Black people have played a significant role throughout the world. Black history month is dedicated to honoring the struggles and triumphs of African Americans in U.S. history.
Recent protests and movements such as black lives matter have called upon inclusivity and full participation of the black community in various countries, especially in the U.S. and U.K.
Black History Trivia Questions and Answers – 2022 and 2023
Also, it is a time to recognize the heroic efforts and achievements made by black people. For instance, in the film industry, we have Tyler Perry’s productions, in boxing sports, Muhammad Ali is celebrated for playing tremendously, and the unstoppable civil rights defenders like Martin Luther King Jr e.t.c.
As you reminisce the greatness experienced by and with the people of black descent, this collection of black history trivia questions and answers will expand your knowledge horizons.
1. In 1996, Kofi Annan became the first black African Secretary Generation of which international organization?
2. When did the celebration of Black History Month begin?
3. Who was the first black goalkeeper to play in Britain?
4. Who was the first African American woman to win five Grammy Awards in one year?
5. Britain first passed an official act to outlaw the institution of slavery in which year?
6. Which President officially recognized Black History Month?
7. Who was the first African-American to graduate from Harvard University and become a U.S. senator?
8. What was the 2020 Black History Month Theme?
9. What is James St. Patrick’s nickname on the show Power?
10. Paul Stephenson, Roy Hackett, and Guy Bailey made history as part of the 1963 campaign against a bus firm that refused to hire Asian and black drivers in which city in the UK?
11. When did Rosa Parks’ bus boycott happen?
12. Which pioneer of hair products became the first black female millionaire in the U.S.?
13. When did Martin Luther King Jr. give his “I Have A Dream Speech”?
14. As a student at the Baltimore School of Performing Arts, rapper Tupac Shakur took which classes?
15. What was the approximate population of black people in London by the end of the 1700s?
16. What organization was formed on Feb. 12, 1909?
17. Who invented the three-position traffic signal in 1923 that includes the yellow light?
18. Born in Trinidad, Billy Ocean is the biggest selling black recording star in Britain. How many records has he sold during his lifetime?
19. Who wrote the bestselling memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”?
20. In 1981, Charles Chapman became the first black athlete to swim across which water region?
21. Before Barack Obama became President (2009-2017), he served as what?
22. Taraji P. Henson played Katherine G. Johnson in the movie Hidden Figures. What was Johnson known for?
23. Which black British newspaper was founded in 1995 by the Ghanaian son-in-law of Rupert Murdoch?
24. Who was the first African American Major League Baseball player?
25. What player hit 73 home runs in a season and earned Major League Baseball’s Silver Slugger Award 12 times?
26. Naomi Campbell was first on the cover of the French Vogue magazine in which year?
27. Who was the first African American Nobel Peace Prize winner?
28. Which footballer became the first black player to captain England in 1993?
29. What was the first historically black college in America?
30. The statue of which person was toppled by protestors during the Black Lives Matter movement in Bristol on June 7, 2020?
31. Died in London in 1881, which black nurse is known for saving the lives of many British soldiers in the 1885 Crimean War?
32. One of the first efforts to restrict rights was voter suppression laws. What is NOT one of the strategies used in the 1880s and 1890s to prevent African-Americans from voting?
33. Which black female singer performed three theme songs in the James Bond movies?
34. In 1939, she wasn’t able to perform at Constitution Hall because of a “white performers only” policy, but first lady Eleanor Roosevelt protested, and the singer eventually performed at Lincoln Memorial. Who is she?
35. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Who said that?
36. Which popular rap artist’s real name is Nayvadius Wilburn?
37. When did the first African American woman graduate from a nursing school in the United States?
38. British taxpayers stopped paying off incurred government debt to compensate slave owners due to the abolition of slavery. When did this happen?
39. Madame C.J. Walker became America’s first self-made female millionaire in 1910. What item or items lead to her accomplishment?
