6. Mae Jemison
A physician who volunteered with the Peace Corps and the first female African American astronaut, Mae was also the first black woman to go into space. After her 1992 expedition on the Endeavor shuttle, she left NASA and founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence (which sponsors science camps for kids), as well as companies involved in scientific and technological research. Currently, she is a professor at Cornell University and strongly involved in the science community.
7. Zora Neale Hurston
Zora was a boisterous writer who was part of the Harlem Renaissance, a social and cultural movement that explored the experiences of black people in America during the 1920s. She used her background in anthropology at Barnard College to write short stories and essays about African American folklore. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was published in 1937. Because some people disagreed with the way she wrote African American dialogue, her works were not initially as popular as they later became. Now, there is no question of her influence on black female writers like Alice Walker, who wrote an essay about her in 1975.
8. Shirley Chisholm
In 1968, Shirley became the first black Congresswoman and in 1972, she became the first black woman to contend for the presidential office. She used her time in Congress and on the campaign trail to voice her opinions on women’s and civil rights, giving a public voice to many of the grassroots campaigns she was involved in prior to her election.
9. Angela Davis
Angela has worn many hats in her lifetime—university professor, writer, public speaker—but she is best known for her political activism with the Black Panthers, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Community, and the Civil Rights Movement. She ran into legal trouble when it was suspected she helped Black Panther George Jackson escape from prison, but was eventually released from jail when the evidence against her failed to prove her involvement. She continues to lecture and write about human rights and equality. Currently, she is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
10. Rosa Parks
This list wouldn’t be complete without including Rosa Parks, the woman who refused to give up her bus seat in 1955 and sparked a movement that led to the end of segregation. Her courageous act fueled the Civil Rights Movement and inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. to get involved. Along with MLK, Jr., she continues to inspire those who still fight for equality.
Anybody who thinks her dreams are impossible or that society can’t be changed by one person’s efforts need only look to these women as role models. Their bravery and determination acted as catalysts for profound change in the world, and each had only one thing in common—the belief that she could make it happen. Yes they could, and yes we can too.
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