From Frederick Douglass to Barack Obama: An MLK Salute to 10 Who Paved the Way

Booker T. Washington: With the founding of the Tuskegee Institute, Washington provided a great education for countless African-Americans. He eventually became known as the most powerful African-American in the nation and, for his efforts, became the first African American to receive an invitation to dinner at the White House.

Martin Luther King Jr: Do we really need to explain MLK’s inclusion? This man, one of the most respected civil-rights leaders in history — if not the most respected — helped break down the nation’s color barrier and set the course for a more inclusive American dream. Without him, well, it’s likely Obama never would have made it to the primary. Or, for that matter, the Illinois state Senate!

Thurgood Marshall: Thurgood Marshall rose to fame for winning case after case before the Supreme Court, including 1954’s seminal Brown vs. Board of Education, which desegregated schools. A little more than a decade later, Marshall would become the high court’s first African-American jurist.

Robert C. Weaver: Weaver left an indelible mark on Washington when, in 1966, he became the first African-American to hold a Cabinet-level position. Weaver served as Lyndon Johnson’s Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, which was created that very year.

Douglas Wilder: The first African American to be elected as governor of a state (Virginia), serving from 1990-1994.

Colin Powell: Powell was the first African-American to serve as Secretary of State, but he was the first — and so far only — black man to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Jesse Jackson: Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama may have had their political differences in the past, but it can certainly be argued that Jackson’s 1984 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination — and, also, his 1988 efforts — helped lay the groundwork for Obama’s historic election.