African Americans (Black Americans or Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. They are the third largest ethnic group and the second largest racial group in the US with 46,713,850 (2019).
African-American history began in 1619 with Africans from West Africa being sold to European slave traders and transported across the Atlantic to the Thirteen Colonies. After arriving in the Americas, they were sold as slaves to European colonists and put to work on plantations, particularly in the southern colonies.
They were farmers and lived in villages for thousands of years. As kings, queens, hunters, servants and laborers in African tribes, they worked as a group to help the community. They were known for their creative abilities and craftsmanship. In addition to being craftsmen, they were cooks, bakers, business owners, tribal leaders, engineers, civic leaders, and achievers.
Today, African Americans have achieved many firsts.
Simone Arianne Biles (born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals, Biles is the most decorated American gymnast and is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most dominant female gymnasts of all time.
Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier who was a school teacher in the 1910s and the first African American licensed as a school Principal in the state of Florida.
Isaac Lolette “Ike” Jones, (December 23, 1929 – October 5, 2014) born in Santa Monica, California, was an American film producer and actor. In June 1953, he became the first African American graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and was the first African American to serve as a producer on a major motion picture.
Barack Obama was the first African American elected as the President of the United States in November 4, 2008, taking office on January 20, 2009.
The first African American to be elected as Vice President of the United States on November 3, 2020 was Kamala Harris, taking office January 20, 2021.
Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American of the modern era to become a Major League Baseball player in 1947.
In the 1700s there were many firsts:
When the U.S. Revolutionary War started, 9,000 African Americans became Black Patriots. They fought and died for America on the American side in the war.
Crispus Attucks (c.1723 – March 5, 1770) was an American of African and Native American descent, was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and thus the first American killed in the American Revolution on March 5, 1770. He has been widely celebrated for a heroic role in the history of the United States. He is considered an iconic martyr of Patriots.
First known African-American (and slave) to compose a work of literature: Lucy Terry.
First African-American clockmaker, Peter Hill.
First known African American to be elected to public office: Wentworth Cheswell.
First African American to join the Freemasons: Prince Hall.
First African American to hold a patent: Thomas L. Jennings, for a dry-cleaning process.
In 1837 the first formally trained African-American medical doctor: Dr James McCune Smith of New York City, who was educated at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and returned to practice in New York.
Garrett Morgan, the first Black man in Cleveland to own a car, invented and patented the traffic light in 1923.
First African-American woman millionaire: Madam C. J. Walker in 1910.
First known African-American woman to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley.
Jesse LeRoy Brown (October 13, 1926 – December 4, 1950) born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to an impoverished family, was a United States Navy officer. He was the first African-American aviator to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program, was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the first African-American naval officer killed in the Korean War.
Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships). The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals (precursor of the US Open), then won both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Perry is included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Dubbed the “Queen of All Media,” she was the richest African American of the 20th century and North America’s first black multi-billionaire, and she has been ranked the greatest black philanthropist in American history.
Local African American communities have many entrepreneurs who have excelled in business and as professionals in medical, legal, tech, entertainment, construction, and as internet business owners.
Enduring many generational struggles, African-Americans have contributed to many of America’s greatest advancements and achievements from space travel to global businesses.
Asian Americans in the United States with origins from East Asia, Indian subcontinent, or Southeast Asia. Analyses of the 2010 census have shown that Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial or ethnic minority in the United States.
Asian Americans have been a major asset to the building and construction of America since the 16th century. Generations of Americans with Asian ancestry performed vital tasks needed in the creation of American cities and industries.
The wisdom of Asian Americans is reflected in their creativity and ingenuity. By excelling in various skills they were able to come to what would become the United States.
Filipinos have been in the territories that would become the United States since the 16th century. In 1635, an “East Indian” is listed in Jamestown, Virginia preceding wider settlement of Indian immigrants on the East Coast in the 1790s and the West Coast in the 1800s.
In 1763, Filipinos established the small settlement of Saint Malo, Louisiana, after fleeing mistreatment aboard Spanish ships. Since there were no Filipino women with them, these ‘Manilamen’, as they were known, married Cajun and Native American women.
