Black women have made important contributions to the United States throughout its history. However, they are not always recognized for their efforts, with some remaining anonymous and others becoming famous for their achievements. In the face of gender and racial bias, Black women have broken barriers, challenged the status quo, and fought for equal rights for all. The accomplishments of Black female historical figures in politics, science, the arts, and more continue to impact society.
Marian Anderson (Feb. 27, 1897–April 8, 1993)
Underwood Archives / Getty Images
Contralto Marian Anderson is considered one of the most important singers of the 20th century. Known for her impressive three-octave vocal range, she performed widely in the U.S. and Europe, beginning in the 1920s. She was invited to perform at the White House for President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1936, the first African American so honored. Three years later, after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Anderson to sing at a Washington, D.C. gathering, the Roosevelts invited her to perform on the steps of the Lincon Memorial.
Anderson continued to sing professionally until the 1960s when she became involved in politics and civil rights issues. Among her many honors, Anderson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.
Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875–May 18, 1955)
PhotoQuest / Getty Images
Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator and civil rights leader best known for her work co-founding the Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina, the young Bethune had a zest for learning from her earliest days. After stints teaching in Georgia, she and her husband moved to Florida and eventually settled in Jacksonville. There, she founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute in 1904 to provide education for Black girls. It merged with the Cookman Institute for Men in 1923, and Bethune served as president for the next two decades.
A passionate philanthropist, Bethune also led civil rights organizations and advised Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Roosevelt on African American issues. In addition, President Harry Truman invited her to attend the founding convention of the United Nations; she was the only African American delegate to attend.
Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924–Jan. 1, 2005)
Don Hogan Charles / Getty Images
Shirley Chisholm is best known for her 1972 bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination; she was the first Black woman to make this attempt in a major political party. However, she had been active in state and national politics for more than a decade and had represented parts of Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly from 1965 to 1968. She became the first Black woman to serve in Congress in 1968. During her tenure, she co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus. Chisholm left Washington in 1983 and devoted the rest of her life to civil rights and women's issues.
Althea Gibson (Aug. 25, 1927–Sept. 28, 2003)
Reg Speller / Getty Images
Althea Gibson started playing tennis as a child in New York City, winning her first tennis tournament at age 15. She dominated the American Tennis Association circuit, reserved for Black players, for more than a decade. In 1950, Gibson broke the tennis color barrier at Forest Hills Country Club (site of the U.S. Open); the following year, she became the first African American to play at Wimbledon in Great Britain. Gibson continued to excel at the sport, winning both amateur and professional titles through the early 1960s.
Dorothy Height (March 24, 1912–April 20, 2010)
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Dorothy Height has been described as the godmother of the women's movement because of her work for gender equality. For four decades, she led the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW )and was a leading figure in the 1963 March on Washington. Height began her career as an educator in New York City, where her work caught the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt. Beginning in 1957, she led the NCNW and also advised the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
Rosa Parks (Feb. 4, 1913–Oct. 24, 2005)
Underwood Archives / Getty Images
Rosa Parks became active in the Alabama civil rights movement after marrying activist Raymond Parks in 1932. She joined the Montgomery, Alabama, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943 and was involved in much of the planning that went into the famous bus boycott that began the following decade. Parks is best known for her December 1, 1955, arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a White rider. That incident sparked the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually desegregated that city's public transit. Parks and her family moved to Detroit in 1957, and she remained active in civil rights until her death.
Augusta Savage (Feb. 29, 1892–March 26, 1962)
Archive Photos / Sherman Oaks Antique Mall / Getty Images
Augusta Savage displayed an artistic aptitude from her youngest days. Encouraged to develop her talent, she enrolled in New York City's Cooper Union to study art. She earned her first commission, a sculpture of civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, from the New York library system in 1921, and several other commissions followed. Despite meager resources, she continued working through the Great Depression, making sculptures of several notable Black people, including Frederick Douglass and W. C. Handy. Her best-known work, "The Harp," was featured at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, but it was destroyed after the fair ended.
Harriet Tubman (1822–March 20, 1913)
Library of Congress
Enslaved from birth in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom in 1849. The year after she arrived in Philadelphia, Tubman returned to Maryland to free her family members. Over the next 12 years, she returned nearly 20 times, helping more than 300 enslaved Black people escape bondage by ushering them along the Underground Railroad. The "railroad" was the nickname for a secret route that enslaved Black people used to flee the South for anti-slavery states in the North and to Canada. During the Civil War, Tubman worked as a nurse, a scout, and a spy for Union forces. After the war, she worked to establish schools for formerly enslaved people in South Carolina. In her later years, Tubman also became involved in women's rights causes.
Phillis Wheatley (May 8, 1753–Dec. 5, 1784)
Culture Club/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Born in Africa, Phillis Wheatley came to the U.S. at age 8, when she was captured and sold into enslavement. John Wheatley, the Boston man who enslaved her, was impressed by Phillis' intellect and interest in learning, and he and his wife taught her to read and write. The Wheatleys allowed Phillis time to pursue her studies, which led her to develop an interest in poetry writing. A poem she published in 1767 earned her much acclaim. Six years later, her first volume of poems was published in London, and she became known in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The Revolutionary War disrupted Wheatley's writing, however, and she was not widely published after it ended.
Charlotte Ray (Jan. 13, 1850–Jan. 4, 1911)
Charlotte Ray has the distinction of being the first African American woman lawyer in the United States and the first woman admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia. Her father, active in New York City's Black community, made sure his young daughter was well educated; she received her law degree from Howard University in 1872 and was admitted to the Washington, D.C., bar shortly afterward. Both her race and gender proved to be obstacles in her professional career, and she eventually became a teacher in New York City instead.
213 notes
·
View notes
Any Fan's Dream, Part 7
Any Fan's Dream Masterlist
Synopsis:
When you look around and see Avengers Tower in front of you and Peter Parker beside you, you wonder how the hell you managed to get into the MCU.
Taglist: @secretly-sirens, @zeeader, @imdoingathingmom, @x-theolivia, @ainsley-official, @huntress-artemiss, @hoohoohope, @ourgoddessathena, @wiintaersoldier
Sorry if I missed anyone, please just message me again and I'll add you.
Rhodey stood across from Sam, gesturing as he talked, "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have."
Sam's arms were crossed as they debated. "So let's say we agree to this thing, how long is it gonna be until they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"
"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'Nah, it's cool. We got it'."
"How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam asked.
Your eye darted back and forth between the two of them, feeling panic begin to build in your chest as it played out exactly like in the movie.
You tore your gaze away from the arguing men and looked at the woman was seated beside you on the couch. After the Secretary had left, everyone had moved to a living room in the Compound, you were on the couch, seated next to Tony who was laying down with his hand on his face. Nat had moved to sit next to you in the unoccupied space.
"You sure weren't afraid to speak your mind." Natasha said, "And your opinions seem clear as to what side you're on."
You shook your head, "I'm not on any side. I just want you guys to stick together and get the respect you deserve."
Vision's voice grabbed everyone's attention. "I have an equation."
Sam turned to look at him. "Oh, this will clear it up."
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Vision continued. "During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."
Steve, who had the Accords opened in his hands, spoke up, "Are you saying it's our fault?"
Vision looked around, "I'm saying there may be a causality."
You wrapped your arms around yourself, listening as he went on.
"Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight...Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."
"Boom." Rhodey said, feeling that his point had been proven.
Natasha looked past you to the man laying down, "Tony, you're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."
"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve and you said, simultaneously.
You knew that line. Of course you knew that line.
If you didn't find a way to change Tony's mind, then they would split.
