BlackHistoryMonth: Where Did These Influential Black Leaders Go to College?

In honor of Black History Month, we want to celebrate some influential Black leaders of the past and present and challenge you to a round of trivia. Do you know where they went to college?

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. is known for being an instrumental civil rights activist during the mid-20th century. His nonviolent campaigns for equality - such as marches, strikes, and speeches - proved instrumental in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1955. Dr. King was awarded several awards including the Nobel Peace Prize for Civil Rights and Social Justice.

Where Did Martin Luther King Jr. Go to College? (Pick up to two)
  • Morehouse College
  • UCLA
  • UC Berkeley
  • Boston University
  • NYU

0 voters

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was an award-winning writer of essays, novels, and children’s books. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Beloved, which explored themes of identity, humanity, and slavery. Morrison became the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature and was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Where Did Toni Morrison Go to College? (Pick up to two)
  • Howard University
  • Harvard
  • Cornell
  • UCLA
  • Stanford

0 voters

Mae Jemison

In 1992 as a member of the STS-47 mission, Mae Jemison became the first Black woman in space. Jemison also served as a doctor in the Peace Corps while volunteering in Liberia and Sierra Leone, is an author, a professor, and scientific researcher.

Where Did Mae Jemison Go to College? (Pick up to two)
  • Cornell
  • Harvard
  • Stanford
  • Howard University
  • UCLA

0 voters

1 Like

Barack Obama

Barack Obama is a politician, lawyer, and author. He served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Obama was the first African American president of the United States. In 2009, President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Where Did Barack Obama Go to College? (Pick up to three)
  • Occidental College
  • Columbia
  • Harvard
  • U. Chicago
  • UCLA
  • UC Davis

0 voters

Kizzmekia Corbett

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is a viral immunologist known for her work on coronavirus vaccines, which she began studying in 2014. Her extensive work on mRNA-1273 was used by her team to design and rapidly deploy the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Corbett is currently an assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard University. For her work on the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, Dr. Corbett has received several honors including an NAACP Key of Life Award, USA Today’s 2022 Woman of the Year, and more.

Where Did Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett Go to College? (Pick up to two)
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  • Harvard
  • UCLA
  • UNC Chapel Hill
  • Stanford

0 voters

Leslie Odom Jr.

Leslie Odom Jr. is an award-winning actor and singer best known for his role as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. He has acted in several tv show and movies including Glass Onion (2022). Odom’s awards include a Tony Award, a Grammy Award, and more.

Where Did Leslie Odom Jr. Go to College?
  • Howard University
  • Morehouse College
  • Stanford
  • Carnegie Mellon
  • UCLA

0 voters

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is the first Black, first South Asian American, and first woman vice-president of the United States. Before serving a vice-president Harris served as a US senator, California Attorney General, and as District Attorney of San Francisco.

Where Did Kamala Harris Go to College? (Pick up to two)
  • Howard University
  • Columbia
  • Harvard
  • University of California, Hastings College
  • Stanford

0 voters

Gerald Williams

Gerald Williams is an award-winning artist whose work highlights topics of culture and identity through use of color and abstraction. Williams is also known for being the founding member of the AfriCOBRA collective, which was integral aspect of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Where Did Gerald Williams Go to College? (Pick up to two)
  • Chicago State University
  • Harvard
  • Howard University
  • University of Chicago
  • Stanford

0 voters

Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman is a poet, writer, and activist known for delivering messages of change, hope, and perseverance. Gorman was the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate from 2014 to 2015 and was the National Youth Poet Laureate from April 2017 to April 2018. She is most known for delivering the inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb at the inauguration of President Biden, at which time she earned her place as the youngest inaugural poet in US History.

Where Did Amanda Gorman Go to College?
  • Howard University
  • Morehouse College
  • Stanford
  • Harvard
  • NYU

0 voters

Lizzo

Lizzo is an award-winning artist known for her chart-topping songs. In addition to releasing some of today’s most well-known hits, she has lent her voice to several films and tv shows. Among her many awards Lizzo has won three Grammys and was Time’s 2019 Entertainer of the Year.

Where Did Lizzo Go to College?
  • Howard University
  • Morehouse College
  • Florida A&M University
  • University of Houston
  • Fisk University

0 voters

Thank you for starting this post.

3 Likes

These are sort of trick questions. For each of them, two answers could be correct, unless you are asking strictly about undergraduate studies.

@CCName1, nothing tricky here. For each question there is an instruction specifying how many answers are correct, e.g. “pick up to 2 answers”.

Ah! It was very late. I even re-read! Clearly I was a reading fail!

No worries, @CCName1!

Trick question, since there are three correct answers of the five choices.

The poll allows you to choose three for him. I’ve updated the verbage

But wasn’t one of them for grad school?

All of these options include the graduate/professional school they attended, if applicable

1 Like