woman you chose.

2. Open a google doc, your notes app, or write directly in a new email.

3. Find 4-5 facts that you find interesting about the person or that you did not know before and write them down.

4. ​Email your findings to me at [e-mail] and if we have time, share what you learned.

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