Famous Alabama Black Women

Most of us know famous black women who either hail from or adopted Alabama as home.  One of the most famous names is Rosa Parks.  But, do you know that Coretta Scott King was an Alabama native? Margaret Murray Washington, third wife of Booker T., wasn't born in Alabama (she's from Mississippi), but she did her most important work in Alabama.  Although the famed writer would call Eatonville, Florida her home, Zora Neale Hurston was born in Alabama.  So were writers Margaret Walker Alexander and Sonia Sanchez.  Activist and scholar Angela Davis is from Alabama as well.  The list goes on and on and on for these wonderful women.  Finally, I know this is reaching, but the mothers of three of my all-time favorite musicians were from Alabama: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Karen Clark-Sheard (and her sisters, the Clark Sisters). I'm sure I can find more.  We've also produced several famous political women, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman.  Let's also not forget the current Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Regina Benjamin, hails from Alabama; so does freshman Congresswoman Terri Sewell.  Whether it's because of or in spite of, Alabama has produced some phenomenal, historical black women.