Black History Makers

There are so many other reasons to keep celebrating Black History Month: Scott Joplin, Jesse Owens, Sidney Poitier, Hattie McDaniels, Langston Hughes, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parkes, Maurice Bishop, Mary Seacole, Claudia Jones and many more.

Below, we profile four people who have etched their name in the history books.

Harriet Tubman

1820-1913

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland before escaping to freedom in the north in 1849. She risked her life to lead hundreds of slaves from the plantation system to freedom on the Underground Railroad. She also helped the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war ended, she dedicated her life to supporting impoverished slaves and the elderly. Her work was honoured by the US Treasury Department when they announced she would replace Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, on the centre of the new $20 bill.

More information can be found here: https://www.biography.com/activist/harriet-tubman

Ruby Bridges

1954-

Ruby Bridges advanced the cause of civil rights in America at the tender age of six, becoming the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South. The school district, as a way of putting up a barrier to entry, created entry exams. Ruby, and five other students, passed the exam. She walked to school past crowds screaming vicious slurs at her, only becoming frightened when she saw a woman holding a black baby doll in a coffin. Segregationists withdrew their children Barbara Henry, a white Boston native, was the only teacher to accept her and, all year, she was in a class of one even eating lunch alone. However, she led the way for other African American students to enrol before graduating from a desegregated high school and becoming a travel agent. She was made an honorary deputy marshal in a ceremony in 2000.

You can find out more here: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruby-bridges

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

1968-

Maggie Aderin-Pocock is one of the world-leading space scientists and science educator. Since February 2014, she has co-presented the astronomy programme, The Sky at Night with Chris Lintott. Born in Islington, she went to 13 schools as a child and also had to combat dyslexia. A teacher dismissed her aims of being an astronaut and suggested she try nursing 'because that's scientific too'. She was not deterred and graduated from Imperial College with a B.Sc. in Physics and completed her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. Her knowledge has also helped develop hand-held instruments to detect landmines and helped develop the Gemini telescope in Chile, which improves understanding of distant stars.

You can learn more about her work here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/21/maggie-aderin-pocock-interview-bbc-nasa-space

Lewis Hamilton

1985-

Lewis Hamilton is Formula 1's winningest driver, having surpassed the great Michael Schumacher's 91-win record by taking his 92nd victory in Portugal on 25 October 2020 and now has 101 wins. Having worked his way up through the junior formula in the early 2000s, Hamilton marked his F1 debut in 2007 with a third place in Australia. It took him six races to reach the top step, winning in Canada. He nearly won the title in his first season, but errors in the final two races saw him finish runner-up to Kimi Räikkonen. The next year, he clinched his first world championship in dramatic style, passing Timo Glock on the last corner of the last lap to rip the title from Felipe Massa's grasp. While he was unable to add to his world title at McLaren, he has continued to claim race wins in every season he has competed in before moving to Mercedes in 2013. In 2014, with the best car in the field, he won back to back titles before losing out to team-mate Nico Rosberg in 2016. Hamilton recovered from this blow and has won the World Championship seven times before he was controversially edged out of a record-breaking eighth title in 2021. Off the track, Hamilton has been driven to improving equality in his sport and in wider society, recently setting up a Commission to look at the problems regarding diversity.

You can read more about his ambitions here: https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12080000/lewis-hamilton-pledges-to-make-a-change-in-motorsport-representation-through-hamilton-commission