African American Coaches Day 2025 is on Tuesday, February 4, 2025: Who was the first African American to?

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1) TONY DUNGY -- He became the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears on February 4, 2007.

2) BILL RUSSELL -- In 1967-68, with Bill Russell as coach and player, the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship.

3) NO African American has gone "to the moon."

4) MADAME C. J. WALKER -- She formed Madame C. J. Walker Laboratories in Indianapolis, in 1910, where she developed products and trained her beauticians, known as “Walker Agents.” The agents and the products were recognized in black communities throughout the U.S. and Caribbean for promoting the philosophy that cleanliness and loveliness could advance the plight of African-Americans. By 1919, the year of her death, she had earned millions of dollars with her products. She was the first African American to earn "one million dollars."

5) HIRAM REVELS - In 1870, Hiram Revels became the first African American member of the United States Senate, when elected by the Mississippi legislature to serve as Senator from Mississippi from February 25, 1870 to March 4, 1871, during Reconstruction.

[NOTE: EDWARD BROOKE of Massachusetts was the first African American elected by popular vote (i.e., not by legislative body) to the U.S. Senate. He represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 1967 to 1979.]

6) BARACK OBAMA -- He became the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Tracing the genealogy of African Americans is a difficult process, because records were not kept for most African slaves. Another difficulty is that elder family members sometimes withhold pertinent genealogical information. Thus, JOSEPH J. ROBERTS, a freeborn black born in Virginia, who was elected Liberia's first President in 1847, is not generally regarded by historians to have been an "African American." The term did not exist in 1847; and when it was introduced, it had no clear definition.

7) EARL LLOYD -- I do not know your criteria for determining who was "successful in the NBA." IMHO, EARL LLOYD was the first African American to be regarded as a "success in the NBA." He was the first African American to play in an NBA game. The date was October 31, 1950, one day ahead of Charles Cooper of the Boston Celtics and four days before Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton of the New York Knicks. Nicknamed "Big Cat," he was drafted in the ninth round by the Washington Capitols after a successful career at West Virginia State College. The Washington franchise folded during his first year. He then went into the Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, before the Syracuse Nationals picked him up. During the 1954-55 season, Lloyd average 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds, helping the Nationals win the NBA title. He ended his playing career with the Detroit Pistons in 1962. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Is it an interesting fact that an African American head coach never won a Super Bowl until Super Bowl 41?

There are some good to great answers here. There are some answers that quickly prove that many who think they are enlightened really aren't.

No matter. I have the honor of being raised by parents and relatives who made their offspring realize that regardless of who we are and what we look like ... all people are important. We all count as a viable part of this beautiful earth. God created it for all people and most of us understand that even though we often forget it.

In answer to your question ... I was pleased to watch a Super Bowl where two outstanding head coaches (who just happened to be black) competed for the title of best in the world. I'm speaking of Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith who were the coaches for the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. I put it down as a simple coincidence and prefer to think of it as a regular game ... not one between two black head coaches but a game between two teams with outstanding players, staffs and team histories.

Just like Coke and Pepsi ... Two big boys battling for the top spot.

To those who think that it's a way of trying to be more important than others ... it really isn't.

The vast majority of holidays in this country are centered around those who aren't black who just happen to be in the majority. That's ok ... I'm not offended ... neither should anyone else be.

As a people blacks were/are a major part of this country's history though not always in a positive way.

If a day is created to help bring about a positive way of thinking for people who's past was a part of suffering/degradation (I'm talking about those who's history included slavery and everything that went with it ...) then I'm all for it. It doesn't make us better nor worse than others ... It simply gives us something to look forward to to help improve our outlook on life. Nothing more.

As far as two black head coaches playing for a title or a black head coach trying to win another title ... look at it this way.

Fritz Pollard was named the head coach of the Akron Pros in 1922. As far as I know he was the first and only black to coach a pro team. From 1920 until 1932, some 13 Blacks suited up in the NFL.

... But after the 1932 season, NFL owners voted to ban Blacks from the NFL. At the time, Joe Lillard ) and Ray Kemp were the only remaining Blacks in the league. In 1946 the league was re-integrated. Woody Strode (#27) and Kenny Washington signed with the L.A. Rams, while Bill Willis and Marion Motley signed with the Cleveland Browns. The four players were the first Blacks to play in the league since 1932 ...

Yes it is interesting. Yes it is important. But not so important to the exclusion of others. We need to get to a point where we root for the teams we love regardless of who coaches and plays for them. With the right training from both parents and public institutions we can educate ourselves and our youth to realize that we truly are all equal ...

who else is tired of hearing about two african american coaches in superbowl?

All of the people who didn't recognise that this was something so special. And now have to have the coverage of this issue shoved down there throats. What the coaches did as "people" not "black people" is what is important. The day we all don't make a big deal of things like this will be the day we made great progress towards no racism..