The first Japanese person to come to the United States, and stay any significant period of time was Nakahama Manjirō who reached the East Coast in 1841, and Joseph Heco became the first Japanese American naturalized US citizen in 1858.
Chinese sailors first came to Hawaii in 1789, a few years after Captain James Cook came upon the island. Many settled and married Hawaiian women. Most Chinese, Korean and Japanese immigrants in Hawaii arrived in the 19th century as laborers to work on sugar plantations. There were thousands of Asians in Hawaii when it was annexed to the United States in 1898.
On March 24, 2021 California Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated Asian American Assemblyman Rob Bonta as the state’s attorney general. He is the first Filipino American to hold the position in California’s history.
Governor Newsom said, “He’s a remarkable person … A person of character. A person of honor. A person of justice.”
Bonta, 48, represents Oakland, Alameda and San Leandro in the state legislature. He said, “Asian, Latino, Black, Native American, LGBTQ, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, so many of us have been targeted and attacked because of who we are, where we’re from and who we love. But that hate has not defined who we are or what we can achieve.”
Asian American and Indian American Gitanjali Rao, age 15 of Lone Tree, Colorado said, “Observe, brainstorm, research, build and communicate,” in her 2020 Kid of the Year interview. The brilliant young scientist and inventor is TIME’s first ever Kid of the Year.
Rao was selected from a field of more than 5,000 nominees. She spoke of her work using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying, and about her mission to create a global community of young innovators to solve problems in the United States and all over the world.
Asian Americans have have defended America in war for over 150 years. Chinese American Civil War Veteran Joseph Pierce (his chosen name as a Chinese immigrant). Pierce served during the Civil War and attained the rank of corporal and is thought to have achieved the highest rank of any Chinese American in the Union Army.
He was brought to the United States by his adoptive father, ship captain Amos Peck of Connecticut. He enlisted in the United States cavalry on July 26, 1862. He eventually became a member of the Second Brigade of the Third Division, Second Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Pierce is believed to have been the only Chinese soldier in the Army of the Potomac, which was the main Union Army in the Civil War’s eastern theater.
Pierce fought in campaigns in the Battle of Antietam or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States. Antietam was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862 between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek.
Pierce also fought in the Battle of Gettysburg along with over 104,000 other soldiers, on July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. He remained with the Army through the end of the war in 1865.
After the war Pierce settled in Meriden, Connecticut and worked in the area until he retired in 1914. He married an American woman named Martha Morgan and had four children. Pierce passed away on Jan. 3, 1916 at the age of 73. His picture hangs in the Gettysburg Museum.
Asian Americans have made enormous contributions to academia, civil service, politics, government, military, and community service. The U.S. economy has benefited from the expertise of Asian Americans providing additional support for many new award winning multiethnic cultural institutions that benefit all Americans.
European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term, Euro-Americans, includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in America as well as people who are descended from more recent European arrivals. European Americans are the largest panethnic group in the United States, both historically and at present.
The Spaniards are thought to be the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in the United States, with Martín de Argüelles (b. 1566) in St. Augustine. The first English child born in the Americas was Virginia Dare, born August 18, 1587.
European Americans for over two hundred years have shown the determination to build up America and its industries.
A modern mechanical cotton gin was created by American inventor Eli Whitney in 1793 and patented in 1794. This made it easier to get cotton from the fields to market and saving lives at the same time.
Henry Ford saw the need to mass produce cars and trucks. This made it possible to travel many miles in a day rather than by wagon or horse in days. Now getting to work in minutes allows for more productivity for workers around the world. Now electric and self-driving cars are taking his idea to untold heights.
Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O’Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy’s first flying ace when he single-handedly attacked a formation of nine heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he was credited with shooting down five of the enemy bombers and became the first naval recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II. O’Hare’s final action took place on the night of November 26, 1943, while he was leading the U.S. Navy’s first-ever nighttime fighter attack launched from an aircraft carrier. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is named in honor of Lt. Commander Edward Henry O’Hare.
Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American internet entrepreneur, industrialist, media proprietor, astronaut and investor. Bezos is the founder and CEO of the multi-national technology company Amazon. Through Amazon hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created. Through Amazon many new business owners have found financial success. Bezos founded the aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company Blue Origin in 2000. Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle reached space in 2015, and afterwards successfully landed back on Earth.
On July 20, 2021, Jeff Bezos flew to space alongside his brother Mark Bezos. The suborbital flight lasted over 10 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 66.5 miles (107.0 km). The flight qualified him as an FAA commercial astronaut.
European Americans have been at the front of most inventions and job creations in the world. The best of the best entrepreneurs have brought their ideas to market for the benefit of all mankind.
Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans of Spanish or Latin American ancestry. More generally, these demographics include all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino.
People who identify as Spanish or Hispanic may be of any race. Total population in the U.S. was 60,481,746 in 2019 and is the second fastest-growing ethnic group after Asian Americans.
Hispanic or Latino Americans have ancestors that came to what would become the U.S. over 500 years ago. Spanish explorers were pioneers in the territory of the present-day United States.
The first confirmed European landing in the continental United States was by Juan Ponce de León, who landed in 1513 at a lush shore he christened La Florida.
The fort Castillo de San Marcos was constructed in Saint Augustine, Florida. Built in 1672 by the Spanish, it is the oldest masonry fort in the United States.
Saint Augustine, Florida was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. It is the oldest continuously-inhabited European-established settlement in the 48 contiguous United States.
The projected Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050 is 132.8 million people, or 30.2% of the nation’s total projected population on that date.
The U.S. is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world (24% of the entire Mexican-origin population of the world) second only to Mexico.
In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United States. Mexican Americans make up 53% of the total population of Latino foreign-born Americans and 25% of the total foreign-born population.
The U.S. is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world (24% of the entire Mexican-origin population of the world), second only to Mexico itself. Most Mexican Americans reside in the Southwest (over 60% in the states of Arizona, California and Texas).
The Mexican Community, in what became the Southwest United States, have called this area home for many generations for perpetuity. Many became U.S. citizens in 1848 through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican–American War.
As citizens, Mexican Americans have been among the leaders in tech innovations, construction trades, business startups, inventions, city building, leaders in business management, medical and healthcare services.
Native Americans, the Indigenous peoples, are the original stewards of the lands in the United States. As such, Indigenous peoples have always been leaders.
They have been leaders in government, politics, family, religion, construction, clothing, cloth, building, mapping, creativity, city building, architecture, infrastructure, community, policing, healthcare, medical services, respect for all peoples and much more.
Deb Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe in New Mexico, a former member of Congress and the first Native American woman to become a member of a U.S. Government Cabinet. On March 15, 2021, Haaland was confirmed by the United States Senate by vote of 51–40.
“History is being made, yet again,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday, March 18, 2021, as she swore in Deb Haaland as the first Native American woman as Secretary of the Interior.
She is the first Native American to lead the federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation’s tribes for nearly two centuries.
Native Americans are the original stewards of America’s lands, waters, skies, and of all living beings. She noted that the confirmation hearing in Congress was taking place on the native lands of the Anacostia, Piscataway and Nakochtank tribes.
She will lead an agency with more than 70,000 employees that is responsible for managing 480 million federal acres … nearly one-fifth the land area of the United States … as well as 2.5 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf. The department’s portfolio includes more than 400 national parks, 100 national monuments and about 500 national wildlife refuges.
The Interior department includes not only the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, but it also manages and administers 55 million acres of estates held in trust by the United States for hundreds of Native American tribes, including the Pueblo of Laguna.
The Hopi are a Native American tribe who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the United States. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the United States.
The primary meaning of the word “Hopi” is “behaving one, one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi Way.”
Lori Piestewa, a member of the Hopi tribe, was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and the first woman in the U.S. military killed in the Iraq War. Arizona’s Piestewa Peak is named in her honor.
