list of most influential African Americans....clarence thomas is nowhere to be found

[spanone]

1. Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Barack Obama
3. W.E.B. Du Bois
4. Thurgood Marshall
5. Malcolm X
6. Frederick Douglass
7. Harriet Tubman
8. Rosa Parks
9. Ida B. Wells-Barnett
10. Ella Baker

http://www.thegrio.com/specials/25-top-black-leaders/thegrios-2011-african-american-leadership-survey.php

[opihimoimoi]

1. Hill was right...the man is a jerk...a mucker if there ever was one

[malaise]

2. Was about to post this

hehehehehhe - Clarence got his just reward as did Colin and Condi - they'd all be graded as C students (or clowns) by rational people of all races - take your pick :hi:

Here's the complete survey
http://www.thegrio.com/TheGrios_2011_African-American_Leadership%20Survey.pdf

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I should hope not . . . .

[malaise]

4. Don't see how Muhammad Ali didn't make the top ten

That's the biggest surprise for me

[spanone]

6. that is surprising. condi & colin...no surprise

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Hmm . . .

No Sojourner Truth or Madame CJ Walker? I think there are many of us who have at one time or another processed our hair and as a result - Ms. Walker's work is still having an impact on black women today. Sojourner Truth influenced all American women - at the end of the day - she was a die hard pro women feminist. :-)

The list of the Top 25 leaders adds interesting diversity to the list of Top 10.
1. Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Barack Obama
3. W.E.B. Du Bois
4. Thurgood Marshall
5. Malcolm X
6. Frederick Douglass
7. Harriet Tubman
8. Rosa Parks
9. Ida B. Wells-Barnett
10. Ella Baker
11. Booker T. Washington
12. Adam Clayton Powell
13. James Baldwin
14. Dred Scott
15. Paul Robeson
16. A. Phillip Randolph
17. Fannie Lou Hamer
18. Marcus Garvey
19. Jesse Jackson, Sr.
20. John Johnson
21. Mary McLeod Bethune
22. Carter G. Woodson
23. Nat Turner
24. Harry Belafonte
25. Charles Hamilton Houston
26. Langston Hughes

[elias49]

13. I'm only familiar with half the names on the Top 25

:blush:

Baby boomer, Boston public schools, 2 years of college.

I guess I'll plead the TMI amendment.

[davidinalameda]

7. other than Obama

are any of the rest alive?

no Oprah?

[spanone]

8. harry belefonte - jesse jackson sr.

[davidinalameda]

16. they're 19 and 24

not in the top ten

[sarge43]

9. How much influence can a sock puppet have? n/t

[dmallind]

10. But he is one of the most influential Italian-Americans however. NT

[BlueIris]

11. No Mary McLeod Bethune on that list, either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_McLeod_Bethune

[bighart]

12. No Emmett TIll or Medgar Evers either?

Seems like they should be on the list to me.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. my thoughts too

Emmett would be the same age as my father today. My dad was a teenager living in Alabama at the time of his death and he has said that was the one singular thing in his life that made him the 'so-called' angry black man.

Through his death he influenced a lot of young black people to push, fight, cross the line, and be in it to win it. It was such an injustice.


And Medgar's Legal Beaglese was the cornerstone of so much legislation. Truly an amazing person who impacted ALL Americans as did Sojourner Truth.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. I'm not sure how they're defining "influence".

This reads more like a "greatest" list than a list of "people who had most influence on other people's lives".

I would say that Thomas probably ought to be number three or four on that list, and that Marshall should likewise be higher than Du Bois.

I don't know how much influence on Bush's policy Rice or Powell had, but they are other names conspicuous by their absence.

In general, I think this list may overestimate the influence of activists and underestimate that of lawmakers.

[Canuckistanian]

15. Maybe he could win a prize for photocopying Scalia's decisions

I hear he has Xerox on speed dial.

[UTUSN]

17. K&R #3 n/t

[niceypoo]

19. Of course not

He influences nobody. He automatically votes with Scalia. He is a follower, not a leader.