100+ Best Black History Trivia Questions & Answers

Question: What event sparked the modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States?

Answer: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Question: Which organization played a significant role in organizing nonviolent protests during the Civil Rights Movement?

Answer: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Question: In which year did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaw racial segregation in public places?

Answer: 1964

Question: What event marked a major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement and became known as the "March on Washington"?

Answer: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Question: Who was the civil rights activist and leader of the Nation of Islam who advocated for black nationalism and self-defense?

Answer: Malcolm X

Question: What landmark Supreme Court case in 1954 declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional?

Answer: Brown v. Board of Education

Question: Which city became a focal point of the Civil Rights Movement due to the violent confrontations between protesters and law enforcement?

Answer: Birmingham, Alabama

Question: Who was the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement?

Answer: John Lewis

Question: What event in 1955, involving Rosa Parks, sparked a year-long bus boycott and became a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement?

Answer: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Question: Who was the civil rights activist and organizer who famously coined the phrase "Black Power"?

Answer: Stokely Carmichael

Question: What major piece of legislation in 1965 aimed to overcome barriers to African American voting rights in the United States?

Answer: Voting Rights Act of 1965

Question: Who was the African American civil rights activist and voting rights advocate who organized the Selma to Montgomery marches?

Answer: John Lewis

Question: What organization did Fannie Lou Hamer co-found to help African Americans register to vote in Mississippi?

Answer: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)

Question: Who became the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city when he was elected as the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1967?

Answer: Carl Stokes

Question: What term is used to describe the practice of denying African Americans the right to vote through various discriminatory tactics?

Answer: Voter suppression

Question: Which organization was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale and advocated for self-defense and revolutionary activism?

Answer: Black Panther Party

Question: Who was the African American politician and civil rights activist who became the first African American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1974?

Answer: Maynard Jackson

Question: In which year did the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grant women, including African American women, the right to vote?

Answer: 1920

Question: Who was the African American woman who famously refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, before Rosa Parks?

Answer: Claudette Colvin

Question: What was the purpose of the Freedom Summer project in 1964?

Answer: To register African American voters in Mississippi and promote civil rights activism

Question: Who was the African American musician known as the "King of Jazz" and one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz music?

Answer: Louis Armstrong

Question: What is the name of the African American holiday celebrated on December 26th, focusing on African heritage and cultural reaffirmation?

Answer: Kwanzaa

Question: Who was the African American dancer, singer, and actress who became an international symbol of black pride and excellence in the arts?

Answer: Josephine Baker

Question: What was the name of the African American dance style that emerged in the 1920s, characterized by energetic movements and improvisation?

Answer: Jazz dance

Question: Who was the African American author of the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which explored themes of love, independence, and racial identity?

Answer: Zora Neale Hurston

Question: What was the name of the African American literary and artistic movement centered in Harlem, New York City, during the 1920s and 1930s?

Answer: The Harlem Renaissance

Question: Who was the African American singer and actress who became the first Black woman to win an Academy Award for her performance in the film "Gone with the Wind"?

Answer: Hattie McDaniel

Question: What was the name of the African American dance and music style that originated in the African American communities of New Orleans?

Answer: Jazz

Question: Who was the African American poet and activist who wrote the poem "Still I Rise," empowering African Americans to overcome adversity?

Answer: Maya Angelou

Question: What was the name of the African American musical genre that emerged in the early 20th century, combining elements of African and European music traditions?

Answer: Blues

Question: Who was the first African American to be elected as President of the United States?

Answer: Barack Obama

Question: Who was the first African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate in the post-Reconstruction era?

Answer: Hiram Revels

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as a Supreme Court justice in the United States?

Answer: Thurgood Marshall

Question: Who was the first African American to be elected as the Governor of a U.S. state?

Answer: Lawrence Douglas Wilder

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State?

Answer: Colin Powell

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Surgeon General?

Answer: Joycelyn Elders

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations?

Answer: Edward R. Dudley

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development?

Answer: Robert Clifton Weaver

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services?