The Piestewa family had a long military tradition; her paternal grandfather served in the U.S. Army in the European Theatre of World War II, and her father Terry Piestewa was drafted in the U.S. Army in September 1965 and served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War before he returned home in March 1967.
Many professional athletes have Native American ancestry, like the Karuk people. The Karuk people are an indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. The Karuk developed sophisticated usage of plants and animals for their subsistence.
Naomi Lang, now 41, has Karuk ancestry. She is a figure skater and five time US Champion in ice dancing from 1999 to 2003. As a member of the 2002 US Olympic figure skating team, she was the first Native American woman to compete in the Winter Olympics. Her great-great-grandmother, Bessie Tripp, was a full blooded Karuk from Orleans/Salmon River.
Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev (her skating partner) won gold in the 2000 Four Continents Championships and placed eighth at the 2000 World Championships. Success in skating led up to the Salt Lake Olympics, where Lang made history.
Lang was one of five athletes chosen to present gifts to leaders of the five native Utah tribes, Diné (Navajo), Goshute, Paiute, Shoshone and Ute, in the opening ceremonies, ahead of her first and only Olympic competition.
Lang, as a figure skater and a mother of five, now teaches other future leaders how to ice dance where she now lives … in Gilbert, Arizona.
Wampanoag people have lived in the town of Aquinnah on the southwest tip of Martha’s Vineyard where Gay Head Cliffs, Aquinnah, Martha’s Vineyard are located. This area of Aquinnah, Massachusetts has been their home for millennia. They were some of the original builders of this homeland prior to it becoming the United States.
Native American Samantha Maltais will step onto Harvard University’s campus this fall (2021) as the first member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe to attend its prestigious law school. The Wampanoag people are based in the town of Aquinnah on the southwest tip of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
She will not be the first to graduate from Harvard. More than 350 years ago, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, became the first Native American to graduate from the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university — the product of its 1650 charter calling for the education of “English and Indian youth of this country.”
In the nineteenth century, most Wampanoag men worked in the whaling industry on board ships. Some advanced in rank aboard ship, for instance, Amos Hoskins, an Aquinnah Wampanoag whaling captain became master of the Massasoit in 1851.
Since before the 1600s Native Americans have been Builders of the Homeland.
Pacific Islander Americans (also known as Oceanian Americans) are Americans who are of Pacific Islander ancestry (or are descendants of the indigenous peoples of Oceania or of Austronesian descent). For its purposes, the United States Census also counts Indigenous Australians as part of this group.
Pacific Islander Americans are from American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands which are U.S. territories, while Hawaii is a state.
The first Native Hawaiians to live permanently in the United States settled in the Astoria Colony (in the present-day Oregon) in 1811, having been brought there by its founder, fur merchant John Jacob Astor. Astor created the Pacific Fur Company in the colony and used the native Hawaiians to build the city’s infrastructure and houses and to work in the primary sector (agriculture, hunting and fishing) to make them serve the company (although later, most of them worked for North West Company when this company absorbed the Pacific Fur Company in 1813).
Pacific Islander Americans have been nation building and community building as part of the United States for over two centuries. As part of the AAPI community, these Pacific Islander Americans have served honorably in the military in defense of America. As leaders in many areas of the local community, they have lead as builders, creators, tech giants, political leaders, community leaders and much more.
FOREIGN-BORN ENTREPRENEURS
BUILDERS OF THE HOMELAND!
Elon Musk, who is an African (born in Pretoria, South Africa) and Canadian, founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company. In 2004, he joined electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman and product architect, becoming its CEO in 2008. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company and current Tesla subsidiary. All of these industries have and will benefit all Americans, creating jobs and future entrepreneurs all over the world.
As a nation of immigrants, America has always welcomed foreign-born entrepreneurs. Many of these immigrants have been builders of the homeland for generations. Many came here from countries around the world to study in America’s colleges and universities and decided to stay and help build the U.S. homeland. Others came looking for better economic opportunities and have made major contributions to building America.
