Arthur Ashe

President Reagan greets Arthur Ashe (left) in 1982
Country	United States
Residence	Richmond, Virginia
Born	July 10, 1943 Richmond, Virginia, USA
Died	February 6, 1993(1993-02-06) (aged 49) New York City, New York, USA
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg; 11 st)
Turned pro	1969
Retired	1980
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$1,584,909 (according to the ATP)
Int. Tennis HOF	1985 (member page)
Singles
Career record	818–260 (at Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	33
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1969)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (1970)
French Open	QF (1970, 1971)
Wimbledon	W (1975)
US Open	W (1968)
Doubles
Career record	323–176 (at Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	18 (14 according to the ATP)
Highest ranking	No. 15 (August 30, 1977)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (1977)
French Open	W (1971)
Wimbledon	F (1971)
US Open	F (1968)

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was a former World No. 1 professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States. Ashe, an African American, was the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open. He is also remembered for his efforts to further social causes.

Early life and tennis career[link]

Born in Gum Spring, Virginia, to parents Arthur Ashe Sr. and Mattie Cordell Cunningham Ashe, Arthur and his younger brother, Johnnie, suffered a tragic loss when their mother died suddenly from heart related complications during routine surgery. Arthur Ashe first attended Maggie L. Walker High School, being coached by Ronald Charity, and later coached by Robert Walter Johnson. Tired of having to travel great distances to play Caucasian youths in segregated Richmond, Ashe accepted an offer from a St. Louis tennis official to move there and attend Sumner High School.^[1] Young Ashe was recognized by Sports Illustrated for his playing.^[2]

Ashe was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963. That same year, Ashe became the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team.

In 1965, Ashe won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) singles title and contributed to UCLA's winning the team NCAA tennis championship. While at UCLA, Ashe was initiated as a member of the Upsilon chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Ashe was also a member of the UCLA Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after completing camp at Fort Lewis, Washington in the summer of 1966.^{[citation needed]}

The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, on the campus of UCLA

In 1968, Ashe won the United States Amateur Championships against Davis Cup Teammate Bob Lutz, and the inaugural US Open and aided the U.S Davis Cup team to victory. He is the only player to have won both of these amateur and open national championships in the same year.^[3] Concerned that tennis professionals were not receiving winnings commensurate with the sport's growing popularity, Ashe supported formation of the Association of Tennis Professionals. That year would prove even more momentous for Ashe when he was denied a visa by the South African government, thereby keeping him out of the South African Open. Ashe used this denial to publicize South Africa's apartheid policies. In the media, Ashe called for South Africa to be expelled from the professional tennis circuit.

In 1969, Ashe turned professional. In 1970, Ashe won his second Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open.

In 1975, Ashe won Wimbledon, defeating Jimmy Connors in the final. He also won the season ending championship WCT Finals. Arthur played for a few more years, but after being slowed by heart surgery in 1979, he retired in 1980.

Ashe remains the only black man to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open. He is one of only two men of black African ancestry to win a Grand Slam singles title, the other being France's metis Yannick Noah, who won the French Open in 1983.

In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, ranked Ashe as one of the 21 best players of all time.^[4]

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline[link]

¹The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.
A = did not participate in the tournament
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Activities after retirement from professional tennis[link]

After his retirement, Ashe took on many new tasks, including writing for Time magazine, commentating for ABC Sports, founding the National Junior Tennis League, and serving as captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team. In 1983, Ashe underwent a second heart surgery. He was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. He also founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS.^[5]

In 1988, Ashe published a three-volume book titled A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete,^[6] after working with a team of researchers for nearly six years.^[7]

Personal life[link]

Ashe served in the US Army from 1966–68, reaching the rank of first lieutenant. On February 20, 1977, Ashe married Jeanne Moutoussamy, a photographer he had met four months earlier. Andrew Young, the US ambassador to the UN, performed the ceremony at the UN chapel in New York City. Arthur and Jeanne adopted one child together, a daughter, who was born on December 21, 1986. She was named Camera after her mother's profession. Camera was only six years old when her father died.

In 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack, an event that surprised the public in view of his high level of fitness as an athlete. His condition drew attention to the hereditary aspect of heart disease. Ashe underwent a quadruple bypass operation, performed by Dr. John Hutchinson on December 13, 1979.^[8] A few months after the operation, Ashe was on the verge of making his return to professional tennis. However, during a family trip in Cairo, Egypt, he developed chest pain while running. Ashe stopped running and returned to see physician and close friend Douglas Stein, who had accompanied the family on the trip. Stein urged Ashe to return to New York City so he could be close to his cardiologist and surgeon.^[8]

Ashe promoting heart health after his heart attack.

In 1983, Ashe underwent a second round of heart surgery to correct the bypass surgery he received back in 1979. In 1988, Ashe fell ill and discovered he had contracted HIV during the blood transfusions he had received during his second heart surgery, which ultimately led to his death. He and his wife kept his illness private until April 8, 1992, when reports that the newspaper USA Today was about to publish a story about his health condition because of his increasingly gaunt physical appearance forced him to make a public announcement that he had the disease.^[9] In the last year of his life, Ashe did much to call attention to AIDS sufferers worldwide. Two months before his death, he founded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to help address issues of inadequate health care delivery and was named Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year. He also spent much of the last years of his life writing his memoir Days of Grace, finishing the manuscript less than a week before his death. Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia on February 6, 1993.^[10] Ashe is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. His wife continues on with civil rights activism, most recently contributing a video to New Yorkers for marriage equality.

Civil rights leader[link]

Ashe, the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam event, was an active civil rights supporter. He was a member of a delegation of 31 prominent African-Americans who visited South Africa to observe political change in the country as it approached racial integration.

He was arrested on January 11, 1985, for protesting outside the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. during an anti-apartheid rally. He was also arrested again on September 9, 1992, outside the White House for protesting on the recent crackdown on Haitian refugees.

