Happy Black History Month! This month, we’re celebrating, remembering, teaching, and learning about Black people who have shaped our society. This February, we’re spotlighting 19 Black people who have changed our world through their activism, skills and talents, inventions, ideas, and more.
Below, you’ll find the people we have featured on our social media along with links so you can find out more about them. We’ll also show you other things we’ve learned or seen this month.
1. Cori “Coco” Gauff
Today, we’re spotlighting Cori “Coco” Gauff. You may know her from when she went viral after beating her idol, Venus Williams, at Wimbledon AT THE AGE OF 15! Gauff is an incredible tennis player, having won the Junior Fed Cup, WTA Singles, two rounds at the US Open, three rounds at Wimbledon and more. Gauff has also gone viral for her displays of sportsmanship. She uses her platform to raise awareness and funds for causes, such as climate change. Best of all, Gauff has unwavering confidence in herself.
2. Nyeeam Hudson
Today, we’re spotlighting Nyeeam Hudson “King Nahh”, a motivational speaker, author, and entrepreneur who is only 14 years old. Hudson spreads a positive message of anti-bullying, self-love, confidence and hard work. You may recognize him from one of his viral videos or from Forbes magazine. Hudson has made an impact on many, many people since before the age of ten and is now working on his first book.
3. Tony Weaver
Tony Weaver is the founder and CEO of Weird Enough Productions, an education technology company that strives to represent Black men in a positive light to combat media misrepresentation and the issues it exacerbates. Weaver creates content and teaches media and digital literacy by pairing comics with lesson plans. His work has impacted thousands of students! Weaver was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2018.
4. Gabby Douglas
Today, we’re spotlighting Gabby Douglas, the first American to win gold medals in both solo and team gymnastics events at one Olympics! Douglas is a two-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist. She has also won two gold and one silver medals at the world championships. Douglas started doing gymnastics at the age of 6, resolved to go to the Olympics at age 9, moved away from her family to train at age 14 and won her first Olympic gold at 15. Gabby has also written a memoir entitled “Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith”.
5. Williams Sisters
For National Girls and Women in Sports day and Black History Month, we’re spotlighting Venus and Serena Williams. The Williams sisters are two of the world’s best athletes. They’ve won a combined 8 Olympic gold medals, 142 women’s singles titles, 44 women’s doubles titles, 30 Grand Slam singles titles, 28 Grand Slam doubles titles and 4 Grand Slam mixed titles. Fun fact: Venus designs an athletic clothing brand called Eleven and Serena won the Australian Open’s Women’s title while pregnant.
6. Aquil Abdullah
One of five Black Team USA Olympic rowers
Aquil Abdullah was the first African American Olympic male rower. He rowed in the 2004 Olympics and placed higher in that event than any American had for over 20 years. Abdullah was the first African American to row at the Royal Henley AND HE WON the diamond singles event. He also competed in five other international championship races. Abdullah was not only a great athlete but also a freelance programmer, saxophonist, and activist. Abdullah was constantly questioned by the TSA for having a Muslim last name and so he spoke out against the Patriot Act in the 2004 documentary “Unconstitutional”.
7. Anita Defrantz
One of five Black Team USA Olympic rowers
Anita Defrantz is the first African American Olympic rower. Defrantz was the captain of the team that won the bronze medal in the 8+ event in 1976. Her legacy in the Olympics goes beyond her athletic accomplishments; she is known to be one of the most influential people in sports. Throughout her life, Defrantz challenged institutions such as USRowing, the US government and the US Olympic Committee to ensure equality amongst her peers. Defrantz was the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, a role in which she has fought for women’s equality. She is credited for bringing women’s soccer and softball into the Olympics. She received a Congressional gold medal and an Olympic Order (an award for contributions to the Olympic movement).
8. David Banks
One of five Black Team USA Olympic rowers
David Banks is the first male African American two-time Olympic rower. Banks is also a five-time national team member and has earned two international bronze medals. Banks played basketball and ran track when he was in high school and he was invited to try out for rowing at Stanford University. Fun fact: Banks was our 2018 Bouy Award Winner.
9. Patricia Spratlen Etem
One of five Black Team USA Olympic rowers
Patricia Spratlen Etem was the first African American to qualify to row at two Olympic games. Etem earned fourth place in the W4+ event at the 1984 LA Olympics. Etem also earned a seat in the 1980 Olympics but the Olympics were boycotted that year. In 2007, Etem and the other 1980 Olympians were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal (the highest honor that can be bestowed to a civilian by congress). ~
Etem started UC Berkeley as a swimmer but switched to rowing in her freshman year. During her senior year, she was the PAC-12 Athlete of the Year and CRCA All-American.
