Powell, Colin Luther
1937-2021 · Contribution: 1989-2005
Law & Civil Rights
First African American Secretary of State; first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1937-2021
- Category
- Law & Civil Rights
Impact on the world
Powell reached the pinnacle of both the U.S. military and its diplomatic corps, becoming the most prominent Black figure in national-security leadership of his era.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State (Office of the Historian)
1 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Law & Civil Rights
Allen, Macon Bolling
1816-1894
First African American lawyer in the United States (1844); among the earliest Black judicial officeholders (Justice of the Peace, 1847)
Bedford, Louis A. Jr.
1926-2014
First African American judge in Dallas County, Texas
Bolin, Jane Matilda
1908-2007
First Black woman to become a judge in the United States
Booker, Cory Anthony
1969-
First African American U.S. senator from New Jersey