Honors[link]

The Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2007 US Open

• In 1979, Arthur Ashe was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. In commenting on his induction, the Hall noted that, ”Arthur Ashe was certainly a hero to people of all ages and races, and his legacy continues to touch the lives of many today. For Arthur Ashe, tennis was a means to an end. Although he had a lucrative tennis career, it was always more than personal glory and individual accolades. He used his status as an elite tennis player to speak out against the moral inequalities that existed both in and out of the tennis world. Ashe sincerely wanted to bring about change in the world. What made him stand out was that he became a world champion along the way.”^[11]
• In 1985, Ashe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
• After his death, Arthur Ashe's body lay in state at the governor's mansion in his home state of Virginia. The last time this was allowed was for Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
• The city of Richmond posthumously honored Ashe's life with a statue on Monument Avenue, a place traditionally reserved for statues of key figures of the Confederacy. This decision led to some controversy in a city that was the capital of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.^[12]
• In 1993, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
• The main stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, where the US Open is played, is named Arthur Ashe Stadium in his honor. This is also the home of the annual Arthur Ashe Kids' Day.
• In 2002, Ashe's achievement at Wimbledon in 1975 was voted 95th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
• In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Arthur Ashe on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.^[13]
• In 2005, the United States Postal Service announced the release of an Arthur Ashe commemorative postal stamp, the first stamp ever to feature the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine.
• Also in 2005, TENNIS Magazine put him in 30th place in their list of the 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS Era.^[14]
• His wife wrote a book, Daddy and Me, a photographic journey told from the perspective of his young daughter. Another book, Arthur Ashe and Me, also gives young readers a chance to learn about his life.
• ESPN's annual sports awards, the ESPY Awards, hands out the Arthur Ashe for Courage Award to a member of the sports world who best exhibits courage in the face of adversity.
• Philadelphia's Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center and Richmond's Arthur Ashe Athletic Center are named for Ashe.
• The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center at Ashe's alma mater, UCLA, is named for him. The center opened in 1997.
• He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1983.^[15]
• He was mentioned in the 30 rock episode Generalissimo in Season 3 when Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) talks about being offered serious roles and losing his audience, and holds up a screenplay while saying, "Do you really want to see me play Arthur Ashe?!?"

Schools[link]

Grand Slam finals[link]

Singles: 7 finals (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1966	Australian Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	4–6, 8–6, 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	1967	Australian Championships	Grass	Roy Emerson	4–6, 1–6, 4–6
Winner	1968	US Open	Grass	Tom Okker	14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	1970	Australian Open	Grass	Dick Crealy	6–4, 9–7, 6–2
Runner-up	1971	Australian Open	Grass	Ken Rosewall	1–6, 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	1972	US Open	Grass	Ilie Năstase	6–3, 3–6, 7–6(5–1), 4–6, 3–6
Winner	1975	Wimbledon	Grass	Jimmy Connors	6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 6–4

Doubles, 5 finals (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-Up	1968	US Open	Grass	Andrés Gimeno	Bob Lutz Stan Smith	11–9, 6–1, 7–5
Runner-Up	1970	French Open	Clay	Charlie Pasarell	Ilie Năstase Ion Ţiriac	6–2, 6–4, 6–3
Winner	1971	French Open	Clay	Marty Riessen	Tom Gorman Stan Smith	6–8, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 11–9
Runner-Up	1971	Wimbledon	Grass	Dennis Ralston	Roy Emerson Rod Laver	4–6, 9–7, 6–8, 6–4, 6–4
Winner	1977 (Jan)	Australian Open	Grass	Tony Roche	Charlie Pasarell Erik Van Dillen	6–4, 6–4

Grand Slam, Grand Prix and WCT Tour titles (33)[link]

Singles[link]

1.	August 1, 1968	U.S. Amateur Championships, Boston MA, USA	Grass	Robert Lutz	4–6, 6–3, 8–10, 6–0, 6–4
2.	August 29, 1968	US Open, New York City, USA	Grass	Tom Okker	14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
3.	January 19, 1970	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Grass	Dick Crealy	6–4, 9–7, 6–2
4.	1970	Berkeley, California
5.	1970	Paris, France
6.	1971	Charlotte, USA
7.	1971	Paris, France
8.	1971	Stockholm, Sweden

• 1972 – Louisville WCT, Montreal WCT, Rome WCT, Rotterdam WCT
• 1973 – Chicago WCT, Washington
• 1974 – Barcelona WCT, Bologna WCT, Stockholm
• 1975 – Barcelona WCT, WCT Finals, Los Angeles, Munich WCT, Rotterdam WCT, San Francisco, Stockholm – WCT, Wimbledon
• 1976 – Columbus WCT, Indianapolis WCT, Richmond WCT, Rome WCT, Rotterdam WCT
• 1978 – Colombus, Los Angeles, San Jose

Video[link]

• Wimbledon 1975 Final: Ashe vs. Connors Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007, Run Time: 120 minutes, ASIN: B000V02CTQ.

See also[link]

Tennis portal

• Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, NY
• Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, Richmond, VA
• Arthur Ashe Courage Award
• Arthur Ashe Kids' Day
• Levels of the Game, a 1969 book by John McPhee, exploring the 1968 U.S. Open semifinal match between Clark Graebner and Arthur Ashe

Further reading[link]

Books by Arthur Ashe.

• Ashe, Arthur; Clifford George Gewecke (1967). Advantage Ashe. University of Michigan: Coward-McCann. p. 192. http://books.google.com/books?id=UcqBAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved September 9, 2009. 
• Ashe, Arthur; Neil Amdur (1981). Off the court. New American Library. p. 230. ISBN 0-453-00400-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved September 9, 2009. 
• Ashe, Arthur; Rampersad, Arnold (1993). Days of Grace: A Memoir. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-42396-6. 
• Ashe, Arthur (1993). A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete. New York, NY: Amistad. ISBN 1-56743-006-6, 1567430074, 1567430082. http://lccn.loc.gov/93007395. 

Books about Arthur Ashe, by date published.

