Johnathan Harris - Black Firsts Who Inspired the Civil Rights Movement lyrics

The Civil Rights Era forced those in the United States to reevaluate the racial injustices thought common-practice. Many Americans today attribute the Civil Rights Movement's success to victories in the courtroom, large scale demonstrations of protest such as those led by Martin Luther King Jr., and in-your-face commentaries such as those by Malcolm X. Perhaps one of the most overlooked influences on the outcome of Civil Rights Movement, except by Hollywood filmmakers, is the overwhelming amount of "firsts" the African American community experienced during this time and the time leading up to. In fact, these "firsts" may have directly contributed to the Civil Rights Movement's very existence. During this time, black Americans flooded every aspect of American culture, from sports to politics, making it impossible to ignore their genius, abilities, and rights. 1945 - Nat King Cole is the first African American to have his own radio show. "Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." - No Name in the Street by James Baldwin 1947 - Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in Major League baseball. He played with the Dodgers. "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." - Speech, Prospects for Freedom by Malcolm X 1949 - Alice Coachman wins the high jump competition, becoming the first African American woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal. "these hips have never been enslaved, they go where they want to go they do what they want to do. these hips are mighty hips. these hips are magic hips" - homage to my hips by Lucille Clifton 1950 - Gwendolyn Brooks is the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize. She wins in Poetry for her 1949 book, Annie Allen. "Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it will not come Again in this identical guise." - Exhaust the Little Moments by Gwendolyn Brooks 1956 - The first album to sell over a million copies is released by African American Harry Belafonte. The album's name was Calypso. "I am an invisible man...I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me." - Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison 1964 - Muhammad Ali wins his first heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston. "When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do." - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison 1966 - President Lyndon Johnson appoints Andrew F. Brimmer as the first African American on the Federal Reserve Board. “The words 'bad timing' came to be ghosts haunting our every move in Birmingham. Yet people who used this argument were ignorant of the background of our planning...they did not realize that it was ridiculous to speak of timing when the clock of history showed that the Negro had already suffered one hundred years of delay.” - Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr 1966 - Edward Brook becomes the first African American to be elected into the United States Senate by popular vote. "If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities." -The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou