From having the first Black president, to educators, activists, and athletes.
These are few African American figures that I believe have made a difference today:
Former President Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African American president of the United States in 2008 and had a second term in 2012.
On June 15, 2012 Obama made a difference today by changing the life of many undocumented children who arrived in this country at a young age by creating the program DACA (Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals).
This program has given the opportunity for many undocumented children to pursue their educational journey by continuing going to college and having a work permit without the fear of deportation and today the program still continues.
First Lady Michelle Obama made a difference today by advocating for girls and women’s health, education and rights.
Mrs. Obama started a program called Learn Girls Learn to help girls around the world to get equal and quality education.
Not only did she create the program but she focused a lot on the food system the school provided.
According to Forbes, one of the things Michelle Obama achieved when being first lady was the redesign of school lunch programs. Before the redesign school lunches would serve foods like french fries, potato chips and soda. The redesign helps students to eat healthier meals in school and also school chefs to learn how to cook healthier meals for students.
Forbes said, “The FLOTUS was appalled and championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, as the USDA indicated the first major changes in school meals in 15-years, to prompt schools to serve healthier foods and reduce the cost of lunches for low-income children.”
Michelle Obama is only one of the many black women making a difference today as Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, and Alicia Garza are important figures because they are co-founders of BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement. Their movement started the Black Lives Matter Global Organization.
This Organization has created funds to help out the black community in their education journey.
In the report of APR news in December 2022 the organization set aside a fund of $500,000 to help black students with debt relief.
The BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement started in response to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s shooting death at the hands of George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was cleared at trial, which was one of the reasons the movement initially taking off.
Many believed Trayvon was unfairly racially profiled and brought fear to the black community.
This movement has become more than just a hashtag because it empowers the Black community to have a voice to the injustice the Black community faces from society or police brutality.
Former San Francisco 49ers football player, Colin Kaepernick, is an important figure who in 2016 put his career in jeopardy when he kneeled during the National Anthem due to police brutality and racial injustice.
In November 2017 he was named “Citizen of the Year” and started the “Kaepernick Effect” which led for other football teams to also kneel during the National Anthem.
Today he is an activist. In 2020 he started a fundraiser for the Minneapolis protest due to the George Floyd case of being pinned by a police knee to the ground by saying “I can’t breathe.”