• Robinson, Louie (1969). Arthur Ashe: tennis champion. Washington Square Press. p. 135. ISBN 0-671-29278-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=LqRPAAAACAAJ&dq=arthur+ashe&ei=kW6oSuXTIIPYNc_P6K4K. Retrieved September 9, 2009. 
• Deford, Frank; Ashe, Arthur (1975). Arthur Ashe: Portrait in Motion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-20429-1. 
• Weissberg, Ted; Coretta Scott King (1991). Arthur Ashe—tennis great. Demco Media. p. 109. ISBN 0-7910-1115-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=wi-CNgAACAAJ. Retrieved September 9, 2009. 
• Collins, David (1994). Arthur Ashe: against the wind. Dillon Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-87518-647-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=wgeSAAAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved September 9, 2009. 
• Towle, Mike (2001). I Remember Arthur Ashe: Memories of a True Tennis Pioneer and Champion of Social Causes by the People Who Knew Him. Cumberland House Publishing. ISBN 1-58182-149-2. 
• Steins, Richard (2005). Arthur Ashe:a biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 103. ISBN 0-313-33299-1. 
• Mantell, Paul (2006). Arthur Ashe: Young Tennis Champion. Simon and Schuster. p. 224. ISBN 0-689-87346-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=TOgIQMjFE8QC&dq=arthur+ashe+school. 
• Henderson Jr., Douglas (2010). Endeavor to Persevere: A Memoir on Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Tennis and Life [Kindle Edition]. Untreed Readsurl=http://www.amazon.com/Endeavor-Persevere-Memoir-Connors-ebook/dp/B004EYTBHG. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arthur Ashe

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Arthur Ashe

• Arthur Ashe Learning Center (AALC) Website
• Sign Up for Arthur Ashe Learning Center (AALC) Newsletter
• Official Arthur Ashe website
• Arthur Ashe at the Association of Tennis Professionals

• Arthur Ashe at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Sports Illustrated Arthur Ashe tribute website
• Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health
• FBI files—Arthur Ashe is mentioned within six references of records maintained within FBIHQ main files concerning the Black Panther Party, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the Revolutionary Union and two newspaper articles.
• The Game – My 40 Years in Tennis (1979) — Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)
• Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Manayunk, PA
• Finn, Robin. "Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star, Is Dead at 49," The New York Times, February 8, 1993.
• UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center
• The short film Arthur Claims the Gold (1975) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

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Cliff Richey

Country	United States
Residence	San Angelo, Texas, USA
Born	(1946-12-31) December 31, 1946 (age 65) San Angelo, Texas, USA
Height	5'9" (175 cm)
Weight	170 lbs (77 kg)
Turned pro	1964
Retired	1979
Plays	Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Singles
Career record	354-186
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 7 (1970)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (1967)
French Open	SF (1970)
Wimbledon	QF (1971)
US Open	SF (1970, 1972)
Doubles
Career record	62-100
Career titles	1
Last updated on: 13 May 2012.

Cliff Richey (born December 31, 1946 in San Angelo, Texas) played amateur and professional tennis in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the brother of fellow player Nancy Richey.^[1]

Richey was a member of the American team which won the 1970 Davis Cup, and was voted the most valuable player.^[2] Bud Collins' tennis encyclopedia lists Richey's career-high singles ranking as World No. 7, achieved in 1970.

Career highlights[link]

• Number one ranked professional tennis player in the United States (1970)
• Most Valuable Player on the victorious Davis Cup national team (1970)
• 2 time Davis Cup Champion (1969) (1970)
• Won the first World Point Title (Pepsi-Cola Grand Prix) (1970)
• 45 tournament titles over the span of a 26-year career (1964–92) including:
  • Canadian Open (1969)^[3]
  • South African Open (1972)
  • U.S.Indoors (1968)
  • U.S.Claycourts (1966, 1970)
  • South American Championships (1966, 1967)
  • Western Open (1965, 1966, 1969)
  • Legends Senior Tour Championships (1983)
  • CBS Tennis Classic (1974)
• U.S. Open semifinalist (1970, 1972)
• French Open Semifinalist (1970)
• Founding member, Association of Tennis Professionals (1972)

PERSONAL LIFE:

GOLF HIGHLIGHTS

• Founding member, Celebrity Players' Tour (1997)
• Played celebrity golf tour for 15 years (1992–2007)
• Won tour events in Jamaica (2004) and Baltimore (2006)
• Scratch golfer(74.5 career stroke average; career best round 63)

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FUNDRAISING/ACTIVISM

• Cliff organized tennis and golf tournaments to benefit charities:
• Angelo Catholic School (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990)
• James Phillips Williams Memorial [Dyslexia] Foundation (1991, 1992, 1993)
• Mental Health/Mental Retardation (1999)
• United Way (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
• Nominated for Frank M. Adams Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service (2000)

PUBLIC LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS

• Keynote presentation, Texas state convention for executive directors of MHMR (2000)
• Community legislative forums (1999, 2000)
• Invited lectures to college campuses and psychology classes (2006, 2007, 2008)
• Keynote address, MHMR banquet (Palestine, TX, 2000)
• 2010 Mental Health America/TX Boots, Bells, and Hearts award
• 2010 Texas Council of MHMR's Annual Conference, Keynote Speaker, Woodlands TX.
• 2010 NAMI National Convention, Breakfast Presentation
• Fourteen city speaking/book tour with new book Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion's Toughest Match, 2010 (available Amazon.com)
• 2010 Lecture at the Grand Rounds, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University to Faculty and trainees
• 2010 Keynote speaker Montana State Convention on Mental Illness, Billings, Montana

Works[link]

• Richey, Cliff; Kallendorf, Hilaire Richey; Connors, Jimmy (2010-04-01). Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion's Toughest Match. New Chapter Press. ISBN 978-0-942257-66-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=F6UcQgAACAAJ. 

References[link]

African American

Frederick Douglass · Barack Obama · Rosa Parks Condoleezza Rice · M. L. King, Jr. · Beyoncé Knowles Malcolm X · Oprah Winfrey · Booker T. Washington Michael Jordan · Harriet Tubman · Muhammad Ali
Total population
African American 42,020,743[1] (13.6% of the US population)
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in the Southern United States and in urban areas within the country
Languages
American English · African American Vernacular English · Gullah language
Religion
Predominantly Protestant; also Roman Catholic, Muslim and agnostic
Related ethnic groups
Other Afro-American peoples of the Americas (especially Anglophones) Americo-Liberians · Sierra Leone Creole people Black Nova Scotians, Foreign-born Afro-Americans, Afro-Latin American view talk edit

African Americans^[2] (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States that have ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa.^[3]

African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States.^[4] Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States.^[5][6] However, some immigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations, or their descendants, may be identified or self-identify with the term.^[3]

African-American history starts in the 16th century with African slaves who quickly rose up against the Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón and progresses to the present day, with Barack Obama as the 44th and current President of the United States. Between those landmarks there have been events and issues, both resolved and ongoing, including slavery, racism, Reconstruction, development of the African-American community, participation in the great military conflicts of the United States, racial segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.

