- New York area 7 million
Interesting Facts -he New York City Metropolitan area represents the largest Black population in the Country. African Americans have a rich history in this region even before the civil war. New York City Proper has more than 2.5 million African Americans.
The largest most concentrated Black population in America consists of more than 900,000 African Americans living in a 4 mile square area in the New York Borough of Brooklyn. Harlem, located at the north end of Manhattan is still the most dense (people per square mile) Black community in the nation. Harlem has been regarded as the symbolic capital Black AmericaIn the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem. This African-American cultural movement became known as “The New Negro Movement” and later as the Harlem Renaissance. More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage. Harlem was the center of a blossoming of black culture and became known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of artistic, educational, and overall cultural production. Brooklyn is a cultural giant in Black America. In much of southeast Queens such as Cambria Heights, Hollis, Laurelton, and Saint Albans, is an area of middle-class neat detached houses with manicured lawns. Blacks in Queens have a higher median income than Whites.
Famous Black people from New York Denzel Washington, JayZ , P Diddy, Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent, Charlie Rangel, Nas, DJ Cool Herc, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Carmelo Anthony, Vannessa Williams, DMX, Aaliyah, Biggie Smalls, Tupac,
2. Atlanta, Georgia 2 million
Interesting Facts- Rated as the city where Blacks are doing the best economically. With its well-established religious and educational institutions, notably Spelman and Morehouse, which are ranked first and third, respectively, by US News among the nation’s historically black colleges, the area has arguably the strongest infrastructure for African-American advancement in the country. The superlatives extend well beyond glamour to the basics of everyday life. Some 46.9% the metro area’s black population owned their own homes as of 2013, well above the 38% major metro average for African-Americans. Atlanta’s African-Americans have a median household income of $41,800, also considerably above the major metro average, while their rate of self-employment, 17.1%, is second only to New Orleans.
Atlanta is home to Famous Black people like Martin Luther King, Jr, Herman Russel, Tyler Perry, Usher, Andre 3000, TI, Lil Jon, Monica, Jermaine Dupri, Future, Young Jeezy, Raven Symone, Christ Tucker, Young Thug, TLC, 112, Members of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Keri Hilson,
3. Chicago, Illinois 1.7 million
Interesting facts – Nicknamed the “Heart of Black America” Chicagos was founded by a Black man in 1779, and is largest city in America with a Black plurality. Today, comprising well over a third of the city, Chicago’s black population historically has had the country’s second largest in overall numbers, after New York City. However, blacks make up a larger percentage of Chicago than they do of New York City. The large South Side is the cultural center of Chicago’s black community. The South Side along with the adjoining south suburbs constitutes the largest single Black region in the entire country, and boasts the country’s greatest concentration of black-owned businesses. Today Chicago boasts miles and miles of black middle class neighborhoods. Major black businesses and leaders – many of them friends and supporters of Obama -still thrive in the city. They include Loop Capital founder James Reynolds and Johnson Publishing Company CEO Desiree Rogers. Chicago is home to many famous influential Black people like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Louis Farrakhan,Kanye West, MrT, Jennifer Hudson, John Johnson, Carol Moseley Braun, and Jessie Jackson,
4. Washington D.C 1.6 million
Interesting Facts – Washington became the first city to have a majority African-American population and the population of the city exceeded 800,000. The District was long an attractive destination for African-Americans leaving the South, as it was both nearby and a bastion of tolerance and progressivism in race relations.
It was the home of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the first of the formerly-segregated U.S. cities to integrate its public schools in 1954. D.C. is also home to Howard University in Shaw, one of the nation’s most important historically black colleges. At one point, D.C. had the highest number of black residents of any U.S. city after New York City and had the highest percentage of black residents of any U.S. city, earning it the nickname “Chocolate City”. U Street in Shaw was known as Black Broadway due to its theatres and black performers. DC is also home to BET. DC has had a Black mayor since 1967 almost 50 years. The persisting influence of African-American culture upon D.C.’s identity is obvious in the popular consciousness, the city government, local sports, popular culture, and, above all, the local intellectual and philosophical movements. DC is home to famous Influential Blacks such as Claude Anderson, Neely Fuller, Francis Cress Welsing, Duke Ellington, David Chappelle, Robert Johnson, Cathy Hughes, Donahue Peebles
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia 1.5 million
Interesting Facts- The Black American population in a city proper in Philadelphia is the third-largest in the country, after New York City and Chicago. Historically, West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia were largely black neighborhoods, but many are leaving these areas in favor of the Northeast and Southwest sections of Philadelphia. There is a higher proportion of Muslims in the Black American population than most cities in America. West Philadelphia also has significant Caribbean and African immigrant populations. Philadelphia is home to famous Blacks like Will Smith, Bill Cosby, Eve, Umar Johnson, etc
6. Miami, Florida 1.5 million
Interesting Facts-
Black people have always been a part of Miami’s history. Before Julia Tuttle and Henry Flagler, who were credited as the builders of Miami, Black people, mostly Bahamians, were already here as the first settlers. Black people were also critical to Miami’s incorporation in 1896 and were needed to sign the city’s charter in order to reach the number of male voters needed to form a new city. Of the 368 men who voted to incorporate Miami, 162 of them were Black. Overtown was Miami’s Black Wallstreet and the Harlem of the South. Fisher Island has been home to the likes of Oprah and Mel Gibson and is only accessible by ferry or boat, but most people don’t know that Fisher Island was originally first owned by a black man – real estate developer Dana A. Dorsey.
In its heyday in the early 1900’s and once known as Colored Town, Overtown hosted major entertainers who performed at Miami Beach but could not stay at those hotels. Entertainers like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Nat King Cole would stay at boutique hotels in Overtown after their performances in addition to legends like Jackie Robinson and W.E.B. Du Bois. Overtown also had a bustling nightlife where these entertainers would often perform at venues like the Lyric Theater, Harlem Square Club, the Cotton Club, and more.Shortly thereafter, the Black Police Precinct and Courthouse was created in Overtown so that Black officers could patrol the Black neighborhood and fight racial injustices.
In addition to being a popular destination for entertainers, Overtown was also home to some of Miami’s thriving black businesses, which included a black-owned hotel, a pharmacist, doctors, dentists, hospitals, and many other successful Black businesses. All of that changed when the construction of I-95 and the railroad ripped through the heart of Overtown, dismantling the once thriving neighborhood and displacing its residents to parts north to Liberty City and other neighborhoods. As a result, many of the area’s businesses, shops, and restaurants were forced to close, and Overtown lost its luster and fell into deep poverty. Immigrants arrived from the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and other countries throughout the Western Hemisphere. In the late 1970s and for the next 17 years, some 25,000 to 35,000 Haitians settled in Miami, fleeing political repression and poverty in their country and looking for a better life for themselves and their children. Miami’s Haitian refugees settled in a decaying 200-square-block area bordered by 41st Street and the Little River at 83rd Street and by the I-95 Expressway and Biscayne Boulevard. Formerly known as Edison/Little River, the neighborhood is now marked by its numerous Haitian residents who make up close to 65 percent of its population and is today widely known as Little Haiti.
Famous Blacks from Miami are Trina, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, Jason Derulo, Garcelle Beauvais, Sidney Poitier, Flo Rida
7. Los Angeles 1.485 million
Interesting Facts – Los Angeles is home to the richest Black Neighborhood in America, and the largest Black community west of the Mississippi.