40. Which two historically black colleges played in the first college football game between black schools in 1892?
41. What was the Greenwood area of Tulsa, Oklahoma also known as in 1921?
42. In which year were the first African slaves brought to North America?
43. What is Rosa Parks known for?
44. The Tulsa riots were a confrontation between some of the white communities of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the nearby black community of Greenwood. What best describes Greenwood just prior to the riots?
45. Wilfred Wood was the first black to become what?
46. Fifteen jockeys rode in the very first Kentucky Derby. How many of the fifteen were African-American?
47. When did Keith Vaz, Bernie Grant, Paul Boateng, and Diane Abbott become the first black member of parliaments in the U.K?
48. In 1870 what state elected the first African American to be seated as a Representative in the United States Congress?
49. Who was the first African American to serve as the United States Secretary of State?
50. Who was the first black newsreader in Britain in 1968?
51. Billie Holliday, also known as “Lady Day”, was one of the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century. She is best known for the song “God Bless the Child” and also “Strange Fruit”. What was this ‘strange fruit’ a metaphor for?
52. At its peak, what was the approximate slave population in America?
53. Who was the first African American Supreme Court Justice?
54. Who was the first black person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950?
55. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818 before becoming one of the nation’s greatest abolitionist speakers, authors, and publishers. When he was an adolescent, he secretly taught himself to read and subsequently taught other slaves under cover of night. In what Baltimore shipbuilding neighborhood did he accomplish this?
56. Which system of institutionalized racial segregation existed in South West Africa and South Africa from 1948 to the 1990s?
57. In what year was the Black Panther Party founded?
58. In which year was slavery abolished in America with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment?
59. Which two members co-founded the Black Panther Party?
60. Which U.S. President signed the Emancipation Act, which gave all slaves in America their freedom?
61. What year did the first Africans arrive in America?
62. The first Jim Crow law segregated train passengers. Where was it passed?
63. What famous American was presented with the Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson in December 1963?
64. Which person was born in Massachusetts, was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard, and wrote ‘Souls of Black Folk’?
65. In what year was the Congressional Black Caucus organized?
66. Who was the first colonist slain in the Boston Massacre?
67. Who is the author of ‘Native Son’?
68. What US Supreme Court decision created the legal fiction of “separate but equal”?
69. In what year did the music Grammy Awards television broadcast first feature an African American host?
70. 1823 saw Alexander Twilight gain his place in African American History. What event marked his historic first in American history?
71. Why did Dick Rowland, who worked as a shoe shiner at a Main Street shine parlor enter the Drexel Building?
72. What was the name of the bus driver who ordered Parks to give up her seat? A name he shares with a professional tennis player?
73. At the time of the riots, the Ku Klux Klan was active in the Tulsa area. The KKK enjoyed positive publicity from a movie that played all over the United States. What was that movie?
74. Which famous boxer grew up in Prince George’s County?
75. Charles Evers was elected Mayor of the same state where his brother was assassinated, Mississippi. What town elected Evers Mayor?
76. What is the main purpose of black history month?
77. Who became the first U.S. track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad?
79. What was the date the BPP and police officers had a shoot-out that left Huey Newton wounded and charged with killing a police officer?
80. The term “Black American” or “African American” refers to whom?
81. Which future Panther wrote “Soul on Ice” while in prison?
82. Which group of people is considered to be the 3rd largest ethnic group in the USA?
83. In 1848, people who opposed the spread of slavery were called?
84. Most African American belongs from which part of Africa?
85. Which female athlete won silver in the heptathlon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympcis, then gold in 1988 and 1992, earning her the accolade of “the greatest multi-event female athlete in history“?
86. Atlantic slave trade is also called what?
87. What was the name of the organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
88. After being slaved what were the major tasks of Black Africans?
89. Captain Paul Cuffe was?
90. According to which act do only white citizens have permission to Vote in America?
91. This botanist, born a slave, became famous for his contributions to agricultural science. Who was this man, grand promoter of peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, widely credited with inventing peanut butter?
92. What is the name of the central character of ‘Native Son’?
93. Which African American has been privileged to become the first president of America?
94. What did Blind Tom’s mother do to keep him and his siblings safe when he was still a toddler, while she tended to her own work?