History[link]

Slavery era[link]

The first African slaves arrived in the present-day United States as part of the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526. The ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic and the colony was abandoned, leaving the escaped slaves behind on North American soil.

In 1565, the colony of Saint Augustine in Florida, founded by Pedro Menendez de Aviles, became the first permanent European settlement in North America. It included an unknown number of free and enslaved Africans that were part of this colonial expedition.

The first recorded Africans in British North America (including most of the future United States) arrived in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia. As English settlers died from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought to work as laborers. The Africans were likely treated as indentured servants, similar in legal position to poor English indenturees, who traded several years labor in exchange for passage to America.^[7] Africans could legally raise crops and cattle to purchase their freedom.^[8] They raised families, marrying other Africans and sometimes intermarrying with Native Americans or English settlers.^[9] By the 1640s and 1650s, several African families owned farms around Jamestown and some became wealthy by colonial standards.

An artist's conception of Crispus Attucks (1723–1770), the first "martyr" of the American Revolution.

The popular conception of a race-based slave system did not fully develop until the 18th century. The Dutch West India Company introduced slavery in 1625 with the importation of eleven black slaves into New Amsterdam (present-day New York City). All the colony's slaves, however, were freed upon its surrender to the British.^[10] Massachusetts was the first British colony to legally recognize slavery in 1641. It was not until 1662 that Virginia ruled that a slave mother's children would remain slaves.^[11]

The first black congregations and churches were organized before 1800 in both northern and southern cities following the Great Awakening. By 1775, Africans made up 20% of the population in the American colonies, which made them the second largest ethnic group after the English.^[12] During the 1770s, Africans, both enslaved and free, helped rebellious English colonists secure American Independence by defeating the British in the American Revolution.^[13] Africans and Englishmen fought side by side and were fully integrated.^[14] James Armistead, an African American, played a large part in making possible the 1781 Yorktown victory, which established the United States as an independent nation.^[15] Other prominent African Americans were Prince Whipple and Oliver Cromwell, who are both depicted in the front of the boat in George Washington's famous 1776 Crossing the Delaware portrait.

By 1860, there were 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the United States due to the Atlantic slave trade, and another 500,000 African Americans lived free across the country.^[16] In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation declared that all slaves in states which had seceded from the Union were free.^[17] Advancing Union troops enforced the proclamation with Texas being the last state to be emancipated in 1865.^[18]

Reconstruction and Jim Crow[link]

Jesse Owens shook racial stereotypes both with Nazis and segregationists in the USA at the 1936 Berlin olympics.

African Americans quickly set up congregations for themselves, as well as schools, community and civic associations, to have space away from white control or oversight. While the post-war reconstruction era was initially a time of progress for African Americans, in the late 1890s, Southern states enacted Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation and disenfranchisement.^[19] Most African Americans followed the Jim Crow laws, using a mask of compliance to prevent becoming victims of racially motivated violence. To maintain self-esteem and dignity, African Americans such as Anthony Overton and Mary McLeod Bethune continued to build their own schools, churches, banks, social clubs, and other businesses.^[20]

In the last decade of the 19th century, racially discriminatory laws and racial violence aimed at African Americans began to mushroom in the United States. These discriminatory acts included racial segregation—upheld by the United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896^[21]—which was legally mandated by southern states and nationwide at the local level of government, voter suppression or disenfranchisement in the southern states, denial of economic opportunity or resources nationwide, and private acts of violence and mass racial violence aimed at African Americans unhindered or encouraged by government authorities.

Great Migration and Civil Rights Movement[link]

The desperate conditions of African Americans in the South that sparked the Great Migration of the early 20th century,^[22] combined with a growing African American community in the Northern United States, led to a movement to fight violence and discrimination against African Americans that, like abolitionism before it, crossed racial lines. The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968 was directed at abolishing racial discrimination against African Americans, particularly in the Southern United States. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the conditions which brought it into being are credited with putting pressure on President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

An African American boy outside of Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1940s

March on Washington, August 28, 1963, shows civil rights and union leaders

Johnson put his support behind passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labor unions, and the Voting Rights Act (1965), which expanded federal authority over states to ensure black political participation through protection of voter registration and elections. By 1966, the emergence of the Black Power movement, which lasted from 1966 to 1975, expanded upon the aims of the Civil Rights Movement to include economic and political self-sufficiency, and freedom from white authority.^[23]

Post-Civil Rights era[link]

Politically and economically, blacks have made substantial strides during the post-civil rights era. In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African-American elected governor in U.S. history. There is currently one black governor; governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. Clarence Thomas became the second African-American Supreme Court Justice. In 1992 Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. There were 8,936 black officeholders in the United States in 2000, showing a net increase of 7,467 since 1970. In 2001 there were 484 black mayors.

On November 4, 2008, Democratic Senator Barack Obama defeated Republican Senator John McCain to become the first African American to be elected President. At least 95 percent of African-American voters voted for Obama.^[24][25] He also received overwhelming support from young and educated whites, a majority of Asians, Hispanics,^[26] and Native Americans^{[27][not in citation given]} picking up a number of new states in the Democratic electoral column.^[24][25] Obama lost the overall white vote, although he won a larger proportion of white votes than any previous nonincumbent Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter.^[28] The following year Michael S. Steele was elected the first African-American chairman of the national Republican Party.^[29]

Demographics[link]

African Americans as a percentage of total population, 2000.

In 1790, when the first U.S. Census was taken, Africans (including slaves and free people) numbered about 760,000—about 19.3% of the population. In 1860, at the start of the Civil War, the African American population had increased to 4.4 million, but the percentage rate dropped to 14% of the overall population of the country. The vast majority were slaves, with only 488,000 counted as "freemen". By 1900, the black population had doubled and reached 8.8 million. In 1910, about 90% of African Americans lived in the South, but large numbers began migrating north looking for better job opportunities and living conditions, and to escape Jim Crow laws and racial violence. The Great Migration, as it was called, spanned the 1890s to the 1970s. From 1916 through the 1960s, more than 6 million black people moved north. But in the 1970s and 1980s, that trend reversed, with more African Americans moving south to the Sun Belt than leaving it.

