African Americans have made a huge impact on what America has become today. Though a minority, African Americans have created some of the most milestones of movements our country has ever seen. African Americans have influenced and helped shape what we have become as a society today. Without each breakthrough, revelation, and hardship, who knows where we would have ended up as a country. Because of benevolent hearts, passionate ways, and indescribable determination, African Americans have shown and proven to people all over the world that anything is possible. They have embedded a place in our hearts as a nation, from being deprived from voting becoming the president of our nation. They have been here to witness it all and make miracles happen. African Americans have taught us all that any dream can be achieved and that with knowledge and power we can do anything people tell us that we cannot overcome.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Though he was best known for his “I Have a Dream Speech,” Dr. King has accomplished much more than just a dream. He was an African American clergyman, activist, and profound figure in the African American civil rights movement. He opened the door for blacks and influenced people across the nation to live up to his legacy. This man taught us that anything is possible.

Barack Hussein Obama II – He is the 44th, and current, President of our country. He is the first African American to ever reach the presidential office. He graduated from Columbia University and became the first African American president of the Harvard Law review at Harvard Law School. He was an Illinois senator and practiced civil rights before he brought our nation to our feet chanting, “Yes, we can.”

Malcolm X – Born Malcolm Little, Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and prominent human rights activist. He was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans. Though his enemies accused him of preaching racism and violence, he was a man who fought to justify black America as he accused white America in harsh terms for their penalties against blacks.

Oprah Winfrey – A woman much more than a television host. Oprah Winfrey is a media mogul and a philanthropist. She has earned multiple Emmy Awards, a magazine publisher, and her talk show is the highest-ranked talk show in the history of television. She grew up with a horrific childhood but rose above it all and is now giving back as she was once the world’s only African American billionaire. Winfrey is considered as the most influential woman in the world.