95. The very first slaves from Africa arrived in which Colony?
96. What novel is the basis for the D.W. Griffith film “The Birth of a Nation”?
97. Do you know the birthdate of King Jr?
98. Who was the first African American person to be invited by the President of the United States to dine in the White House?
99. In 1948 King Martin complete his degree in which subject from Morehouse College?
100. In December 1943, Rosa Parks became an active member of which civil rights group?
101. In 1953 who was King Martin Luther King married to?
102. The Tulsa Riots occurred just after a major war. Both black and white veterans from that war were involved in the riots, bringing their weapons and army training with them. Which war was it?
103. Martin Luther King has how many children? Do you remember their names?
104. The first Black professional player in the National Hockey League, was a member on which team?
105. In which year did Martin Luther King complete his Ph.D. degree?
106. Robert Weaver became the first Black cabinet member of a United States President. Which President appointed him?
107. Which day is known as Martin Luther King Jr. Day in America?
108. Who was the first African American to successfully perform open-heart surgery?
109. Martin Luther king Jr assassinated on which date?
110. What are the main points of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
111. Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Oscar. For which movie did she win it?
112. Initially, who proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
113. What was the name of the newspaper Frederick Douglass published?
114. It’s funny but it is true that 12.5 million Africans shipped to the USA, but only 388,000 reached to America, All other slaves migrated towards?
115. Where was the first formal protest against slavery?
116. Do you know the name of the first African American female pilot to get a license?
117. What year did the ‘Zoot Suit Riots’ take place?
118. Interracial marriage was banned in America during which era?
119. What was Malcolm X’s birth name?
120. During which years did Obama serve as the U.S. Senator?
121. In 1824 I was the first African American to earn a bachelor’s degree. Who am I?
122. Obama was born in which city of Hawaii?
123. What southern-born US President set back race relations in the United States by decades when he re-segregated the federal government?
124. In 1983, from which University did Obama get his graduation degree?
125. Who was the first African American entertainer to be featured in a regular role on a nationally broadcast radio program?
126. “The Greatest” is the nickname of which famous black personality?
127. Why did some of the 1000+ white men gathered in front of the courthouse leave after the armed black men offered their assistance to the police?
128. What is the old name of Muhammad Ali? And in which year did he become a Muslim?
129. The arrest of a young black man, Dick Rowland, started the events that led to the riots. What was he accused of?
130. Do you know the birthplace of Muhammad Ali?
131. What crop did African slaves teach their owners how to properly grow?
132. In which year did Muhammad Ali retire from boxing?
133. Known as the “World’s Greatest Gospel Singer”, this artist was born in New Orleans on October 26, 1911. At the age of 16, she moved to Chicago where her gospel career would take off and change the sound of religious music everywhere. Who was she?
134. What state was the first to abolish slavery?
135. In 1808, a bill was signed into law that made it illegal to import slaves into the USA. Which President signed the bill?
136. Who was the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad?
137. In what year was The Southern Christian Leadership founded?
138. What author of ‘Song of Solomon’ won the Nobel Prize for literature?
139. During the “Red Summer” of 1919, what major US city witnessed a two-week race riot that resulted in 38 deaths?
140. Who was the first African American actress to be cast as a “Bond Girl” in a James Bond Movie?
141. What was the name of the local leader of the NAACP, who was one of the first to take action (in the form of the Montgomery Bus Boycott) in response to Parks’ arrest?
142. Who was the first African-American to grace the cover of a major national fashion magazine?
143. Who was the first (male) black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor?
144. What disease did Harriet Tubman reportedly suffer from?
145. Who founded PUSH?
146. During the “Red Summer” of 1919, what southern state had race riots that caused the death of at least 100 African-American sharecroppers?
147. Who was the first African American man to be selected for the Astronaut training program?
148. Another key player in the Montgomery Bus Boycott was Jo-Ann Robinson, leader of the WPC. But what did the WPC stand for?
149. What life-saving device did Garrett A. Morgan patent?
150. What author traced his roots back to Africa and wrote a book which inspired a television mini-series?
