Famous Black Poets

1 Maya Angelou

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: April 4, 1928

Sun Sign: Aries

Nationality: American

Died: May 28, 2014

Poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was a champion for black feminism and is best remembered for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and over 50 honorary degrees was also a child sex abuse survivor.

2 Michaela Coel

Famous As: Actress

Birthdate: October 1, 1987

Sun Sign: Libra

Nationality: Ghanaian, British

3 Langston Hughes

Famous As: Poet, Novelist, Playwright, & Columnist

Birthdate: February 1, 1902

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Nationality: American

Died: May 22, 1967

Langston Hughes is best remembered as a prominent leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first to write jazz poetry. He also wrote plays and short stories. He was a columnist for The Chicago Defender and wrote the iconic poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

4 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Famous As: Writer

Birthdate: September 15, 1977

Sun Sign: Virgo

Nationality: Nigerian

5 Gil Scott-Heron

Famous As: Singer, Writer, Composer, Poet, Pianist

Birthdate: April 1, 1949

Sun Sign: Aries

Nationality: American

Died: May 27, 2011

6 Chinua Achebe

Famous As: Nigerian novelist

Birthdate: November 16, 1930

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Nationality: Nigerian

Died: March 21, 2013

7 Ron Cephas Jones

Famous As: Actor

Birthdate: January 8, 1957

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Nationality: American

8 Saul Williams

Famous As: Singer, Musician, Poet

Birthdate: February 29, 1972

Sun Sign: Pisces

Nationality: American

9 Audre Lorde

Famous As: Writer

Birthdate: February 18, 1934

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Nationality: American

Died: November 17, 1992

10 Chirlane McCray

Famous As: Writer, Social Activist

Birthdate: November 29, 1954

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Nationality: American

11 Phillis Wheatley

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: May 8, 1753

Sun Sign: Taurus

Nationality: American

Died: December 5, 1784

12 Ken Saro-Wiwa

Famous As: Writer, Poet, Screenwriter

Birthdate: October 10, 1941

Sun Sign: Libra

Nationality: Nigerian

Died: November 30, 1995

13 Nikki Giovanni

Famous As: Poet, Writer

Birthdate: June 7, 1943

Sun Sign: Gemini

Nationality: American

14 Bernie Casey

Famous As: Actor

Birthdate: June 8, 1939

Sun Sign: Gemini

Nationality: American

Died: September 19, 2017

15 Akala

Famous As: Rapper

Birthdate: December 1, 1983

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Nationality: British

16 Amiri Baraka

Famous As: Writer

Birthdate: October 7, 1934

Sun Sign: Libra

Nationality: American

Died: January 9, 2014

17 Noname

Famous As: Rapper

Birthdate: September 18, 1991

Sun Sign: Virgo

Nationality: American

18 Derek Walcott

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: January 23, 1930

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Nationality: Saint Lucian

19 Aime Cesaire

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: June 26, 1913

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: French

Died: April 17, 2008

20 James Weldon Johnson

Famous As: Author

Birthdate: June 17, 1871

Sun Sign: Gemini

Nationality: American

Died: June 26, 1938

21 Natasha Trethewey

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: April 26, 1966

Sun Sign: Taurus

Nationality: American

22 James Avery

Famous As: Film actor

Birthdate: November 27, 1945

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Nationality: American

Died: December 31, 2013

23 Gwendolyn Brooks

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: June 7, 1917

Sun Sign: Gemini

Nationality: American

Died: December 3, 2000

24 Paul Laurence Dunbar

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: June 27, 1872

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: American

Died: February 9, 1906

25 Claude McKay

Famous As: Writer

Birthdate: September 15, 1889

Sun Sign: Virgo

Nationality: Jamaican, American

Died: May 22, 1948

26 Countee Cullen

Famous As: American poet

Birthdate: May 30, 1903

Sun Sign: Gemini

Nationality:

Died: January 9, 1946

27 Terry McMillan

Famous As: American author

Birthdate: October 18, 1951

Sun Sign: Libra

Nationality: American

28 Ishmael Reed

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: February 22, 1938

Sun Sign: Pisces

Nationality: American

29 Keorapetse Kgositsile

Famous As: Poet, Journalist, Writer

Birthdate: September 19, 1938

Sun Sign: Virgo

Nationality: South African

30 Ben Okri

Famous As: Writer, Journalist, Novelist, Author, Poet

Birthdate: March 15, 1959

Sun Sign: Pisces

Nationality: Nigerian

31 Lucille Clifton

Famous As: American poet

Birthdate: June 27, 1936

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: American

Died: February 13, 2010

32 Francis Bebey

Famous As: Writer

Birthdate: July 15, 1929

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: Cameroonian

Died: May 28, 2001

33 Édouard Glissant

Famous As: Writer

Birthdate: September 21, 1928

Sun Sign: Virgo

Nationality: French

Died: February 3, 2011

34 June Jordan

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: July 9, 1936

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: American

Died: June 14, 2002

35 Rita Dove

Famous As: Poet, Writer

Birthdate: August 28, 1952

Sun Sign: Virgo

Nationality: American

36 Melvin Tolson

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: February 6, 1898

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Nationality: American

Died: August 29, 1966

37 Robert Hayden

Famous As: Poet, Essayist, Educator

Birthdate: August 4, 1913

Sun Sign: Leo

Nationality: American

Died: February 25, 1980

38 Gabriel Okara

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: April 24, 1921

Sun Sign: Taurus

Nationality: Nigerian

Died: March 25, 2019

39 Ernest J. Gaines

Famous As: Author, Educator

Birthdate: January 15, 1933

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Nationality: American

40 Oscar Cicero Brown, Jr.

Famous As: Singer-songwriter

Birthdate: October 10, 1926

Sun Sign: Libra

Nationality: American

Died: May 29, 2005

41 Kamau Brathwaite

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: May 11, 1930

Sun Sign: Taurus

Nationality: Barbadian

42 Bob Kaufman

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: April 18, 1925

Sun Sign: Aries

Nationality: American

Died: January 12, 1986

43 Alice Dunbar Nelson

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: July 19, 1875

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: American

Died: September 18, 1935

44 Yusef Komunyakaa

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: April 29, 1947

Sun Sign: Taurus

Nationality: American

45 Sterling Brown

Famous As: Professor

Birthdate: May 1, 1901

Sun Sign: Taurus

Nationality: American

Died: January 13, 1989

46 David Diop

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: July 9, 1927

Sun Sign: Cancer

Nationality: French

Died: August 29, 1960

47 Okwui Enwezor

Famous As: Curator

Birthdate: October 23, 1963

Sun Sign: Libra

Nationality: Nigerian

Died: March 15, 2019

48 Christopher Okigbo

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: August 16, 1932

Sun Sign: Leo

Nationality: Nigerian

Died: 1967 AD

49 Charlotte Forten Grimké

Famous As: Poet

Birthdate: August 17, 1837

Sun Sign: Leo

Nationality: American

Died: July 23, 1914

50 George Lamming

Famous As: Novelist

Birthdate: June 8, 1927

Sun Sign: Gemini

Nationality: Barbadian