Celebrating Black Community Members Around the Lakeshore!
This month we’re celebrating the influential Black Americans who made a difference in history. On a local level, we are also honoring the achievements and contributions of Black individuals to our community.
As part of this celebration, we’ve chosen to highlight the historic acts of 28 inspiring Black individuals in the areas of health, education, and financial stability. Discover what they accomplished and how you can further their fight for equity on the lakeshore. We are also highlighting a version of media (movie, podcast, book, article) to enjoy throughout the month of February that highlights important moments and themes of Black History. For our littlest community members, we will also have a children's book centered around black history, empowerment, or self-care.
Day 1:
- Historic Leader - Thurgood Marshall – First African American Supreme Court Justice
- Media - 2017 Movie – Marshall
- Children's Book - The ABC’s of Black History by Rio Cortez
Day 2:
- Historic Leader - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Civil Rights Leader, American Minister
- Media - 2014 Movie – Selma
- Children's Book - Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
Day 3:
- Historic Leader - Vice President Kamala Harris – First female vice president, and the first African American & the first Asian American vice president
- Media - 2020 Book – A Black Women’s History of the United States by Diana Ramey Berry & Kali N. Gross
- Children's Book - I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Day 4:
- Historic Leader - Jackie Robinson – First African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB)
- Media - 2013 Movie – 42
- Children's Book - Teammates by Peter Golenbock
Day 5:
- Historic Leader - Rosa Parks - Civil Rights Activist Leader
- Media - Book - Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today's Youth by Rosa Parks with Gregory J. Reed
- Children's Book - Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Day 6:
- Historic Leader - Frederick Douglass – American Social Reformer, Abolitionist, Orator, Writer, and Statesman
- Media - 2016 Documentary – 13th
- Children's Book - 28 Days by Charles R. Smith Jr.
Day 7:
- Historic Leader - Madam C. J. Walker - First Female Self-Made Millionare
- Media - 2013 Book - The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires by Dennis Kibro
- Children's Book - Marvelous Cornelius by Phil Bildner
Day 8:
- Historic Leader - Malcolm X - Civil Rights Leader, American Minister
- Media - The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X
- Children's Book - The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
Day 9:
- Historic Leader - Shirley Chisholm - First Black Women Elected to the United States Congress
- Media - 2 Part Docuseries "And She Could Be Next"
- Children's Book - A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Day 10:
- Historic Leader - Jesse Owens - Four Time Olympic Gold Medalist
- Media - 2001 Movie: Ali
- Children's Book - This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt
Day 11:
- Historic Leader - Claudette Colvin - American Nurse, Civil Rights Pioneer
- Media - 2017 Movie: A Letter to Claudette Colvin
- Children's Book: "The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
Day 12:
- Historic Leader - 44th US President Barack Obama - First African American President
- Media - 2020 Book: A Promised Land by Barack Obama
- Children's Book - Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama
Day 13:
- Historic Leader - Annie Lee Cooper - Civil Rights Activist - Selma Voting Rights Movement
- Media - Virtual Experience - She Resisted by American Experience & PBS
- Children's Book - The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
Day 14:
- Historic Leader - Bessie Coleman - First African-American woman and first Native-American to hold a pilot license.
- Media - 2018 Film: The Legend - The Story of Bessie Coleman
- Children's Book - Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
Day 15:
- Historic Leader - Benjamin O. Davis Sr. & Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
- Media - 1995 Movie: The Tuskegee Airmen
- Children's Book - Harlem's Little Blackbird by Renee Watson
Day 16:
- Historic Leader - Jane Bolin - First Black Woman Judge
- Media: 2019 Movie: Just Mercy
- Children's Book: What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld
Day 17:
- Historic Leader - Gordon Parks - Photographer
- Media: 1969 Movie: The Leaning Tree
- Children's Book - The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
Day 18:
- Historic Leader - Marsha P Johnson - American Activist & Dragqueen
- Media - Podcast: Nancy Episode "What Do We All Have In Common?"
- Children's Book - Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
Day 19:
- Historic Leader - Muhammad Ali - Professional Boxer and Activist
- Media - 2019 Documentary: What's My Name?
- Children's Book - When the Beat Was Born by Laban Carrick Hill
Day 20:
- Historic Leader - Ruby Bridges - Civil Rights Activist
- Media - 1998 Movie: Ruby Bridges
- Children's Book - A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan
Day 21:
- Historic Leader - George Washington Carver - American Scientist
- Media - Book: Black People Invented Everything: The Deep History of Indigenous Creativity by Sujan Dass
- Children's Book - Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
Day 22:
- Historic Leader - Mae Jemison - First Black Woman to Travel to Space
- Media - 2016 Movie: Hidden Figures
- Children's Book - A Computer Called Katherine by Suzanne Buckingham Slade
Day 23:
- Historic Leader - Daniel Hale Williams - American general surgeon, who performed the first successful open-heart surgery.
- Media - 2009 Movie - Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
- Children's Book - Starstruck: The Cosmic Journey of Neil DeGrasse Tyson By Kathleen Krull and Paul A. Brewer
Day 24:
- Historic Leader - Harriet Tubman - American Abolitionist and Leader of the Underground Railroad
- Media - 2019 Movie: Harriet
- Children's Book - Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Day 25:
- Historic Leader - Carter G. Woodson -"Father of Black History"
- Media - Documentary Slavery By Another Name
- Children's Book - Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten by Laura Veirs
- Equity Article -
Day 26:
- Historic Leader - Amelia Boynton Robinson - Civil Rights Activist Leader
- Media - Book - Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch
- Children's Book - Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe
Day 27:
- Historic Leader - Oprah Winfrey - American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist.
- Media - The Color Purple
- Children's Book - Little Melba & Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Day 28:
- Historic Leader - John Lewis - Former United States Representative & Civil Rights Leader
- Media - 2020 Documentary - John Lewis: Good Trouble
- Children's Book - Preaching to the Chickens: The Young Story of John Lewis by Jabari Asim