Below is the world’s largest database of the most famous black people in history – men and women – with their detailed biographies and pictures. The list includes famous black African Americans, Britishers and influential people from every region of the world, and in every field of work, including actors, celebrities, inventors, politicians and activists, leaders, musicians, comedians, dancers, models, artists, historians, scientists, entrepreneurs, sportsmen and more.

Feel free to browse the list and click a specific name to read about its details. The list can be seen either in an alphabetical order or it can be arranged category wise.

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SORTED BY CATEGORIES

FAMOUS BLACK ACTIVISTS/ POLITICIANS

Adam Clayton Powell Al Sharpton Alan Keyes Alvin Ailey Andrew Young Barack Obama Barbara Jordan Bayard Rustin Bobby Seale Carol Moseley Braun Charles Rangel Clara Brown Claudette Colvin Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice Constance Baker Motley Coretta Scott King Cynthia McKinney Daisy Bates David Dinkins David Paterson David Walker

Denmark Vesey Douglas Wilder Dred Scott Eleanor Holmes Norton Ella Baker Eric Holder Fannie Lou Hamer Geoffrey Canada Harriet Tubman Hiram Revels Huey Newton James Meredith Jesse Jackson John Archer Julian Bond Kofi Annan Kweisi Mfume Lauryn Hill Malcolm X Marcus Garvey Marian Wright Edelman Martin Luther King

Marva Collins Mary Church Terrell Mary McLeod Bethune Mary Seacole Medgar Evers Nat Turner Nelson Mandela Olaudah Equiano Patricia Roberts Harris Paul Robeson Philip Randolph Ralph Abernathy Robert Weaver Rosa Parks Septima Clark Shirley Chisholm Sojourner Truth Stokely Carmichael Susan Rice W.E.B. DuBois Whoopi Goldberg Willie Brown

FAMOUS BLACK ACTORS/ ACTRESSES

Al Roker Angela Bassett Bill Cosby Cicely Tyson Cuba Gooding, Jr. Danny Glover Debbie Allen Denzel Washington Diahann Carroll Djimon Hounsou Don Cheadle Dorothy Dandridge Eddie Murphy Esther Rolle Forest Whitaker

Gabourey Sidibe Gregory Hines Halle Berry Hattie McDaniel James Earl Jones Jamie Foxx Jesse L. Martin Langston Hughes Laurence Fishburne LaVar Burton Louis Gossett, Jr. Martin Lawrence Mekhi Phifer Michael Clarke Duncan Morgan Freeman

Mr. T Ossie Davis Paul Winfield Phylicia Rashad Ruby Dee Rutina Wesley Samuel Jackson Sidney Poitier Taye Diggs Tyler Perry Wayne Brady Wendy Williams Will Smith

FAMOUS BLACK ARTISTS/ PAINTERS/ PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jacob Lawrence

James Van Der Zee

Jean-Michel Basquiat

FAMOUS BLACK ASTRONAUTS

Mae C. Jemison

FAMOUS BLACK AUTHORS/ WRITERS/ POETS

Alex Haley Alexandre Dumas Alice Walker August Wilson Bell Hooks Booker T. Washington Carter G. Woodson Charles Chesnutt Claude McKay Countee Cullen Ernest Everett Just

Ernest Gaines Frederick Douglass Gwendolyn Brooks Harriet Jacobs Henry Louis Gates James Baldwin James Weldon Johnson Jean Toomer Lorraine Hansberry Margaret Walker Maya Angelou

Nikki Giovanni Octavia Butler Paul Laurence Dunbar Phillis Wheatley Ralph Ellison Rita Dove Robert Hayden Toni Morrison Walter Mosley William Wells Brown Zora Neale Hurston

FAMOUS BLACK BUSINESSESMEN/ BUSINESSWOMEN/ ENTREPRENEURS

James Forten Madam C. J. Walker

Oprah Winfrey Robert L. Johnson

Russell Simmons Sheila Johnson

FAMOUS BLACK COMEDIANS

Arsenio Hall Bernie Mac Chris Rock Damon Wayans

Dave Chappelle Keenen Ivory Wayans Mo’Nique

Paul Mooney Redd Foxx Richard Pryor

FAMOUS BLACK DANCERS/ ENTERTAINERS

Arthur Mitchell Josephine Baker

Judith Jamison Sammy Davis, Jr.