The following table of the African American population in the United States over time shows that the African American population, as a percentage of the total population, declined until 1930 and has been rising since then.

By 1990, the African American population reached about 30 million and represented 12% of the U.S. population, roughly the same proportion as in 1900.^[31] In 2010, 38.9 million Americans identified as "Black or African American," representing 12.6% of the population. Controversy has surrounded the "accurate" population count of African Americans for decades. The NAACP believed it was under counted intentionally to minimize the significance of the black population in order to reduce their political power base^{[citation needed]}.

At the time of the 2000 Census, 54.8% of African Americans lived in the South. In that year, 17.6% of African Americans lived in the Northeast and 18.7% in the Midwest, while only 8.9% lived in the western states. The west does have a sizable black population in certain areas, however. California, the nation's most populous state, has the fifth largest African American population, only behind New York, Texas, Georgia, and Florida. According to the 2000 Census, approximately 2.05% of African Americans identified as Hispanic or Latino in origin,^[4] many of whom may be of Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Haitian, or other Latin American descent. The only self-reported ancestral groups larger than African Americans are the Irish and Germans.^[32] Because many African Americans trace their ancestry to colonial American origins, some simply self-identify as "American".^{[citation needed]}

U.S. cities[link]

Almost 58% of African Americans lived in metropolitan areas in 2000. With over 2 million black residents, New York City had the largest black urban population in the United States in 2000, overall the city has a 28% black population. Chicago has the second largest black population, with almost 1.6 million African Americans in its metropolitan area, representing about 18 percent of the total metropolitan population.

Among cities of 100,000 or more, Detroit, Michigan had the highest percentage of black residents of any U.S. city in 2010, with 82%. Other large cities with African American majorities include New Orleans, Louisiana (60%), Baltimore, Maryland (63%) Atlanta, Georgia (54%), Memphis, Tennessee (61%), and Washington, D.C. (50.7%).

The nation's most affluent county with an African American majority is Prince George's County, Maryland, with a median income of $62,467. Within that county, among the wealthiest communities are Glenn Dale, Maryland and Fort Washington, Maryland. Other affluent predominantly African American counties include Dekalb County in Georgia, and Charles City County in Virginia. Queens County, New York is the only county with a population of 65,000 or more where African Americans have a higher median household income than White Americans.^[33]

Education[link]

Charles F. Bolden, Jr. is the current Administrator of NASA

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist

By 2000, African Americans had advanced greatly. They still lagged overall in education attainment compared to white or Asian Americans, with 14 percent with four year and 5 percent with advanced degrees, though it was higher than for other minorities.^[34] African Americans attend college at about half the rate of whites, but at a greater rate than Americans of Hispanic origin. More African American women attend and complete college than men. Black schools for kindergarten through twelfth grade students were common throughout the U.S., and a pattern towards re-segregation is currently occurring across the country.^[35]

Historically black colleges and universities remain today which were originally set up when segregated colleges did not admit African Americans. As late as 1947, about one third of African Americans over 65 were considered to lack the literacy to read and write their own names. By 1969, illiteracy as it had been traditionally defined, had been largely eradicated among younger African Americans.^[36]

US Census surveys showed that by 1998, 89 percent of African Americans aged 25 to 29 had completed high school, less than whites or Asians, but more than Hispanics. On many college entrance, standardized tests and grades, African Americans have historically lagged behind whites, but some studies suggest that the achievement gap has been closing. Many policy makers have proposed that this gap can and will be eliminated through policies such as affirmative action, desegregation, and multiculturalism.^[37]

In Chicago, Marva Collins, an African American educator, created a low cost private school specifically for the purpose of teaching low-income African American children whom the public school system had labeled as being "learning disabled".^[38] One article about Marva Collins' school stated,

Working with students having the worst of backgrounds, those who were working far below grade level, and even those who had been labeled as 'unteachable,' Marva was able to overcome the obstacles. News of third grade students reading at ninth grade level, four-year-olds learning to read in only a few months, outstanding test scores, disappearance of behavioral problems, second-graders studying Shakespeare, and other incredible reports, astounded the public.^[39]

During the 2006–2007 school year, Collins' school charged $5,500 for tuition, and parents said that the school did a much better job than the Chicago public school system.^[40] Meanwhile, during the 2007–2008 year, Chicago public school officials claimed that their budget of $11,300 per student was not enough.^[41]

Economic status[link]

Economically, African Americans have benefited from the advances made during the Civil Rights era, particularly among the educated, but not without the lingering effects of historical marginalization when considered as a whole. The racial disparity in poverty rates has narrowed. The black middle class has grown substantially. In 2010, 45% of Africa-Americans owned their homes, compared to 67% of all Americans.^[42] The poverty rate among African Americans has decreased from 26.5% in 1998 to 24.7% in 2004, compared to 12.7% for all Americans.^[43] African Americans have a combined buying power of over $892 billion currently and likely over $1.1 trillion by 2012.^[44][45] In 2002, African American-owned businesses accounted for 1.2 million of the US's 23 million businesses.^[46] As of 2011 African American-owned business account for approximately 2 million US businesses.^[47] Black-owned businesses experienced the largest growth in number of businesses among minorities from 2002 to 2011.^[47]

Oprah Winfrey, the wealthiest African American of the 20th century.^[48][49][50] A pair of economists estimate that Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama delivered one million votes for him in the close 2008 Democratic primaries.^[51]

In 2004, African American men had the third-highest earnings of American minority groups after Asian Americans and non-Hispanic whites.^[52]

Twenty-five percent of blacks had white-collar occupations (management, professional, and related fields) in 2000, compared with 33.6% of Americans overall.^[53][54] In 2001, over half of African American households of married couples earned $50,000 or more.^[54] Although in the same year African Americans were over-represented among the nation's poor, this was directly related to the disproportionate percentage of African American families headed by single women; such families are collectively poorer, regardless of ethnicity.^[54]

