www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Three more exceptional individuals have been added to the Black Achievers’ Wall at the International Slavery Museum.

US President Barack Obama, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and astronaut Dr Mae Carol Jemison have joined the display in the Legacy gallery which is a celebration of Black Achievers past and present.

The achievements of those featured on the wall are truly remarkable and represent an astounding mix of backgrounds, eras and disciplines, from civil rights campaigners and politicians to rock stars and poets. Some are household names like Bob Marley. Others, like rebel slave leader Gaspar Yanga, are virtually unknown to the general public, but all are inspirational:

Barack Hussein Obama was born in 1961. On 20th January 2009, Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States. He w
as born in Hawaii and is the first African American to hold the office. He worked as a community organiser in Chicago and studied law at Harvard University, where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Fannie Lou Hamer, 1917-1977, was a voting rights activist and civil rights leader. During the civil rights movement Mrs Hamer began working on welfare and voter registration programmes for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Dr Mae Carol Jemison was born in 1956 and became an astronaut, chemical engineer, physician and educator. In September 1992, as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, Dr Jemison became the first African American woman to enter space.

You can read more about other Black Achiever’s featured on the wall on our website. visit website