Savion Glover

FAMOUS BLACK DIRECTORS/ PRODUCERS

John Singleton

Lee Daniels

Spike Lee

FAMOUS BLACK ENGINEERS

Lisa Jackson

Mark Dean

Otis Boykin

FAMOUS BLACK EXPLORERS

Matthew Henson

FAMOUS BLACK HISTORIANS

John Hope Franklin

Kenneth Clark

FAMOUS BLACK JOURNALISTS

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Ida B. Wells

Ed Bradley

FAMOUS BLACK LAWYERS/ JUDGES

Charles Hamilton Houston Clarence Thomas

Johnnie Cochran

Thurgood Marshall

FAMOUS BLACK MILITARY OFFICERS

Benjamin O. Davis

Daniel James

James Armistead

FAMOUS BLACK MODELS

Kimora Lee Simmons

Naomi Campbell

Tyra Banks

FAMOUS BLACK MUSICIANS/ SINGERS

Al Green Al Jarreau Albert King Alicia Keys Aretha Franklin B.B. King Benny Carter Berry Gordy Bessie Smith Beyonce Knowles Billie Holiday Bo Diddley Bob Marley Bobby Bland Buddy Guy Cab Calloway Chaka Khan Charlie Parker Charley Patton Chris Brown Chubby Checker Chuck Berry Count Basie Curtis Mayfield Darius Rucker Diana Ross Dinah Washington Dionne Warwick Dizzy Gillespie Duke Ellington Eartha Kitt Ella Fitzgerald Etta James Fats Domino Fats Waller

Freddie King George Clinton Gladys Knight Grandmaster Flash Granville T. Woods Harry Belafonte Howlin’ Wolf Isaac Hayes Jackie Wilson Jam-Master Jay James Brown Janet Jackson Jay-Z Jelly Roll Morton Jennifer Hudson Jimi Hendrix John Coltrane John Lee Hooker John Legend Kanye West Lena Horne Little Richard LL Cool J Lonnie Johnson Lou Rawls Louis Armstrong Louis Jordan Ludacris Luther Vandross Ma Rainey Mahalia Jackson Marian Anderson Martha Reeves Marvin Gaye Mary J. Blige

Michael Jackson Miles Davis Missy Elliott Muddy Waters Nat King Cole Nina Simone Otis Redding Patti LaBelle Prince Queen Latifah Quincy Jones Ray Charles Richard Wright Rick James Rihanna Robert Johnson Sam Cooke Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Sean Combs Sly Stone Smokey Robinson Snoop Dogg Solomon Burke Stevie Wonder Thelonious Monk Timbaland Tina Turner Tupac Shakur Usher Vanessa Williams W.C. Handy Whitney Houston Wilson Pickett Wynton Marsalis

FAMOUS BLACK PHILOSOPHERS

Cornel West

FAMOUS BLACK PRIESTS/ RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Alexander Crummell

Elijah Muhammad

Louis Farrakhan

FAMOUS BLACK SCIENTISTS/ DOCTORS

Ben Carson Benjamin Banneker Charles Drew Charles Henry Turner Daniel Hale Williams

Elijah McCoy Garrett Morgan George Washington Carver Guion Bluford James West

Joycelyn Elders Lewis Howard Latimer Patricia Bath Percy Lavon Julian Ralph Bunche

FAMOUS BLACK SPORTSMEN/ SPORTSWOMEN/ ATHLETES

Althea Gibson Arthur Ashe Barry Bonds Bill Russell Bo Jackson Carl Lewis Charles Barkley Chris Gayle Deion Sanders Evander Holyfield Florence Griffith-Joyner George Foreman Hank Aaron

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jackie Robinson Jim Brown Joe Louis Julius Erving Wilt Chamberlain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Magic Johnson Marion Jones Michael Jordan Muhammad Ali Reggie Jackson Rubin Carter

Satchel Paige Serena Williams Shaquille O’Neal Sugar Ray Leonard Sugar Ray Robinson Tiger Woods Venus Williams Viv Richards Walter Payton Willie Mays Wilma Rudolph Wilt Chamberlain

OTHERS

Emmett Till

SORTED BY ALPHABETICAL ORDER