By 2006, gender continued to be the primary factor in income level, with the median earnings of African American men more than those black and non-black American women overall and in all educational levels.^{[55][56][57][58][59]} At the same time, among American men, income disparities were significant; the median income of African American men was approximately 76 cents for every dollar of their European American counterparts, although the gap narrowed somewhat with a rise in educational level.^[55][60]

Overall, the median earnings of African American men were 72 cents for every dollar earned of their Asian American counterparts, and $1.17 for every dollar earned by Hispanic men.^[55][58][61] On the other hand by 2006, among American women with post-secondary education, African American women have made significant advances; the median income of African American women was more than those of their Asian-, European- and Hispanic American counterparts with at least some college education.^[56][57][62]

African Americans are still underrepresented in government and employment. In 1999, the median income of African American families was $33,255 compared to $53,356 of European Americans. In times of economic hardship for the nation, African Americans suffer disproportionately from job loss and underemployment, with the black underclass being hardest hit. The phrase "last hired and first fired" is reflected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment figures. Nationwide, the October 2008 unemployment rate for African Americans was 11.1%,^[63] while the nationwide rate was 6.5%.^[64]

The income gap between black and white families is also significant. In 2005, employed blacks earned only 65% of the wages of whites, down from 82% in 1975.^[43] The New York Times reported in 2006 that in Queens, New York, the median income among African American families exceeded that of white families, which the newspaper attributed to the growth in the number of two-parent black families. It noted that Queens was the only county with more than 65,000 residents where that was true.^[33]

In 1999, the rate of births to unwed African American mothers was estimated by economist Walter E. Williams of George Mason University to be 70%.^[65] The poverty rate among single-parent black families was 39.5% in 2005, according to Williams, while it was 9.9% among married-couple black families. Among white families, the comparable rates were 26.4% and 6%.^[66]

According to Forbes magazine's "wealthiest American" lists, a 2000 net worth of $800 million dollars made Oprah Winfrey the richest African American of the 20th century; by contrast, the net worth of the 20th century's richest American, Bill Gates, who is of European descent, briefly hit $100 billion in 1999. In Forbes' 2007 list, Gates' net worth decreased to $59 billion while Winfrey's increased to $2.5 billion,^[67] making her the world's richest black person.^[49][68] Winfrey is also the first African American to make Business Week's annual list of America's 50 greatest philanthropists.^[69] BET founder Bob Johnson was also listed as a billionaire prior to an expensive divorce and as of 2009, had an estimated net worth of $550 million.^[70] Winfrey remains the only African American wealthy enough to rank among the country's 400 richest people.^[67] Some black entrepreneurs use their wealth to create new avenues for both African Americans and new opportunities for American business in general. Examples such as Tyler Perry who created new filming studios in Atlanta, Georgia which makes it possible to film movies and television shows outside of California.^[71]

Religion[link]

Religious affiliation of African Americans

Mount Zion United Methodist Church is the oldest African American congregation in Washington, D.C.

Malcolm Shabazz Mosque in Harlem, New York City

The majority of African Americans are Protestant of whom many follow the historically black churches.^[72] Black church refers to churches which minister predominantly African American congregations. Black congregations were first established by freed slaves at the end of the 17th century, and later when slavery was abolished more African Americans were allowed to create a unique form of Christianity that was culturally influenced by African spiritual traditions.^[73]

According to a 2007 survey, more than half of the African American population are part of the historically black churches.^[74] The largest Protestant denomination among African Americans are the Baptists,^[75] distributed mainly in four denominations, the largest being the National Baptist Convention, USA and the National Baptist Convention of America.^[76] The second largest are the Methodists,^[77] the largest sects are the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.^[76][78] Pentecostals are distributed among several different religious bodies with the Church of God in Christ as the largest among them by far.^[76] About 16% of African American Christians are members of white Protestant communions,^[77] these denominations (which include the United Church of Christ) mostly have a 2 to 3% African American membership.^[79] There are also large numbers of Roman Catholics, constituting 5% of the African American population.^[74] Of the total number of Jehovah's Witnesses, 22% are black.^[72]

Some African Americans follow Islam. Historically, between 15 to 30% of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas were Muslims, but most of these Africans were converted to Christianity during the era of American slavery.^[80] However during the 20th century, some African Americans converted to Islam, mainly through the influence of black nationalist groups that preached with distinctive Islamic practices; these include the Moorish Science Temple of America, though the largest organization was the Nation of Islam, founded during the 1930s, which attracted at least 20,000 people as of 1963,^[81][82] prominent members included activist Malcolm X and boxer Muhammad Ali.^[83]

Malcolm X is considered the first person to start the movement among African Americans towards mainstream Islam, after he left the Nation and made the pilgrimage to Mecca.^[84] In 1975, Warith Deen Mohammed, the son of Elijah Muhammad who took control of the Nation after his death, guided majority of its members to orthodox Islam.^[85] However, few members rejected these changes, in particular Louis Farrakhan, who revived the Nation of Islam in 1978 based on its original teachings.

African American Muslims constitute 20% of the total U.S. Muslim population,^[86] the majority are Sunni or orthodox Muslims, some of these identify under the community of W. Deen Mohammed.^[87][88] The Nation of Islam led by Louis Farrakhan has a membership from 20,000—50,000 members.^[89]

There are relatively few African American Jews; estimates of their number range from 20,000^[90] to 200,000.^[91] Most of these Jews are part of mainstream groups such as the Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox branches of Judaism; although there are significant numbers of people who are part of non-mainstream Jewish groups, largely the Black Hebrew Israelites, whose beliefs include the claim that African Americans are descended from the Biblical Israelites.^[92]

Contemporary issues[link]

African Americans have improved their social and economic standing significantly since the Civil Rights Movement and recent decades have witnessed the expansion of a robust, African American middle class across the United States. Unprecedented access to higher education and employment in addition to representation in the highest levels of American government has been gained by African Americans in the post-civil rights era.

