We bring you Black History month trivia questions and answers from the 1600s to the present day that highlights the impactful mark that African Americans have left on our nation. Black history in America started in the 1500s when Europeans took Africans in as slaves and indentured servants from their homeland.
Through hundreds of years of fighting for equal rights with Caucasians, African Americans have paved the way for their posterity’s success while influencing people of all races to fight for equality and justice. Learn about names in Black History beyond Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and Thurgood Marshall with these 21 little-known Black History trivia questions and answers.
Want to test more of your trivia skills? Browse our Hanukkah, MLK trivia, Kwanzaa, and Thanksgiving trivia lists to broaden your knowledge of Black History and the Christmas holidays that African Americans celebrate.
What was the 1st US newspaper to be owned and operated by African Americans?
North Star
Freedom’s Journal
Liberty Bell
Pittsburgh Courier
What civil rights pioneer and “Little Rock Nine” advisor was later honored with a state holiday?
Marilyn McCraven
Khalid Muhammad
Daisy Bates
Jay McNair
After the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who took over as head of the SCLC?
Ralph Abernathy
Jesse Jackson
John Conyers
Louis Farrakhan
Which United States President signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
Richard M. Nixon
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Who coached Grambling University’s Tigers for 56 years to set a college-football record of 408 wins?
Joe Muhammad
Eddie Robinson
Abe Saperstein
Doug Williams
What is the Detroit soul music institution founded by Berry Gordy in 1959?
Capitol Records
Motown Records
EMI Records
Atlantic Records
Which of these is the oldest black women’s college in the United States?
Howard University
Sweet Briar College
Grambling University
Spelman College
In 2006, Barack Obama won a Grammy Award in what category?
Best Single
New Artist Of The Year
Best Video
Best Spoken Word Album
What African-American woman’s arrest launched the Montgomery bus boycott?
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parker
Rose Parks
Clara Booth
Who was the first black author to win a Pulitzer Prize?
Gwendolyn Brooks
Toni Morrison
Maya Angelou
Nikki Giovanni
What was the name of Booker T. Washington’s autobiography?
Born A Slave
Freedom’s Ride
Slavery And Me
Up From Slavery
What African-American tennis superstar died of AIDS on Feb. 6, 1993?
Arthur Ashe
Sam Rogers
Jim Bird
Rick Lake
In 1996, Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate for what Chicago district?
11th
9th
7th
13th
Colin Powell said the State Department made a “big mistake” when it reported what?
The End Of The War
The Beginning of WWIII
An Increase In Worldwide Terrorism
A Decline In Worldwide Terrorism
Where did Robert Kennedy give a speech the day Martin Luther King was killed?
Washington Dc
Indianapolis
Chicago
New York
The civil rights movement included 1960 sit-ins at what Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter?
Luby’s
Woolworth’s
IHOP
Sears
Which black scholar and author was accused of being a Russian agent in the 1950s?
James Baldwin
Richard Wright
W.E.B. Du Bois
Ralph Ellison
In 1829, more than 1,000 African-Americans were forced to leave Cincinnati because of what?
Fear Of A White Race Riot
Too Small A City
Not Enough Food
Not Enough Jobs
Who became a millionaire by inventing and marketing a hair-straightening device?
George Washington Carver
Harriet Jacobs
Madame C. J. Walker
Jean Baptiste Dusable
Who founded the Southern Poverty Law foundation?
Morris Dees
Malcolm X
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Louis Farrakhan
Which activist and religious leader was the 1st African American Bishop in the US?
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton
Richard Allen
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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