12. Politics/ Government/ Law

Mike Espy

Became the first African American Secretary of Agriculture.

Lenora Cole

Became the first African American head of the U.S. Labor Department's Women's Bureau.

Willie Williams

Became the first African American police chief for the city of Los Angeles.

Lawrence Douglas Wilder

Became the first elected African American Governor of Virginia.

Eric Holder

The current Attorney General of the United States of America.

Loretta Lynch

The first African American woman to be appointed to the U. S. Attorney General's Office by President Obama in February 2015.

The 15th Amendment to the Constitution

This was also called the Voting Rights Act of 1870, granted suffrage rights to African American men.

Carl B. Stokes

Was former Mayor of Cleveland and a U.S. Ambassador.

Norris Gregory

Was the first African American City Councilman for the city of San Bernardino.

Thurgood Marshall

Was the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court.

Frederick Douglas

Was the first African American delegate for a national political party.

Shirley Chisholm

Was the first African American female elected to the House of Representatives.

Constance Baker Motley

Was the first African American female to be appointed as a federal judge.

Ron Brown

Was the first African American to hold the position of Secretary of Commerce.

Barack Obama

Was the first African American to receive a major party's nomination for President of the United States. He became the first African American elected as President of the United States of America. In 2009, he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Barbara Jordan

Was the first African American to serve in the U. S. congress from the South since Reconstruction. She was the first African woman to preside over a state senate and the first African American to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1976.

Karen Bass

Was the first African American woman to serve as the speaker of the California Sate Assembly. She currently represents the 37th Congressional District of California.

Patricia R. Harris

Was the first African American woman to serve in a cabinet position. In 1977, she was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Carter.

Carol Mosley Braun

Was the first female African American United States Senator.

Jackie Barrett

Won the election for the Fulton County Sheriff seat and became the first African American female sheriff.

Charlotte E. Ray

In 1872, she became the first African American female lawyer.

Hazel O'Leary

In 1993, she became the first African American and female to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Energy.

Condoleezza Rice

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Condoleezza Rice as the first African American to the position of National Security Advisor. In 2004, President Bush appointed her to the position of the 66th Secretary of State.

Hiram R. Revels

in 1870, Hiram was the first African American U.S. Senator.

Colin Powell

in 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Colin Powell, the first African American, to the position of the 65th Secretary of State.