Tony glance at you, then directed his gaze toward Steve. "Boy, you know me so well." Tony got up from the couch, and began to walk to the kitchen which was only a few short paces from the living room. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain," he grabbed a coffee mug, "discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"
He tapped a tablet on the counter, and you winced when you saw the image projected.
"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid, computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig planned at Intel for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world."
You could see the haunted look on Tony's face, one that told you, 'people are dead. And it's because of us.'
"Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia."
You watched as Wanda looked down, the way multiple of them ducked their head in guilt.
"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." Tony took a drink from his coffee, "There's no decision making process here." Raising his voice, he said, "We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."
"You are nothing like the bad guys." Heads turned to face you, eyes directed on you. It was a bit intimidating, having the Avengers stare at you, but you didn't regret your words. "There will always be someone who needs saving, but nobody can save everyone. The deaths are not your fault. Please," you looked at Tony. "You've saved the world. Multiple times. Yes, people died, and yes, that is horrible. But that doesn't mean you give up, you keep fighting for a better tomorrow and one day there will be one. You are heroes."
Steve nodded his agreement, "Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."
"Who said we're giving up?" Tony questioned.
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Steve asserted.
"I'm sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant." Rhodey interjected, "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Panel, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not Hydra-"
"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."
To your dismay, the debate took a far-too-similar path as it did in the movies. Even with you trying to keep them together, trying to make them see all the ways they helped the world, you weren't sure that you had managed to make any difference at all.
At the end, Tony had told you that he would be driving you back to the Tower. The drive back was awkward, filled with unspoken words and lingering questions. You found yourself looking out the window the entire drive back, unable to look at Tony lest he see the water beginning to pool in your eyes. To distract yourself, you watched in the rear-view mirror as the self-driving car you had taken earlier, followed the two of you as the ride went on.
It was hard, knowing that your insignificance in your previous world had still managed to wind up in this world. You were lost, how were you supposed to keep the team together when everything was trying to pull them apart?
Tony dropped you off at your apartment, and when you bid each other goodbye, you couldn't help but notice the tension between you two. You hated it because only days earlier you were hanging out with him while the two of you enjoyed music and each other's company. You entered the apartment, grateful for the key "your" mom had given you, glad that you wouldn't be seen breaking down in tears in the hallway.
After locking the door closed behind you, you ran to your room. You shut that door too, happy that "your" parents were working so they couldn't question your actions.
You collapsed on your bed, curling into the blankets in a search to find some form of comfort. You lip trembled, thoughts spiraling.
How were you going to keep them together? Was the team supposed to stay together? What happens if you you're just as useless in this world as you were in yours? What happened if you changed Civil War and they stay together and you end up screwing up Endgame? Actually, you probably didn't have to worry about that based on how little your choices seemed to affect anyone. You were insignificant. Everyone was going to hate each other because you couldn't do fucking anything.
Your eyes had begun to well up, but they finally spilled over, cascading down your face. The trails of water left paths showing your sadness, your frustration. Your body shook with sobs, your breath quickening.
"(Y/N)?! (N/N) ARE YOU OK? (Y/N)!"
Peter's voice interrupted your sobbing, sometime while you shifted around on the bed, you had butt-dialed Peter.
You tried to calm your breathing so you could respond, but that just ended up choking you up more as more cries spilled out of you.
"I'll be right over."
You didn't even hear him, had no clue he was coming over until Peter had burst into your room.
He hurried over to you, forehead creased in concern, "(y/n), what can I do?"
You tried to say something, anything, but your breathing had only gotten faster and your sobs were choking you and you needed air you needed to breath-
Peter's concern of making you uncomfortable was shoved aside when he saw you descend into panic. He grasped your hands in his, causing you to look at him through wet eyelashes, vision blurred.
"(y/n)," Peter tried to keep his voice calm and even, even as his worry began to spiral. "I'm right here. You're ok. Try to relax. Slow down your breathing."