However, since its inception, black Angelenos have always played a major role in LA’s history and culture. Los Angeles is one of the only major US cities founded largely by people of black African ancestry. In 1903, almost 2,000 more blacks were brought to LA by the Southern Pacific Railroad to break a Mexican-American strike. In the 1930s, the character of black migration to Los Angeles changed. From 1890 – 1915, most were aspiring members of the black middle class, arriving from Atlanta, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Texas. However, the Great Migration that had seen many blacks leave the South for northern cities largely bypassed Los Angeles. In the 1930s, about 25,000 blacks — usually from much poorer backgrounds — arrived largely from Dallas, Houston, and New Orleans. Beginning in the 1930s, South Central became the premier center of West Coast jazz, fostering local and touring musicians and as a result acquired the nickname of “the Harlem of the West.”
By 1910, more than 36% of black Angelenos owned their own homes — the highest percentage of black home ownership in the nation at the time. That same year W. E. B. Du Bois described it as a “wonderful place.” The black population leapfrogged south past Skid Row and established itself along South Central Avenue. By 1915, the black-owned California Eagle publication was referring to South Central as the city’s “Black Belt.
From approximately 1920 to 1955, Central Avenue was the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles, with active rhythm and blues and jazz music scenes, such as Jazz Legend Charles Mingus. In 1928, World War I veteran William J. Powell founded the Bessie Coleman Aero Club. In 1931, Powell organized the first all-black air show in the United States for the Club in Los Angeles, an event that drew 15,000 visitors. Powell also established a school to train mechanics and pilots. In addition to the wartime industries, Hollywood began to attract more black actors and entertainers. Among many others, Eartha Kitt, Hadda Brooks, Harry Belafonte, and Sidney Poitier made their film debuts during the ’40s. MGM released lavish, black cinema spectacles like Cabin in the Sky (1943). Independent black cinema, largely as a result of the talent and audience drain, died.
With the rising medium of television, the film industry began to feel its first serious competition. In the 1950s, there were only two black TV shows, The Beulah Show and Amos & Andy. Hollywood responded with more big, black-themed films like United Artists‘ The Joe Louis Story (1953), 20th Century Fox‘s Carmen Jones (1954), and Columbia Pictures‘ Porgy & Bess (1959). Black actors like Billy Dee Williams and Ossie Davis among others began their film acting careers during the decade.
The Watts Riots took place in 1965. It marked the first major rebellion of Blacks against racism or brutality. In the wake of the riots, Maulana Karenga and Hakim Jamal formed the black nationalist US Organization, o
In 1972, Wattstax, also known as the “Black-Woodstock,” takes place in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Over 100,000 black residents of Los Angeles attended this concert for African American pride. Later, in 1973, a documentary was released about the concert. he same year, Gordon Parks made The Learning Tree at Warner Bros studios in Burbank, the first Hollywood film directed by a black filmmaker. 1970, Melvin van Peebles made Watermelon Man in Toluca Lake for Columbia. The two basically kicked off the Blaxploitation movement alongside Ossie Davis, who filmed Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) in New York. Parks’ follow-up was Shaft (1971), and Van Peebles’s was Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971).
In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected as Mayor of Los Angeles, a role he’d hold for 20 years. L.A.’s first African American mayor, Bradley served over five terms, prior to the establishment of successive term limits, making him the longest-serving mayor of Los Angeles. During his tenure he oversaw LA host the Olympics in 1984, LA pass Chicago as the second largest city in the country, and unfortunately, the Los Angeles Riots, shortly after which his popularity declined and he retired.
In 1991, Rodney King was beaten by police officers. His videotaped beating was controversial, and heightened racial tensions in Los Angeles. Just 13 days after the videotaped beating of King, a 15-year-old African-American girl named Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a 51-year-old Korean store owner named Soon Ja Du. A jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16-years. However, trial judge, Joyce Karlin, sentenced Du five years of probation, four hundred hours of community service, and a $500 fine.