Nevertheless, due in part to the legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination, African Americans as a group remain at a pronounced economic, educational and social disadvantage in many areas relative to European Americans. Persistent social, economic and political issues for many African Americans include inadequate health care access and delivery; institutional racism and discrimination in housing, education, policing, criminal justice and employment; crime, poverty and substance abuse.^{[citation needed]}

One of the most serious and long standing issues within African American communities is poverty. Poverty itself is a hardship as it is related to marital stress and dissolution, health problems, low educational attainment, deficits in psychological functioning, and crime.^[93] In 2004, 24.7% of African American families lived below the poverty level.^[43] In 2007, the average African American income was $33,916, compared with $54,920 for whites.^[94]

Politics and social issues[link]

President Barack Obama at White House Easter Egg Roll.

Collectively, African Americans are more involved in the American political process than other minority groups in the United States, indicated by the highest level of voter registration and participation in elections among these groups in 2004.^[95] African Americans collectively attain higher levels of education than immigrants to the United States.^[95] African Americans also have the highest level of Congressional representation of any minority group in the U.S.^[96]

The large majority of African Americans support the Democratic Party. In the 2004 Presidential Election, Democrat John Kerry received 88% of the African American vote compared to 11% for Republican George W. Bush.^[97] Although there is an African-American lobby in foreign policy, it has not had the impact that African American organizations have had in domestic policy.^[98]

Historically, African Americans were supporters of the Republican Party because it was Republican President Abraham Lincoln who helped in granting freedom to American slaves; at the time, the Republicans and Democrats represented the sectional interests of the North and South, respectively, rather than any specific ideology, and both right and left were represented equally in both parties.

The African American trend of voting for Democrats can be traced back to the 1930s during the Great Depression, when Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program provided economic relief to African Americans; Roosevelt's New Deal coalition turned the Democratic Party into an organization of the working class and their liberal allies, regardless of region. The African American vote became even more solidly Democratic when Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson pushed for civil rights legislation during the 1960s.

After over 50 years, marriage rates for all Americans began to decline while divorce rates and out-of-wedlock births have climbed.^[99] These changes have been greatest among African Americans. After more than 70 years of racial parity black marriage rates began to fall behind whites.^[99] Single-parent households have become common, and according to US census figures released in January 2010, only 38 percent of black children live with both their parents.^[100] Despite that and heavy Democratic leanings, African Americans favor "traditional American values" about family and marriage.

While 52% of Democrats support same-sex marriage, only 30% of black Democrats do. In 2008, though Democrats overwhelmingly voted (64%) against the California ballot proposition banning gay marriage, blacks overwhelmingly approved (70% in favor) it, more than any other racial group.^[101] The high-profile candidacy of Barack Obama is credited with increasing black turnout on the bill which has been seen as the crucial difference in its passing.^[102]

Blacks also hold far more conservative opinions on abortion, extramarital sex, and raising children out of wedlock than Democrats as a whole.^[102] On financial issues, however, African Americans are very much in line with Democrats, generally supporting a more progressive tax structure to provide more services and reduce injustice and as well as more government spending on social services.^[103]

News media and coverage[link]

BET founder Robert L. Johnson with former U.S. President George W. Bush

Some activists and academics contend that news media coverage of African American news concerns or dilemmas is inadequate^{[104][105][106]} or the news media present distorted images of African Americans.^[107] To combat this, Robert L. Johnson founded Black Entertainment Television, a network that targets young African Americans and urban audiences in the United States. Most programming on the network consists of rap and R&B music videos and urban-oriented movies and series. The channel also shows syndicated television series, original programs, and some public affairs programs. On Sunday mornings, BET broadcasts a lineup of network-produced Christian programming; other, non-affiliated Christian programs are also shown during the early morning hours daily. BET is now a global network that reaches 85 million viewers in the Caribbean, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[108]

In addition to BET there is Centric, which is a spin-off cable television channel of BET, created originally as BET on Jazz to showcase jazz music-related programming, especially that of black jazz musicians. Programming has been expanded to include a block of urban programs as well as some R&B, neo soul, and alternative hip hop, with the focus on jazz reduced to low-profile hours.^[109]

TV One is another African American-oriented network and a direct competitor to BET, targeting African American adults with a broad range of programming. The network airs original lifestyle and entertainment-oriented shows, movies, fashion and music programming, as well as classic series such as 227, Good Times, Martin, Boston Public and It's Showtime at the Apollo. The network primarily owned by Radio One. Founded and controlled by Catherine Hughes, it is one of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies and the largest African American-owned radio broadcasting company in the United States.^[110]

Other African American networks scheduled to launch in 2009 are the Black Television News Channel founded by former Congressman J. C. Watts and Better Black Television founded by Percy Miller.^[111][112] In June 2009, NBC News launched a new website named The Grio^[113] in partnership with the production team that created the black documentary film, Meeting David Wilson. It is the first African American video news site which focuses on underrepresented stories in existing national news. The Grio consists of a broad spectrum of original video packages, news articles, and contributor blogs on topics including breaking news, politics, health, business, entertainment and Black History.^[114]

Cultural influence in the United States[link]

The King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra photographed in Houston, Texas, January 1921

From their earliest presence in North America, African Americans have contributed literature, art, agricultural skills, foods, clothing styles, music, language, social and technological innovation to American culture. The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the U.S., such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton, can be traced to African and African American influences. Notable examples include George Washington Carver, who created 300 products from peanuts, 118 products from sweet potatoes, and 75 from pecans; and George Crum, who invented the potato chip in 1853.^[115]

African American music is one of the most pervasive African American cultural influences in the United States today and is among the most dominant in mainstream popular music. Hip hop, R&B, funk, rock and roll, soul, blues, and other contemporary American musical forms originated in black communities and evolved from other black forms of music, including blues, doo-wop, barbershop, ragtime, bluegrass, jazz, and gospel music.

African American-derived musical forms have also influenced and been incorporated into virtually every other popular musical genre in the world, including country and techno. African American genres are the most important ethnic vernacular tradition in America, as they have developed independent of African traditions from which they arise more so than any other immigrant groups, including Europeans; make up the broadest and longest lasting range of styles in America; and have, historically, been more influential, interculturally, geographically, and economically, than other American vernacular traditions.^[116]

African Americans have also had an important role in American dance. Bill T. Jones, a prominent modern choreographer and dancer, has included historical African American themes in his work, particularly in the piece "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land". Likewise, Alvin Ailey's artistic work, including his "Revelations" based on his experience growing up as an African American in the South during the 1930s, has had a significant influence on modern dance. Another form of dance, Stepping, is an African American tradition whose performance and competition has been formalized through the traditionally black fraternities and sororities at universities.^[117]

Many African American authors have written stories, poems, and essays influenced by their experiences as African Americans. African-American literature is a major genre in American literature. Famous examples include Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.

