Written by Savannah Cooks, Staff Writer
The struggle of being a black woman in American is unimaginable
unless you live through it every day. Many women of color in this country have great accomplishments that get drowned out. Whether they are a civil rights activist or a celebrity that broke boundaries, they should be recognized.
Mildred Fay Jefferson was a race equality activist that became the first African American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. She also became the first woman to intern at Boston City Hospital and the first woman admitted membership to the Boston Surgical Society. She was a part of many civil rights groups and she was a founding member of the “right-to-life” organizations.
Before there was Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin. In 1955, Claudette refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded bus. When refusing to get up, she exclaimed that it is her constitutional right to sit in that seat. This incident caused her to get arrested at the age of 15. She then went on to become one of the four plaintiffs for Browder v. Gayle which ruled that Montgomery’s segregated bus system was unconstitutional.
Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman elected into congress in 1968. Before her time as a congressman, she was the second African American in the New York State Legislature. She decided to run for president of the United States in 1972, making her the first African American and woman to run for one of the major two parties.
Mary Church Terrell is an activist who campaigned for racial equality and women’s suffrage in the late 19th and early 20th century. She became the first African American woman to earn a college degree. She became the first president of the National Association of Colored Women and a charter member of the National Association of Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Ella Fitzgerald is referred to as the “Queen of Jazz” and on occasion the “First Lady of Song”. In 1959, she became the first African American to win a grammy award. Over the course of her career, she has won 19 awards and sold over 40 million copies of her albums. Although she was very successful, she still faced racial discrimination. She once said that she couldn’t play shows in the South because of the racial discrimination she faced.
Cicely Tyson is an American actress who recently passed away. She is most known for portraying an “authentic” Black woman in all her works. In her career, she won 49 overall awards that include, eight Image awards, five Black Reel awards, three online film and television awards, two Emmys, and many more.
Kamala Harris became the first African American woman elected vice president of the United States. Before she was the vice president, she was the first African American woman to represent California in the U.S Senate. Now that she formally resigned from the Senate, there are no other Black women representing a state.
Viola Davis is an American actress, director, producer, and activist. In 2015, she became the first African American woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She also became the first black woman who win the “triple crown of acting” which means she won an Emmy, Oscar, and Tony award.
Lizzo is an African American music artist that advocates for plus size people and race equality. In 2019 she appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest which became the most-watched episode since 2017 with 9.921 million views. She has won four awards: two Soul Train awards, a Rolling Stone award, and an Apple music award.
Zendaya is a well-known actress and singer amongst the younger generation. Starting her career as a Disney Channel star, she has made her way to be in blockbuster movies. She is an activist for women’s rights and race equality. In 2020, she became the youngest woman to win an Emmy for the Best Actress in a Drama Series at 24 years old.
While there are plenty of other African American women out there that deserve recognition, they are not forgotten. Like the everyday Black woman who is pushed down, but they always get back up to support her family. They are the ones that stand up for what they believe in and don’t let stereotypes define them.
Although times have changed for Black women in this country, there is still a lot of work to do.