February, a month in which many associated it with love. Love is not the primary focus of February, as an inspiring Historian, it means the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and most importantly Black History Month.

Now, I wanted to present people that are important to Black History Month and not many people know. So I collaborated with my best friend in Ohio, who is passionate about the Civil Rights Movement and Black history (you should follow her on Instagram @xlittle_shannon). After a few hours of narrowing down people from the huge list, that I was given from my lovely best friend. I found five people who contributed a huge part of Black History.

1. Andrew Young

A Georgia native, Young was a prominent leader during the Civil Rights serving as a senior aide to Martin Luther King Jr. in the Southern Christain Leadership Conference. Eventually leaving the organization in 1970 to run for Congress, he may have lost the 1970 election, but was victorious during the 1972 election thus becoming the first black representative of the state in a century.

2. John F. Kennedy

A marvelous president, he was the first president actually to do something about the Civil Rights. He may not have integrated the military, but he was responsible for integrating Ole Miss and the University of Alabama. JFK fought until his last breath to make sure integration was complete, he was assassinated in 1963, and Lyndon B. Johnson took over the integration process which was passed in 1964 as the Civil Rights Act.

3. Medgar Evans

After being rejected from University of Mississippi Law School in February 1954. Evans, a WWII veteran, became the focus for an NAACP campaign to desegregate the school, by December 1954 he was the first field officer for the organization in Mississippi and in 1962 after many efforts finally desegregated the law school.

Evans was a key person and was targeted, he survived many attempts until June 12, 1963, he was shot in the back of the head. His memory lives on and had an impact so severe that “No soldier in this field has fought more courageously, more heroically than Medgar Evers.”

4. The Little Girls From 16th Street Baptist Chruch

Remeber these names, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley. Although never famous during their time alive, their deaths as the result of the 16th Baptist Chruch Bombing in 1963 shocked the nation and brought attention to the fight for Civil Rights in Birmingham, Alabama. Their deaths brought change for the Civil Rights Movement, although if they were alive today would have fought alongside Martin Luther King Jr.

5. Katherine Johnson

A woman who is a master of Mathematics, she was one of the leading African Americans and women who made a huge part in making the first space trip in 1961 and the first moon landing in 1969 possible. She is the woman not afraid to ask questions, answer them and ask even more questions. Katherine made it possible for women in the STEM program to follow their dreams, she is a pioneer and continues to remain one even in death.