You tried to follow his directions, but his words weren't able to penetrate the poisonous words you had thought to yourself earlier.
Peter began to panic as your sobs only got worse, he didn't know how to help you. Was he supposed to hug you? Give you space? Ask how you were doing? Distract you? Questions swirled within him and he could feel his own breathing quicken, but he forced himself to relax because you needed him.
He wrapped his arms around you, holding your shaking body. Your arms draped loosely at your sides as you cried. He rubbed your back, knowing that that helps him relax so he hoped that it would work for you too.
He talked to you softly, hoping to get you to calm down your breathing. "Ned and I built a new Lego today," he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, but continued to ramble. While he did, he kept on rubbing your back with one hand while the other hand grasped your limp hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
The two of you stayed like that for a while, time lost to both of you. At some point, he had moved the two of you. He was sitting up against the headboard, you beside him. Your arms were wrapped around yourself in a desperate search for comfort and he pulled you closer and wrapped his arms around you in a hug, arms encircling you to shield you from the world.
Your breathing had slowed, but your sobs were still pouring out of you frequently. There were just too many things you had to think about, so much you had to change. Your thoughts drifted to Infinity War, when Peter would disappear in front of Tony's eyes, crying that he didn't want to go. That only made you cry harder.
"It's okay, I'm right here." Peter said. He continued to try to calm you, to try to make you feel better because it was breaking his heart to see someone so amazing break into pieces.
He's right here. You repeated in your mind, right now, everything is fine. I need to make sure it stays that way.
You forced yourself to calm down, telling yourself that you were strong and you could make a change. That, along with Peter's continued rambling helped center you, thoughts not falling to hell but managing to stay anchored to Earth.
It took you a while, but eventually you were able to stop your crying, the occasional hiccup was the only thing remaining.
"Thank you, Peter," you managed, voice raspy. You wiped your face, trying to dry it with the soft blanket beside you.
"Anytime," Peter told you honestly. "Do you...do you want to talk about it?"
You were ready to refuse but...
Telling him about the Avengers splitting up wouldn't reveal any otherworldly knowledge. You could ask for help, couldn't you?
You worried what the unforeseen consequences could be, but in the moment, you needed to talk to someone about it and you just prayed that your choices wouldn't come back to haunt Peter.
"The Avengers-" you stopped, hiccupping. "They're fighting. And I'm worried that they're going to break up."
Peter's eyes softened. He knew how much you cared about the people on that team, how much you idolized them and adored them. It was clear now why you had broken down, he knew a little about your home life. Your parents worked often, and while they loved you and praised you, they're jobs kept them away from you. In high school, you had a large group of friends. You had surrounded yourself with good people, and they had filled in that loneliness in your home-life.
But when you graduated and a vast majority of your friends left to explore the world before college, pursuing their dreams, you had stayed behind for your internship with Tony Stark. You had won the internship after winning a contest at your school. That internship included schooling and at the end of it you would receive a degree. You had been undeniably proud of your friends, but that pride didn't dissuade the loneliness from creeping back within you when they had left.
Peter had met you when you were a senior and he was a freshman, you had tutored him through a couple of classes. He had always been intelligent, but you were smart on a whole other level. The way you looked up to the Avengers, he looked up to you. After his tutoring was done, the two of you had kept in contact and he was happy to say that you were a good friend of his.
The Avengers were like family to you, and with the possibility of that family splitting up, of course you were upset.
"What can I do to help?" Peter asked.
You thought about it, wondering if maybe, just maybe he could help you think of a solution.
"I have to keep them together," you stated. "But I don't know how."
Peter nodded. "I'll help you in any way I can."
And then he smiled at you and it was real, and kind, and determined.
You just couldn't stop the faint smile that rose to your face as he asked you questions, brainstorming with you. The two of you stayed there for hours, tossing ideas back and forth and although you were stressed about the upcoming events, you were happy for the person who had been thrown your way to help.
145 notes
·
View notes