African American inventors have created many widely used devices in the world and have contributed to international innovation. Norbert Rillieux created the technique for converting sugar cane juice into white sugar crystals. Moreover, Rillieux left Louisiana in 1854 and went to France, where he spent ten years working with the Champollions deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics from the Rosetta Stone.^[118] Most slave inventors were nameless, such as the slave owned by the Confederate President Jefferson Davis who designed the ship propeller used by the Confederate navy.^[119]

Chuck Berry in Örebro, Berry is considered a pioneer of American Rock and roll

B.B. King is a blues guitarist and songwriter acclaimed for his expressive singing and guitar playing

By 1913 over 1,000 inventions were patented by black Americans. Among the most notable inventors were Jan Matzeliger, who developed the first machine to mass-produce shoes,^[120] and Elijah McCoy, who invented automatic lubrication devices for steam engines.^[121] Granville Woods had 35 patents to improve electric railway systems, including the first system to allow moving trains to communicate.^[122] Garrett A. Morgan developed the first automatic traffic signal and gas mask.^[123]

Lewis Howard Latimer invented an improvement for the incandescent light bulb.^[124] More recent inventors include Frederick McKinley Jones, who invented the movable refrigeration unit for food transport in trucks and trains.^[125] Lloyd Quarterman worked with six other black scientists on the creation of the atomic bomb (code named the Manhattan Project.)^[126] Quarterman also helped develop the first nuclear reactor, which was used in the atomically powered submarine called the Nautilus.^[127]

A few other notable examples include the first successful open heart surgery, performed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams,^[128] and the air conditioner, patented by Frederick McKinley Jones.^[125] Dr. Mark Dean holds three of the original nine patents on the computer on which all PCs are based.^[129] More current contributors include Otis Boykin, whose inventions included several novel methods for manufacturing electrical components that found use in applications such as guided missile systems and computers,^[130] and Colonel Frederick Gregory, who was not only the first black astronaut pilot but the person who redesigned the cockpits for the last three space shuttles. Gregory was also on the team that pioneered the microwave instrumentation landing system.^[131]

Political legacy[link]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. remains the most prominent political leader in the American civil rights movement and perhaps the most influential African American political figure in general.

African Americans have fought in every war in the history of the United States.^[132]

The gains made by African Americans in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements not only obtained certain rights for African Americans, but changed American society in far-reaching and fundamentally important ways. Prior to the 1950s, Black Americans in the South were subject to de jure discrimination, or Jim Crow. They would often be the victims of extreme cruelty and violence, sometimes resulting in deaths: by the post WWII era, African Americans became increasingly discontented with their long-standing inequality. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., African Americans and their supporters challenged the nation to "rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed that all men are created equal ..."^[133]

The Civil Rights Movement marked a sea-change in American social, political, economic and civic life. It brought with it boycotts, sit-ins, demonstrations, court battles, bombings and other violence; prompted worldwide media coverage and intense public debate; forged enduring civic, economic and religious alliances; and disrupted and realigned the nation's two major political parties.

Over time, it has changed in fundamental ways the manner in which blacks and whites interact with and relate to one another. The movement resulted in the removal of codified, de jure racial segregation and discrimination from American life and law, and heavily influenced other groups and movements in struggles for civil rights and social equality within American society, including the Free Speech Movement, the disabled, women, Native Americans, and migrant workers.

The term "African American"[link]

Political overtones[link]

Michelle Robinson Obama is the First Lady of the United States, the first African American to hold the position

The term African American carries important political overtones. Earlier terms used to identify Americans of African ancestry were conferred upon the group by colonists and Americans of European ancestry. The terms were included in the wording of various laws and legal decisions which some thought were being used as tools of white supremacy and oppression.^[134] There developed among blacks in America a growing desire for a term of self-identification of their own choosing.

With the political consciousness that emerged from the political and social ferment of the late 1960s and early 1970s, blacks no longer approved of the term Negro. They believed it had suggestions of a moderate, accommodationist, even "Uncle Tom" connotation. In this period, a growing number of blacks in the United States, particularly African American youth, celebrated their blackness and their historical and cultural ties with the African continent. The Black Power movement defiantly embraced Black as a group identifier. It was a term social leaders themselves had repudiated only two decades earlier, but they proclaimed, "Black is beautiful".

In this same period, a smaller number of people favored Afro-American, a common shortening (as is 'Anglo-American'). However, after the decline in popularity of the 'Afro' hairstyle in the late 1970s, the term fell out of use.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1980s the term African American was advanced on the model of, for example, German-American or Irish-American to give descendents of American slaves and other American blacks who lived through the slavery-era a heritage and a cultural base.^[134] The term was popularized in black communities around the country via word of mouth and ultimately received mainstream use after Jesse Jackson publicly used the term in front of a national audience. Subsequently, major media outlets adopted its use.^[134]

Some such as Maulana Karenga and Owen Alik Shahadah argue African-American is more appropriate because it accurately articulates geography and historical origin. Thus linking a people to a continent as oppose to an abstract color.^[135] Others believe the term black is inaccurate because African Americans have a variety of skin tones.^{[citation needed]} Surveys show that the majority of Black Americans have no preference for "African American" or "Black,"^[136] although they have a slight preference for "Black" in personal settings and "African American" in more formal settings.^[137] Many African-Americans expressed a preference for the term, as it was formed in the same way as names for others of the many ethnic groups in the nation. Some argued further that, because of the historical circumstances surrounding the capture, enslavement and systematic attempts to de-Africanize blacks in the United States under chattel slavery, most African Americans are unable to trace their ancestry to a specific African nation; hence, the entire continent serves as a geographic marker.

For many, African American is more than a name expressive of cultural and historical roots. The term expresses pride in Africa and a sense of kinship and solidarity with others of the African diaspora—an embrace of pan-Africanism as earlier enunciated by prominent African thinkers such as Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois and George Padmore.

Who is African American?[link]