Most Influential Female African Americans in History

The Top Ten
1 Maya Angelou
2 Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
3 Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist.
4 Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African American civil rights activist, whom the United States Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
5 Sojourner Truth
6 Mary McLeod Bethune
7 Coretta Scott King
8 Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums,... read more
9 Shirley Chisholm
10 Condoleezza Rice
The Contenders
11 Ida B. Wells
12 Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American lawyer and writer who was the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She is married to the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States.
13 Dorothy Height
14 Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris (born October 20th, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president in American history.
15 Josephine Baker
16 Mae Jemison
17 Katherine Johnson
18 Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was minister.

Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With global sales... read more
19 Anita Hill
20 Barbara Jordan
21 Billie Holiday Eleanora Fagan, professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years.
22 Sister Rosetta Tharpe
23 Angela Davis
24 Maxine Waters
25 Madam C.J. Walker
8Load More
PSearch List