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Black Americans Make Our Own History
Global Impact Of Black Inventors
🔧 1. Revolutionizing Everyday Life
Black inventors have created tools and systems that are integral to daily life today:
- Garrett Morgan – Invented the three-position traffic signal, making streets safer worldwide. Also developed a gas mask used by military forces globally.
- Sarah Boone – Improved the ironing board, transforming garment care in homes across the world.
- Alexander Miles – Patented improvements to automatic elevator doors, a standard safety feature in buildings globally.
🏭 2. Pioneering Industrial and Agricultural Innovation
Black inventors boosted efficiency and safety in large-scale industries:
- George Washington Carver – Revolutionized Southern agriculture with crop rotation methods and hundreds of applications for peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, reducing global soil depletion and inspiring sustainable farming.
- Norbert Rillieux – Invented the multiple-effect evaporator, radically improving sugar refining and industrial chemical processes used around the globe.
🧬 3. Advancing Health & Medicine
- Dr. Charles Drew – Developed techniques for storing blood plasma, establishing blood banks. His innovations saved millions of lives during WWII and still save lives in emergency medicine globally.
- Patricia Bath – Created the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment. Her work restored vision to millions and democratized eye care internationally.
💻 4. Impacting Technology & Military Systems
- Mark Dean – Co-invented the ISA bus and helped develop the color PC monitor and first gigahertz chip. His innovations enabled personal computing as we know it.
- Granville T. Woods – Known as the “Black Edison,” he held 50+ patents and revolutionized railroad communication systems, many of which were adopted by global train networks.
🌍 5. Cultural and Global Legacy
Black American inventors have shown that innovation thrives under resistance. Despite facing racism, systemic barriers, and exclusion from patent systems, many pushed forward to create technologies that enhanced life not just in America, but worldwide.
Their perseverance and genius:
- Inspired generations of innovators worldwide.
- Helped shape the global narrative of Black excellence.
- Contributed to the economic and intellectual fabric of the U.S.—which in turn influenced its global dominance in science and industry.
🌱 The Broader Value: Inspiration, Identity & Legacy
- Their stories are beacons of resilience and brilliance for marginalized communities globally.
- Their inventions form a bridge between struggle and empowerment.
- They lay the foundation for initiatives like Roots and Wings, which seek to unify and elevate African-descended communities through innovation, history, and purpose.
Blacks Don't Fake, We Make It
Frederick McKinley Jones
Frederick McKinley Jones
Frederick McKinley Jones
(May 17, 1893 – February 21, 1961) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, engineer, winner of the National Medal of Technology, and an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He innovated mobile refrigeration technology. Jones received 61 patents, including 40 for refrigeration technology, and also revolutionized the cinema industry by creating a superior sound system for projectors at the time. Jones co-founded Thermo King and also served as a Sergeant in World War I. Due to his contributions to refrigeration technology, Jones is called the "Father of Refrigerated Transportation", and the "King of Cool"
Garrett Morgan
Frederick McKinley Jones
Frederick McKinley Jones
(March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963) was an American inventor, businessman, and community leader. His most notable inventions were a type of three-way traffic light in 1923, and a protective 'smoke hood' notably used in a 1916 tunnel construction disaster rescue. Morgan also discovered and developed a chemical hair-processing and straightening solution. He created a successful company called "G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company" based on his hair product inventions and a complete line of hair care products. He was involved in African Americans' civic and political advancement, especially in and around Cleveland, Ohio.
Marie Van Brittan Brown/Albert Brown
Marie Van Brittan Brown/Albert Brown
Marie Van Brittan Brown/Albert Brown
Marie Van Brittan Brown (October 30, 1922 – February 2, 1999) was an American nurse, her husband Albert L. Brown, an electronics technician. In 1966 they invented an audio-visual home security system ("Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance"). That same year they applied for a patent for their security system. It was granted three years later in 1969.
Henry Blair
Marie Van Brittan Brown/Albert Brown
Marie Van Brittan Brown/Albert Brown
His first invention was a seed-planter, patented October 14, 1834, which allowed farmers to plant more corn using less labor.
On August 31, 1836, he obtained a second patent for a cotton planter. This worked by splitting the ground with two shovel-like blades which a horse pulled along. A wheel-driven cylinder followed, dropping the seed into the newly plowed ground.