Celebrating Black Trailblazers From History (With Books and Free Downloadable Coloring Pages For Kids!)
This Black History Month, we're celebrating the lives and achievements of some of our favorite Black Trailblazers in history - and we invite you and your little ones to come along to learn more about these prolific women! From our new Madame Vice President Kamala Harris to civil rights icon Rosa Parks, these Trailblazers have achieved incredible feats and paved the way for women of all backgrounds to succeed.
Here you can find some of our favorite books for kids to learn about these inspiring historical figures, PLUS we've got FREE downloadable coloring pages of our Piccolina Trailblazer portraits for you to print and color right from home!
Keep reading to get inspired and tune back into the blog next week for more, including our new collection of Trailblazer tees in honor of Black History Month!
Rosa Parks
ABOUT ROSA:
Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement and is best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott, having refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus. Her bravery led to nationwide efforts to end racial segregation and the United States Congress has called her "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement."
BOOKS ABOUT ROSA PARKS:
Kamala Harris
ABOUT KAMALA:
Kamala Harris is the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history! She is also the first female Vice President, the first African American, and the first South Asian American Vice President. After graduating from Howard in 1986 for her undergraduate degree and from the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in 1989, her career began as an assistant district attorney at the Alameda County prosecutor's office. In 2003, Harris won her first race for San Francisco district attorney, becoming the first Black woman to hold such an office in California. In 2010, she became the first Black woman elected as California attorney general, and in 2016, she became only the second Black woman ever elected as a US senator. While her career has been full of many barrier-breaking accomplishments, she continues to open the door and inspire many women and young girls of the possibilities they are capable of.
BOOKS ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS:
Shop The Kamala Harris Collection Here & Download Her Coloring Page Here
Ida B Wells
ABOUT IDA:
Ida B. Wells was an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the civil rights movement who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s. She went on to establish several civil rights organizations and became integral in groups striving for African American justice. She was also a passionate advocate for women's rights and suffrage.
BOOKS ABOUT IDA B. WELLS:
Harriet Tubman
ABOUT HARRIET:
Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the struggle for women's suffrage and became known as an icon of courage and freedom.
BOOKS ABOUT HARRIET TUBMAN:
Mae Jemison
ABOUT MAE:
Mae Carol Jemison was the first African-America female to be selected to join the NASA training program and the first to travel in space. She earned the title of science mission specialist – a job that would make her responsible for conducting crew-related scientific experiments on the space shuttle. Jemison is also an engineer and a physician.
BOOKS ABOUT MAE JEMISON:
Katherine Johnson
ABOUT KATHERINE:
Katherine Johnson is an American mathematician who calculated and analyzed the flight paths of many spacecraft during her more than three decades with the U.S. space program. During her career at NASA, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist".
