Black history lessons in classrooms shouldn’t be limited to the names of men and only a few women, especially when there are countless women who’ve made enormous strides for the Black community.
The revolutionary words Angela Davis spoke, the record-breaking feats of Wilma Rudolph and the glass ceiling-shattering efforts of Shirley Chisholm paved the way for Black women and girls across the country to dream big and act courageously.
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Here are 35 phenomenal women everyone should acquaint themselves with this Black History Month.
Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005)
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Claudette Colvin (1939-present)
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Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987)
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Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954)
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Angela Davis (1944-present)
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Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)
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Kathleen Cleaver (1945-present)
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Dr. Dorothy Height (1912-2010)
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Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
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Audre Lorde (1934-1992)
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Flo Kennedy (1916-2000)
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Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)
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Sojourner Truth (1797-1883)
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Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)
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Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)
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Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)
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Bessie Coleman (1892-1926)
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Lena Horne (1917-2010)
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Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994)
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Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
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Diane Nash (1938-present)
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Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
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Hattie McDaniel (1893-1952)
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Ruby Bridges (1954-present)
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Charlayne Hunter-Gault (1942-present)
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Daisy Bates (1914-1999)
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Dr. Mae Jemison (1956-present)
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Ella Baker (1903-1986)
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Katherine Johnson (1918-2020)
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Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919)
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Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
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Linda Martell (1941-present)
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Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972)
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Dominique Dawes (1976-present)
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Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019)
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm.