List Of African American Activists

This is a list of African-American activists 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 Racism in the United States, United States has a long history of racism against its Black citizens. The names detailed below include only notable African-Americans who are known to be activist (sorted by surname).

List of activists

A

*Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist and minister
*Muhammad Ali, civil rights activist
*Naomi Anderson, civil and women's rights activist
*Maya Angelou, civil rights activist, writer, poet

B

*Ella Baker, civil rights activist
*James Baldwin, civil rights activist, novelist, playwright
*Marion Barry, civil rights activist, politician
*Daisy Bates (activist), 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
*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 clergyman
*Bunchy Carter, civil rights activist
*Christine Michel Carter, advocate for caregivers, specifically Working parent, 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
*Anna J. Cooper, civil and women's rights activist, author, educator, sociologist, scholar
*John Anthony Copeland Jr., abolitionist
*Patrisse Cullors, civil rights activist, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement
*Elijah Cummings, civil rights advocate

D

*Angela Davis, civil rights activist, academic, and author
*Ossie Davis, civil rights activist
*William L. Dawson (politician), William L. Dawson, civil rights activist, politician
*Ruby Dee, civil rights activist
*Doris Derby, civil rights activist, photographer
*Charles Diggs, civil rights activist
*Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, black rights activist, women's rights activist, organizer – February 20, 1895
*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 (activist), 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 Farmer, James L. Farmer Jr., civil rights activist
*Walter Fauntroy, 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 (attorney), 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 (politician), 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 (activist), George Jackson, civil rights activist, author
*Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist
*Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson, 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 in the United States, 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 (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, educatior, religious leader, involved in the Underground Railroad
*James Meredith, civil rights figure, writer, political adviser
*Anne Moody, civil rights activist, author
*Harry T. Moore, civil rights activist, educator
*Harriette Moore, civil rights worker, educator
*Amzie Moore, civil rights leader, entrepreneur
*Irene Morgan, anti-segregation activist
*Bob Moses (activist), 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 (pacifist), James Peck, civil rights activist
*William Pleasant Jr., 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 (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
*Al Sharpton, civil rights and social justice activist
*Charles Sherrod, civil rights activist, minister
*Fred Shuttlesworth, civil rights activist
*Mary Louise Smith (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
*Charles Steele Jr., civil rights activist, politician
*Bryan Stevenson, criminal justice reform activist
*Tupac Amaru Shakur, black America activist, iniquity

T

*Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and suffragist
*Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and humanitarian
*Samuel Wilbert Tucker, civil rights activist, lawyer

V

*C. T. Vivian, civil rights activist, author, minister

W

*Madam C. J. Walker, political and social activist, entrepreneur, philanthropist
*Wyatt Tee Walker, pastor, civil rights leader
*Booker T. Washington, educator, founder of Tuskegee University
*Ida B. Wells, civil rights activist, co-founder of the NAACP
*Cornel West, civil rights activist, philosopher, author, minister
*Roy Wilkins, civil rights activist
*Hosea Williams, civil rights activist, minister, businessman, philanthropist, scientist, politician
*Robert F. Williams, civil rights leader, author
*Bobby E. Wright, political activist, psychologist, scholar

X

*Malcolm X, human rights activist, minister

Y

*Andrew Young, politician, diplomat, and activist
*Whitney Young, civil rights activist
*Sammy Younge Jr., civil rights activist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:African American activists
African-American activists,
Lists of African-American people, Activists
Lists of activists, African American activists
American civil rights activists