When four Los Angeles Police Department officers were acquitted of charges associated with the beating of Rodney King, the decision led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the biggest riot in U.S History, in terms of damage. Over 63 people were killed, 2,383 people were injured, More than 2,300 Korean-owned businesses were destroyed. Asian-American and property damages approached the $1 billion mark. Half of those arrested and a third of those killed were Latino. The trial of the O. J. Simpson murder case took place in 1994
In Living Color (filmed in Hollywood) and the films of Spike Lee scoring mainstream hits. After many years in Hollywood with almost no films with black casts, things changed for a brief moment. New Line filmed 1990’s House Party in Monrovia and Culver City. 1991’s Boyz N the Hood was filmed in Inglewood. Friday was filmed in Compton.
In the late 1990s, many African Americans moved away from the traditional African-Americans neighborhoods, which overall reduced the black population of the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Many African Americans moved to eastern Los Angeles suburbs in Riverside County and San Bernardino County in the Inland Empire, such as Moreno Valley.[5] From 1980 to 1990 the Inland Empire had the United States’s fastest-growing black population. Between the 1980 U.S. Census and the 1990 U.S. Census, the black population increased by 119%. As of 1990 the Inland Empire had 169,128 black people. Lancaster has more blocks with a “substantial” mix (meaning that at least a quarter of the residents are white and a quarter are black) than any community in LA, or any other city in the county for that matter.
Many new African-American businesses appear in the Inland Empire, and many of these businesses have not been previously established elsewhere.
Los Angeles is home 1.View Park-Windsor Hills, 2.Baldwin Hills, and Ladera Heights, the richest Black majority place in terms of Average Income.
The area is the single largest geographically middle- and upper-class Black community in the United States.
Los Angeles is home to famous Black people like Magic Johnson, Dr.Dre, Janice Bryant Howroyd, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Serena Williams. From L.A’s Black community came Kwanzaa, Bloods and Crips, Gangsta Rap
8. Houston 1.4 million
Interesting Facts – It is the fourth largest city in America, Houston boasts a large Black middle class, and a solid economy, it is also one of the most affordable cities in the nation. Phrases like “the new Black Mecca” and “the next Atlanta” have been used as if Houston is currently the best kept secret in Black America. Meanwhile, Houston has Texas Southern in the heart of the Third Ward (still the hub of inner-city African-American culture with things like Emancipation Park, TSU, Riverside, Project Row Houses, S.H.A.P.E, numerous mega-churches and the growing Almeda Rd. corridor) and Prairie View ATM just up the road off of US 290. Houston has been ranked as the best 3rd best city to start a Black Owned Business.Houston had the lowest rate of Black infantdeaths and a relatively low percentage of children living in single-parenthouseholds (typically without fathers).Houston currently has a Black mayor and has had two in total. The largest non Black Majority city to do so. The good thing about this city is when other cities were abandoning affirmative action Houstonians went to the polls and supported it. Millions of dollars have gone to African-American firms here because of affirmative action.” Houston is also home to CAMAC Energy the Second largest Black Owned Energy Company in America and it is also home the City that does the most trade with the African Continent at $20 billion. Ranked as Second best city for Black Entrepreneurs.
Houston is home to home to famous Black people like Beyonce, Phylliscia Rashad, Kase Lawal
9. Detroit 1.1 million
Interesting Facts – The City of Detroit has the highest Percentage of Blacks of any U.S City. Detroit is home to Famous Blacks like Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, and Berry Gordy
10. Dallas 1.1 million
More African-American people than ever are moving to Dallas – but not without apprehension. Many claim Dallas is not as progressive as other popular African American cities, but it is swiftly growing into a professional African American magnet due to massive opportunity and low cost of living. Dallas has a large and growing Black middle-class. This is evident by the number of young Black families now enjoying home ownership in the area. Much of the Black population is educated and highly skilled. Although Dallas is not known for its Black entrepreneurship there are several thousand Black owned business and hundreds of top African American executives. Dallas is home to famous Blacks such as Erykah Badu, TD Jakes, and Michael Johnson
Technological industries lead in Dallas.
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