The People Who Paved the Way

Trailblazers

Pioneers, barrier-breakers, and history-makers who changed what's possible.

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Dr. Joycelyn Elders

Science & Technology

Dr. Minnie Joycelyn Elders made history in 1993 when President Bill Clinton appointed her as the first Black Surgeon General of the United States — and made even bigger news when she was fired for speaking honestly about public health. Her candid advocacy for comprehensive sex education, contraception access, and frank discussion of human sexuality […]
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Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark

Science & Technology

Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark, along with her husband Kenneth, conducted the famous “doll study” that proved segregation psychologically damaged Black children. Their research showed that Black children in segregated schools overwhelmingly preferred white dolls and associated negative attributes with Black dolls — devastating evidence of internalized racism. This research was cited by the Supreme Court […]
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Dr. Patricia Bath

Science & Technology

Dr. Patricia Era Bath invented the Laserphaco Probe in 1986, a device that uses laser technology to remove cataracts — revolutionizing eye surgery worldwide. She was the first Black woman to receive a medical patent and the first Black person to complete an ophthalmology residency at New York University. Bath grew up in Harlem, where […]
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Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler

Science & Technology

Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States when she graduated from New England Female Medical College in 1864. She achieved this in the middle of the Civil War, in a country that considered her less than human. After the war, Crumpler moved to Richmond, […]
Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Music

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington composed over 3,000 works across a career spanning more than fifty years, making him the most prolific and arguably the most important composer in the history of American music. From “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” to “Take the ‘A’ Train” to the sacred concerts of […]
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Dwayne McDuffie

Arts & Culture

Dwayne McDuffie was a comic book writer, animator, and media visionary who co-founded Milestone Comics in 1993 to create a universe of superheroes that reflected the diversity of the real world. Frustrated by the comic book industry’s near-total exclusion of characters of color, McDuffie didn’t just complain — he built an entire company and a […]
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