February is Black History Month, and while most people have heard of the amazing accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, and Aretha Franklin, there are hundreds of other heroes out there.
Filled with stories of bravery, determination, justice, compassion, and talent, here are 20 Black Americans who changed the world as we know it!
1. Claudette Colvin was just 15 years old when she refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She stood up for her rights before Rosa Parks famously did the same.
Jérémy Levif performed "How Long Will I Love You" in French and English during his blind audition for "The Voice UK" and had the judges fighting over him.
Sumatran orangutans like Berani are not known for being particularly involved in child-rearing. Yet after his mate Nias passed away last December, that’s exactly what he has done!
Nias was just 32 when she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest resulting from an undetected degenerative heart disease. Incredibly, after she passed away, her partner took over parenting Cerah, their 2-year-old baby.
These orangutans live at the Denver Zoo in Colorado. According to the World Wildlife Federation, Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered with only 14,613 of them remaining in the world. Nias was first brought to the zoo back in 2005, where she had two children. Hesty, her oldest daughter, is now 11.
His handler, Deputy Tyler Turpin, often shares videos of Arlo on the job and off. Together, they’ve amassed a fan base of more than 2 million, and it’s easy to understand the appeal!
Sgt. Rod Ditrich, the department’s K-9 unit supervisor, described Arlo as “an amazing dog” and added, “He’s just so enthusiastic and he’s one of our most vocal, energetic dogs that we’ve got he just is always happy, wants to please, just an amazing animal. Super easy to train.” Sign up for our free daily email.
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