Acknowledgments p. x
Introduction p. xii
1900-1909
W.E.B. Du Bois p. 1
T. Thomas Fortune p. 8
Matthew Henson p. 12
Jack Johnson p. 16
Scott Joplin p. 20
Henry Ossawa Tanner p. 23
Madame C.J. Walker p. 28
Booker T. Washington p. 32
Ida B. Wells Barnett p. 35
Bert Williams p. 39
1910-1919
Mary McLeod Bethune p. 42
George Washington Carver p. 46
Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. p. 50
Thomas A. Dorsey p. 54
W.C. Handy p. 57
James Weldon Johnson p. 60
Jelly Roll Morton p. 63
Charles Henry Turner p. 66
Jimmy Winkfield p. 69
Carter G. Woodson p. 73
1920-1929
Louis Armstrong p. 78
Junius C. Austin p. 82
Josephine Baker p. 85
Bessie Coleman p. 90
Marcus Garvey p. 95
Langston Hughes p. 99
Ernest Everett Just p. 103
Oscar Micheaux p. 106
Bessie Smith p. 109
Jean Toomer p. 112
1930-1939
Marian Anderson p. 115
Sterling A. Brown p. 119
Father Divine p. 122
Charles Hamilton Houston p. 126
Zora Neale Hurston p. 130
Robert Johnson p. 133
Joe Louis p. 136
Jesse Owens p. 140
Paul Robeson p. 143
Bill Bojangles Robinson p. 148
1940-1949
Charles R. Drew p. 152
Katherine Dunham p. 155
Duke Ellington p. 159
Billie Holiday p. 164
Lena Horne p. 169
Jacob Lawrence p. 173
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. p. 178
A. Philip Randolph p. 182
Jackie Robinson p. 186
Richard Wright p. 190
1950-1959
Ralph Bunche p. 194
Nat King Cole p. 198
Miles Davis p. 201
Ralph Ellison p. 205
Althea Gibson p. 209
Lorraine Hansberry p. 213
Willie Mays p. 217
Rosa Parks p. 221
Art Tatum p. 225
Sarah Vaughan p. 229
1960-1969
Muhammad Ali p. 232
James Baldwin p. 237
John Coltrane p. 241
Angela Davis p. 246
Fannie Lou Hamer p. 249
Jimi Hendrix p. 252
Martin Luther King, Jr. p. 256
Thurgood Marshall p. 261
Sidney Poitier p. 265
Malcolm X p. 268
1970-1979
Hank Aaron p. 272
Maya Angelou p. 276
Romare Bearden p. 280
James Brown p. 284
Marvin Gaye p. 288
Barbara Harris p. 292
Dorothy Height p. 295
Barbara Jordan p. 300
Leontyne Price p. 305
Richard Pryor p. 309
1980-1989
Alvin Ailey p. 313
Bill Cosby p. 317
John Hope Franklin p. 320
Jesse Jackson p. 323
Michael Jackson p. 326
Carl Lewis p. 330
Jessye Norman p. 334
Martin Puryear p. 337
Alice Walker p. 341
August Wilson p. 345
1990-1999
Louis Farrakhan p. 349
Michael Jordan p. 354
Spike Lee p. 359
Wynton Marsalis p. 362
Toni Morrison p. 366
Colin Powell p. 369
Tupac Shakur p. 373
Denzel Washington p. 376
Oprah Winfrey p. 379
Tiger Woods p. 383
Chronology p. 387
A Guide to Further Reading p. 391
Index p. 403
Photo Credits p. 411