10. Alex Osborne
One of five Black Team USA Olympic rowers
Alex Osborne is an African American Olympic rower. Osborne raced in the men’s quad event at the 2012 London Olympics. He was a member of Team USA for six years. Osborne began his rowing career in college, at Stanford University. During his time as a college rower, Osborne finished 2nd and 3rd in the Varsity 8+ event at the National Championships, was a 3-time All Pac-10 rower and finished his senior year as the 2009 Pac-10 Rower of the Year.
11. Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny
Little Miss Flint
Mari Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, is an activist who has worked tirelessly for over six years to raise awareness and funds for Flint, Michigan’s water crisis. Although the media cycle has long ago moved beyond Flint’s water crisis, Copeny is still working to improve her community’s access to safe and clean water. When she was eight years old, Copeny wrote a letter to Obama about the crisis and was invited to visit him at the White House. Copeny’s advocacy for her community led to a 100 million dollar fund to repair the water system in Flint. Copeny herself has directly raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Flint.
12. Dorothy Steel
It’s never too late to chase your dreams. Dorothy Steel began her acting career at age 88 and landed a role in Marvel’s Black Panther at 91. The film broke numerous records: it earned the most revenue for any release in February ever, was the Marvel movie with the highest sales during the opening weekend and is one of the highest-grossing films ever. Steel auditioned for the movie and was called back only an hour later (this doesn’t happen often!) Steel’s role was the merchant tribe elder and advisor to the king while the camera was rolling and everyone’s “grandmother” on set. Click here for more.
13. Marsai Martin
Marsai Martin became Hollywood’s youngest executive producer in 2019 when her film “Little” premiered. Martin started acting at age ten. At ten years old, she also pitched the idea for the movie “Little”, which she would later produce and star in. Now, Martin runs Genius Productions with her parents. She recently won 4 awards at the 2020 NAACP Image Awards. Click here to learn more.
14. Lia Neal
Brooklyn-native Lia Neal was the second Black female swimmer to race at the Olympics. At the 2012 London Games, Neal won a bronze medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay. At the 2016 Rio Games, she won a silver medal in the same event. Neal was the first Black woman to swim in an Olympic final. Neal attended Stanford, was the captain of the swim team and led her team to their first NCAA championship in 19 years. @lia_neal Click here to learn more.
15. Team Antigua
Elvira Bell, Christal Clashing, Samara Emmanuel, and Kevinia Francis rowed across the Atlantic and made history in two major ways. They are the first all-black team to row across the Atlantic and the first all-female team to represent the Carribean in the same race. Not only did these women complete the “toughest row in the world” but they also raised $150,000 for a shelter for abused and orphaned young women. The women trained relentlessly for nine months and Francis, the captain, even had to learn to swim! The women battled 30-foot waves and sleep deprivation while rowing two hours on and two hours off (around the clock!) for over a month straight. Click here to learn more.
16. Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens was the first American to win four track and field medals at a single Olympics. He broke this record in front of Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Games and held the record for 48 years. Owens was the most successful athlete of the games, proving to Nazis, in their face, that Aryans are not the superior race. Owens is known as one of the greatest and most famous track and field athletes ever. He set a record for the long jump event that was not broken for 25 years. Click here to learn more.
17. Robert Sengstacke Abbott
One of America’s first Black millionaires, born to formerly enslaved parents, began publishing the Chicago Defender in 1905. The paper heavily criticized racial injustice and at its height, readership was estimated at 500,000 people per week. Click here to learn more.
18. Dr. Charles Drew
Dr. Charles Drews’ inventions have saved countless lives. Earning a bachelor’s degree from Amherst, he later received his medical degree from McGill. He is principally known for developing methods for storing blood plasma in blood banks and directing blood plasma programs during World War II. Drew later resigned in protest after a court decision to segregate the blood of African-Americans. Click here to learn more.
19. Jean-Michel Basquiat
The most expensive American piece of art sold at an auction was “Untitled” by Jean-Michel Basquiat. It sold for $110.5 million dollars in 2017. Prior to his painting career, Basquiat first received notoriety as a graffiti artist under the name SAMO. He collaborated with Andy Warhol in the mid-1980s before his premature death in 1988, at the age of 27. Click here to learn more.
More Black History Month Content From Around The Web
Who started Black History Month?
https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black-history-month/
African Americans And The Vote
Every year, the Association For The Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) assigns a theme for Black History Month. This year, the theme is voting rights.
https://asalh.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2020Theme.pdf
50 Greatest Black Athletes
Check out this gorgeous interactive piece by the Undefeated and SurveyMonkey that highlights the 50 greatest Black athletes of all time. https://theundefeated.com/features/50-greatest-black-athletes/
We Have To Fix This
This blog by USRowing’s Patrick McNerney highlights the lack of diversity in our sport, talks about five Black Olympic rowers and names a few organizations that are working to make our sport more diverse.
https://usrowing.org/news/2018/2/1/17882_17882.aspx
28 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month
Written by the NAACP, this article lists 28 ways to celebrate this month.
https://naacp.org/latest/28-ways-celebrate-black-history-month/