Answer: Patricia Roberts Harris

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation?

Answer: William Coleman Jr.

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Education?

Answer: Rod Paige

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs?

Answer: Jesse Brown

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Labor?

Answer: Alexis Herman

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce?

Answer: Ron Brown

Question: Who was the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress?

Answer: Shirley Chisholm

Question: Who was the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Answer: Wangari Maathai

Question: Who was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best actor?

Answer: Sidney Poitier

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize?

Answer: Gwendolyn Brooks

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Answer: Toni Morrison

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics?

Answer: Ralph Bunche

Question: Who was the Youngest African American to win a Nobel Prize?

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics?

Answer: W. Arthur Lewis

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace?

Answer: Ralph Bunche

Question: What year did Nelson Mandela win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Answer: 1993

Question: Who was the Liberian politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011?

Answer: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Question: Who was the African American president awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace?

Answer: Barack Obama

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Answer: Rosa Parks

Question: Who was the first African American woman to win a medal at the Olympic Games?

Answer: Alice Coachman

Question: Who was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball?

Answer: Jackie Robinson

Question: Who was the first African American to hold a patent in the United States?

Answer: Thomas L. Jennings

Question: Who wrote "Bars Fight," the first known poem by a Black American, in 1746?

Answer: Lucy Terry

Question: Who wrote "Clotel: The President's Daughter," the first novel published by an African American in 1853?

Answer: William Wells Brown

Question: Who was the first African American woman to win a Grammy Award?

Answer: Ella Fitzgerald

Question: Who produced the first-ever commercially successful rap record?

Answer: Sylvia Robinson

Question: Who was the first Black American to host a TV show and was a renowned singer and jazz pianist?

Answer: Nat King Cole

Question: Who is credited with creating the first public school for African American children in the early 1770s?

Answer: Anthony Benezet

Question: Who was the first African American woman to win a medal at the Olympic Games?

Answer: Alice Coachman

Question: Who was the first African American to graduate from Harvard University?

Answer: Richard Theodore Greener

Question: Who was the first Black woman economist in the United States?

Answer: Sadie Alexander

Question: Who was the first African American to win a Grammy Award?

Answer: Ella Fitzgerald

Question: Who was the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Answer: Toni Morrison

Question: Who was the African American to be awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize?

Answer: Albert J. Luthuli

Question: Who was a founder of the Combahee River Collective, an anti-capitalist revolutionary organization?

Answer: Barbara Smith

Question: Who was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best actor?

Answer: Sidney Poitier

Question: Who was the first African American to be appointed as the U.S. Secretary of Education?

Answer: Rod Paige

Question: Who was the historian who created Black History Month?

Answer: Carter G. Woodson

Question: Who assisted with the creation of Shockwave, essential technology for the development of web animation in 1995?

Answer: Lisa Gelobter

Question: Who was a prominent civil rights leader and famous for leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s?

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.

Question: Who was a prominent civil rights advocate and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)?

Answer: Stokely Carmichael

Question: Who was the first African American to be elected as the Governor of Virginia?

Answer: L. Douglas Wilder

Question: Which African American politician became the 106th mayor of New York City in 1990?

Answer: David Dinkins

Question: Who was a prominent civil rights leader and the first African American to be elected as mayor of Chicago, Illinois?

Answer: Harold Washington

Question: Who was a prominent civil rights leader and the first African American to be elected as mayor of Los Angeles, California?

Answer: Tom Bradley

Question: Who was a prominent civil rights leader and the first African American to be elected as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia?

Answer: Maynard Jackson

Question: Who was the leader of the civil rights movement and famous for leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s?

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.

Question: Who was the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress?

Answer: Shirley Chisholm

Question: Who was the first African American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize?

Answer: Wangari Maathai

Question: Who became the first female African American self-made millionaire by creating a line of haircare products for African American women?

Answer: Madam C.J. Walker

Question: Who was the African American politician to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Answer: Rosa Parks

Question: Who was the leader of the civil rights movement and famous for leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s?

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.