From the first Black president to the first African-American woman ever elected to the United States Congress, Black people have made considerable gains – and helped to change the face of U.S. politics as we know it. Historically, Black political power has not come easily in the United States. The institution of slavery and systems of racial inequality – from Black Codes to Jim Crow – restricted the civil and political rights of African Americans for centuries. But through activism and great sacrifice, Black Americans have built political power over time. That power is not more exemplified than in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital. From the first Black president to the first African American woman ever elected to the United States Congress, Black people have made considerable gains – and helped to change the face of U.S. politics as we know it. Here is theGrio’s list of the most influential Black politicians in American history. It goes without saying that Barack Obama is one of the most popular and famous figures in American politics. Before his historic rise as the first Black president of the United States, Obama blazed trails for Black people in academia and politics. As a

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