George Washington Carver
             American agricultural 
             chemist George 
             Washington Carver 
             helped to modernize the 
             agricultural economy of 
             the South. He developed 
             new products derived 
             from peanuts and 
             soybeans and promoted 
             the planting of these 
             legumes as a way of 
             liberating the South from 
             its dependency on 
             cotton..
   Frederick Douglas
             An escaped slave, Frederick 
             Douglass became one of the 
             foremost black abolitionists 
             and civil rights leaders in 
             the United States. His 
             powerful speeches, 
             newspaper articles, and 
             books awakened whites to 
             the evils of slavery and 
             inspired blacks in their 
             struggle for freedom and 
             equality. 
      Charlie Pride
              Charley Pride is one of the 
              few black country musicians 
              to have enjoyed 
              considerable success in the 
              mostly white industry. 
              During his 20s, he played 
              baseball for the Negro 
              leagues but moved over to 
              music in 1966 when RCA 
              signed him. He was the first 
              black performer to appear 
              at the Grand Ole Opry. Two 
              of his big hits include "Is 
              Anybody Goin' to An 
              Antone" and "Kiss an Angel 
              Good Mornin' ". 
       Maya Angelou
                U.S. poet, playwright, and 
                performer Maya Angelou 
                produced several 
                autobiographies that 
                explore the themes of 
                economic, racial, and 
                sexual oppression. She 
                became the first African 
                American woman to have a 
                feature film adapted from 
                one of her own stories 
                when her screenplay 
                Georgia, Georgia was 
                produced in 1972. 
                                           Still I Rise
                                             Maya Angelou
                       You may write me down in history
                       With your bitter, twisted lies,      You may shoot me with your words,
                       You may trod me in the very dirt     You may cut me with your eyes,
                       But still, like dust, I'll rise.     You may kill me with your hatefulness,
                                                            But still, like air, I'll rise. Out of the huts of 
                       Does my sassiness upset you?         history's shame
                       Why are you beset with gloom?        I rise
                       'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Up from a past that's rooted in pain
                       Pumping in my living room.           I rise
                                                            I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
                       Just like moons and like suns,       Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
                       With the certainty of tides,         Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
                       Just like hopes springing high,      I rise
                       Still I'll rise.                     Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
                                                            I rise
                       Did you want to see me broken?       Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
                       Bowed head and lowered eyes?         I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
                                                            I rise
                       Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
                       Weakened by my soulful cries.        I rise
                                                            I rise. 
                       Does my haughtiness offend you?
                       Don't you take it awful hard
                       'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
                       Diggin' in my own back yard.