Kait Mae

This week, I want to showcase influential African-American women of this current century.

I will only be focusing on African-American, so Rihanna, who is Barbadian, won’t be on this list. Though, she is a badass who deserves all the love she gets. I also will be highlighting women of this century only, starting in 2000, so Aretha Franklin and other amazing women of past decades will not be on this list.

Janet Mock

Janet won the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 2020 GLAAD Media Awards. She is also one the leading voices for transgender rights. Mock became the first transgender woman of color to write and direct a TV episode for her work on Pose.

Viola Davis

Do I need to say anything? But seriously, in addition to all she has done, she won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series making her the first African American woman to do so.

Tarana Burke

She was one of the leaders of the #MeToo movement which still is a big movement even years later.

Jada Pinkett Smith

Though she’s been in the spotlight since the nineties, in 2018, she started “Red Table Talk” with her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and daughter, Willow Smith. They cover many topics and share their perspectives that show the differences and similarities in the generations.

Allyson Felix

In 2019, she broke Usain Bolt’s record for most-ever gold medals at the world championships.

Gabrielle Union

She may have started acting in the nineties, but more recently she’s been very open about various topics in her life. These topics include racial and gender equality in Hollywood and her fertility struggles.

Ruth E. Carter

For her work on Black Panther, she became the first African American woman to win an Oscar for Costume Design.

Michelle Obama

She was the first African American First Lady of the United States. While she was FLOTUS, she worked to fight child obesity and education for young girls.

Tracee Ellis Ross

She may be an amazing actress, but she is also very passionate about #BlackLivesMatter and #TimesUp.

Ava DuVernay

She has racked up tons of awards for her work, as well as putting representation at the forefront of her work. She was the first African American to win Best Feature Directing at Sundance in 2012, the first African American woman to be nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes, the first woman of color to direct an Oscar-nominated Best Picture film, and was the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million domestically.

Lena Waithe

She is an outspoken advocate of the LGBTQ+ community. Lena strives for representation for queer people of color in film and television.

Sheila Johnson

She cofounded the Black Entertainment Television (BET) which in turn made her the first black female millionaire. She is also the first and only African American woman to have stakes in three pro sports teams.

Laverne Cox

She is the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy. She is also the first openly transgender woman to appear on Cosmopolitan’s South African magazine cover.

Shonda Rhimes

If you’ve seen Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, or How to Get Away with Murder, you’ll understand why she’s on this list. She’s the first black woman to create and produce a Top 10 Network series.

Gabby Douglas

She was the first woman of color to win the title of Individual All-Around Champion in artistic gymanstics. She was also the first black woman to earn gold in both individual and team competitions at the Olympics.

Simone Biles

She is the first female gymnast to win three World all-around titles in a row. She is also the most decorated American gymnast with 14 medals. Simone has also won the most World Championship medals by a woman gymnast in history with 10 gold medals.

Misty Copeland

Misty was the first African American to become American Ballet Theatre’s principal dancer. Many call her a prodigy since she was en pointe after three months of ballet classes.

Venus and Serena Williams

Combined, these sisters have won 121 career singles titles and a total of 9 Olympic medals. Serena was the first person, male or female, to win 23 Grand Slam titles.

Beyoncé

I think this one is obvious.

This isn’t even the half of it, but I don’t think you’d want to read a list of millions of amazing women. There’s so many more people I would love to cover, but there’s too much for me, by myself, to cover right now. And if I missed anyone that you think belongs on this list, tell me in the comments and maybe I’ll make another list with suggestions from the readers.

See you next week with African American musical influences.