The Signal celebrates Black History Month 2020

Lauren “Keke” Palmer

After appearing in “Barbershop 2: Back in Business,” Lauren Keyana Palmer, most commonly known as Keke Palmer, moved to California to pursue an acting career. In 2006, she starred in the critically acclaimed film “Akeelah and the Bee,” where she also had her first recorded song featured in the soundtrack. Throughout the years, she continued acting and singing. In 2019, Palmer joined Sara Haines and Michael Strahan as their co-host of the daytime talk show, “Strahan, Sara and Keke” on ABC.

Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of his band Hootie & The Blowfish. He began his solo career in 2001, however, his country music career did not start until 2008. That same year, Rucker became the first black artist to get a number one song on the Hot Country Songs chart since the 1980s. In 2009, he became the first black American to win the Country Music Association’s New Artist Award and the second black person to win an award from the association. Rucker has also helped raise money for charities geared toward underprivileged kids, public education systems and hospitals.

Sidney Poitier

After joining the North American Negro Theater, Sidney Poitier starred in “Blackboard Jungle,” which became his breakthrough. In 1958, Poitier was nominated for the BAFTAs, which he won, and the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the first black actor to be nominated for this category. Then in 1964, Poitier became the first black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in “Lilies of the Field.” Poitier won many awards for his movie roles, as well as received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, which is the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Tharpe began singing and playing guitar at the age of 4. She gained fame in a time where black female guitarists were limited and became a pioneer for her guitar technique, foreshadowing the rise of electric blues. In 2018, Tharpe was inducted into the Early Influence category of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Artists influenced by Tharpe include: Little Richard, Johnny Cast, Elvis Pressley, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tina Turner, Meat Loaf and Karen Carpenter.

Simone Biles

A Houstonian, Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast with 30 Olympic and World Championship medals. She was part of the “Final Five” during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. Additionally, she is the only American to win a World medal in every event. After the Larry Nassar trial and conviction for sexually assaulting female gymnasts, Biles and other survivors were awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Wilma Rudolph

After Wilma Rudolph recovered from childhood polio, she lost strength in her left leg and had to wear a leg brace until the age of 12. She started competing in track in high school and college. In 1960, she competed in the Summer Olympics and became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics. After the Olympics, she became a civil rights activist, publicist, sports commentator, teachers and a vice president at Nashville’s Baptist Hospital.

John Amaechi, O.B.E.

In February 2007, John Amaechi became the first NBA player to come out as gay. An advocate for organizational diversity, Amaechi created his own consultancy, Amaechi Performance Systems. In 2007, he received a Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by Manchester Metropolitan University. He was appointed as an Officer of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in 2001. He currently works as a psychologist.

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe is the only black man to win singles titles at  Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. After he retired from tennis, he was diagnosed with HIV after a blood transfusion. Until his death in 1993, Ashe was an advocate for the destimigtization surrounding HIV and AIDS. In 1997, the center court at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, is named after Ashe as Arthur Ashe Stadium. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.

Gwen Ifill

Born in Queens, New York, Gwen Ifill became the first woman and black person to host a nationally televised political news program. Ifill also worked at the “News Hour” for 17 years and was part of the first all-women anchor team for a nightly news program alongside Judy Woodruff. Ifill died from complications of cancer in 2016 at the age of 61. Most recently, Ifill was featured as the 43rd stamp of the U.S. Postal Service’s Black Heritage series.

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Langston Hughes

Best known for being a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes was a jazz poet, Civil Rights Movement activist, playwright and novelist. Born into a politically active family, Hughes learned how to be proud of his race and the power of storytelling from his grandmother Mary Patterson Langston. During his life, he championed for diverse black communities to take pride in themselves and in their relationships with each other. He received three honorary doctorates during his career.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Gates is a literary theorist, professor, historian, television host and filmmaker. Gates is a proponent of black American writers, critic of Eurocentrism in literature and discovered the earliest known literary works of black American writers. He is currently a professor at Alphonse Fletcher University, Director of the Hutchins Center for African American Research at Harvard and the host for PBS’ “Finding Your Roots.” He has been awarded the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship, MacArthur fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities and a Peabody Award.

Regina Anderson

After earning her M.S. in Library Science from Columbia University, Anderson worked as a librarian in New York creating art and theater programming for decades. Her home served as a major hub for other writers and artists meeting during the Harlem Renaissance. The playwright is also known by her married name Regina Andrews and her pseudonym Ursala Trelling.

Alice Ball

Alice Ball was the first African American and first woman to graduate with a MS in Chemistry from the University of Hawaii. At 23, she then became the first person to create a successful treatment for leprosy. Ball did not get initially recieve credit for her work, She died at the age of 24 because of unrelated exposure to chlorine. Feb. 29 is celebrated as “Alice Ball Day” in Hawaii.

Percy Lavone Julian

Reggie Fils-Aimé

Born from two Haitian immigrants, Fils-Aimé is one of the most recognizable faces in gaming. From 2006 until he retired in 2019, Fils-Aimé served as the president and CEO of Nintendo America. Since retiring, he has served as the first Leader in Residence at his alma mater, Cornell University.

Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner

Unable to afford tuition at Howard University, Kenner followed in her father and grandfathers’ footsteps and invented solutions to everyday problems. The most famous of which was the sanitary belt. Misogyny and discrimination towards black women, left her unable to patent the invention for roughly 30 years. Once it when public in the 1950s, the invention was used widely until the 80s when temporary adhesives were implemented instead. Her sister, Mildred Davidson Austin Smith, joined her in inventing a few more everyday use items.