Famous Black Writers
James Baldwin02 August 1924, American
Novelist
Maya Angelou04 April 1928, American
Poet
Sidney Poitier20 February 1927, Bahamian, American
Ben Carson18 September 1951, American
Politician, Former Neurosurgeon
Chirlane McCray29 November 1954, American
Writer, Social Activist
Toni Morrison18 February 1931, American
Novelist
Assata Shakur16 July 1947, Cuban, American
Murder Convict
Shonda Rhimes13 January 1970, American
Television Producer
Langston Hughes01 February 1902, American
Poet, Novelist, Playwright, & Columnist
Danai Gurira14 February 1978, American, Zimbabwean
Actress
Daymond John23 February 1969, American
CEO of FUBU
Alice Walker09 February 1944, American
Author
Yolanda King17 November 1955, American
Activist
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie15 September 1977, Nigerian
Writer
Attallah Shabazz16 November 1958, American
Malcolm X's Daughter
Janet Mock10 March 1983, American
Writer
Audre Lorde18 February 1934, American
Writer
Eldridge Cleaver31 August 1935, American
Zora Neale Hurston07 January 1891, American
Folklorist, Anthropologist
Ralph Sampson07 July 1960, American
Basketball Player
Lashana Lynch27 November 1987, British
Actress
Chinua Achebe16 November 1930, Nigerian
Nigerian novelist
Alex Haley11 August 1921, American
Writer
Aaron McGruder29 May 1974, American
Writer, Cartoonist & Public Speaker
Wole Soyinka13 July 1934, Nigerian
Author, Poet, Playwright
Ron Cephas Jones08 January 1957, American
Actor
August Wilson27 April 1945, American
American playwright
Charlayne Woodard29 December 1953, American
Actress
Amiri Baraka07 October 1934, American
Writer
Mary McLeod Bethune10 July 1875, American
Educator
Phillis Wheatley08 May 1753, American
Poet
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James Weldon Johnson17 June 1871, American
Author
Saul Williams29 February 1972, American
Singer, Musician, Poet
Martellus Bennett10 March 1987, American
Football Player
Gwendolyn Brooks07 June 1917, American
Poet
Derek Walcott23 January 1930, Saint Lucian
Poet
Léopold Sédar Senghor09 October 1906, Senegalese
Senegalese Politician
Paul Laurence Dunbar27 June 1872, American
Poet
Oscar Micheaux02 January 1884, American
Author
C. L. R. James04 January 1901, Trinidadian, British
Journalist, Writer, Historian, Theorist, Socialist
Katherine Dunham22 June 1909, American
Dancer, Choreographer, Social Activist, Author
Claude McKay15 September 1889, Jamaican, American
Writer
Henry Ossian Flipper21 March 1856, American
Military Leader
Cass Pennant03 March 1958, British
Writer
Octavia Butler22 June 1947, American
Science Fiction Writer
Lucille Clifton27 June 1936, American
American poet
Robert Hayden04 August 1913, American
Poet, Essayist, Educator
Nuruddin Farah24 November 1945, Somalian
Novelist
Tayeb Salih12 July 1929, Sudanese
Writer
Anna Julia Cooper10 August 1858, American
Author, Educator
Ayodele Awojobi12 March 1937, Nigerien
Academic
Mongo Beti30 June 1932, Cameroonian
Writer
Richard Wright04 September 1908, American
Author
Lorenzo Thomas31 August 1944, American
Poet
Carter Woodson19 December 1875, American
Historian
Ralph Waldo Ellison01 March 1914, American
Novelist
Siohvaughn Funches06 September 1981, American
Dwyane Wade's Ex-wife
James Avery27 November 1945, American
Film actor
Michaela Coel01 October 1987, Ghanaian, British
Actress
Jill Scott04 April 1972, American
Singer-songwriter
Ta-Nehisi Coates30 September 1975, American
Writer
Van Jones20 September 1968, American
Motivational speaker
Gil Scott-Heron01 April 1949, American
Singer, Writer, Composer, Poet, Pianist
MartiniqueAlgerian
Larry Elder27 April 1952, American
Radio Host
Clarke Peters07 April 1952, American
Actor
Anita Hill30 July 1956, American
Attorney
Ernie Hudson17 December 1945, American
Actor
J. B. Smoove16 December 1965, American
Actor
Frantz Fanon20 July 1925, Algerian, French, Martiniquan
Psychiatrist
Lorraine Hansberry19 May 1930, American
Writer, Theatre director, Screenwriter,
N. K. Jemisin19 September 1972, American
Novelist
Octavia E. Butler22 June 1947, American
American fiction writer
Omarosa Manigault15 February 1974, American
Writers
Henry Louis Gates Jr.16 September 1950, American
Author
Colson Whitehead11 March 1969, American
Novelist
Mo'Nique11 December 1967, American
Comedian
William Kamkwamba05 August 1987, Malawian
Inventor
T. D. Jakes09 June 1957, American
Priest, Author, Writer
Dwayne Wayans20 July 1956, American
Composer, Actor, Musician, Writer
James Meredith25 June 1933, American
Writer
Nikki Giovanni07 June 1943, American
Poet, Writer
Colman Domingo28 November 1969, American
Actor
Bernie Casey08 June 1939, American
Actor
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa21 July 1921, South African
Ufologist, Writer
Myles Munroe20 April 1954, Bahamian
Writer
W. Kamau Bell26 January 1973, American
Comedian
John Ridley30 September 1965, American
Screenwriter
Angie Thomas06 March 1988, American
Novelist
Sister Souljah28 January 1964, American
Writer
Michael Powell30 September 1905, British
Film director, Actor, Screenwriter, Film producer,
Ken Saro-Wiwa10 October 1941, Nigerian
Writer, Poet, Screenwriter
Judy Smith27 October 1958, American
Crisis manager
Malcolm Nance20 September 1961, American
Writer