Which of the following women’s political activism contributed to a serious disability?
1. Angela Davis
2. Ida W. Barnett
3. Dorothy Height
4. Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer protested in the face of heavy opposition and was beaten in a Mississippi jailhouse, which caused kidney damage and a limp. She is known for saying, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!”
Who is the first black hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) who played the game blind in one eye?
1. Brian O’Kelley
2. Willie O’Ree
3. Peter Massey
4. Philip McKnight
Willie O’Ree
Willie O’Ree had been blinded in one eye by a flying puck before he was signed with the Boston Bruins; however, he never revealed his disability to the management. O’Ree’s professional career spanned 21 years. In 2018 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Who, with multiple sclerosis, was the first black woman to give the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention?
1. Shirley Chisholm
2. Barbara Jordan
3. Maxine Waters
4. Carol Moseley Braun
Barbara Jordan
Despite multiple sclerosis, Barbara Jordan became the first African-American to serve in the Texas Senate in 1967, and in 1973 the first African-American woman from a Southern state to serve in Congress.
What disability do Harriet Tubman, Danny Glover, Lil Wayne and Prince have in common?
1. Hearing disorder
2. Epilepsy
3. Panic disorder
4. Manic depression
Epilepsy
Each of these cultural figures were plagued by epilepsy at some point in their lives. The causes of their condition varied.
Who was the first African American legally blind governor of any U.S. state?
1. Duane Gilchrist
2. David Paterson
3. Alfred Kellerman
4. Samuel Robinson
David Paterson
David Paterson lost his sight when he was 3 months old but went on to become the first disabled student to graduate from his public school. He then received a BA from Columbia University and a law degree from Hofstra Law School. Paterson served as the 55th Governor of New York, the first African American governor of New York and the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state. (blind Bob Cowley Riley was governor of Arkansas for 11 days)
What type of cancer did writer Audre Lorde, who identified herself as a Black Lesbian Feminist Mother Warrior Poet, contract?
1. Breast
2. Cervical
3. Brain
4. Colon
Breast
Audre Lorde wrote Sister Outsider, The Cancer Journals during her bout with breast cancer. When she underwent a mastectomy, she refused to wear a prosthesis stating, “Either I love my body one-breasted now, or remain forever alien to myself.”
Which member of the Black Panther Party had multiple sclerosis?
1. H. Rap Brown
2. Brad Lomax
3. Stokley Carmichael
4. Bobby Seal
Brad Lomax
Brad Lomax had already learned he had multiple sclerosis when he helped found the Black Panther Party’s Washington chapter in 1969. In 1972, he went on to help organize the first African Liberation Day demonstration and by 1977 had become a key figure in the Disability Civil Rights Movement.
Muhammad Ali was afflicted with what disorder?
1. ADHD
2. Dyslexia
3. Bi-polar
4. Diabetes
Dyslexia
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, was a champion in the boxing ring but earlier thought himself a loser in the classroom. He did not find out until much later in life that he was “dumb,” but that he had dyslexia, the difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but has nothing to do with general intelligence.
How did Curtis Mayfield become a quadriplegic?
1. A gunshot
2. A car accident
3. A stage accident
4. A boating accident
A stage accident
Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down in a stage accident when lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance in 1990. However, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album New World Order in 1996.
What Olympic runner overcame polio to become one of the fastest people in the world?
1. Wilma Rudolph
2. Carl Lewis
3. Jesse Owens
4. Allison Felix
Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph was a sickly child who wore a brace because of polio. By 1956, with one leg still slightly shorter than the other, she had overcome her disability to compete in the Summer Olympics. In 1960, she returned to become the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics.
All of the following celebrities, except one, effectively performed their respective work before finally succumbing to complications of AIDS. Which one did NOT have or die from AIDS?
1. Arthur Ash
2. Chadwick Boseman
3. Gil Scott-Heron
4. Sam Pratt
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman, star of Black Panther, did NOT have or die from AIDS. Chadwick Boseman died from a long-term fight against colon cancer.
Who was an Atlanta Brave deaf outfielder and is now the head coach of Gallaudet University?
1. Josh Gibson
2. Monte Irvin
3. Ernie Banks
4. John Pride
John Pride
Deaf baseball player John Curtis Pride played for six Major League Baseball teams during his career that spanned the years 1996-2006. Presently, he is head coach at Gallaudet University, the private university for the deaf and hard of hearing, located in Washington, D.C.
Which of the following was not blind pianist?
1. Ray Charles
2. Stevie Wonder
3. Tom Wiggins
4. James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson
Nearly everyone knows Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles were blind musicians, but few know that Tom Wiggins, blind from birth, was an enslaved man who taught himself to play piano and played throughout the U.S. and Europe. James Johnson, who was not blind, was a pioneer of jazz piano and one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording.
Who was the first disabled coach in Major Baseball League history?
1. Oscar Charleston
2. Roy Campanella
3. Frank Robinson
4. John Rosebro
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella’s baseball career was cut short by a 1958 automobile accident which left him paralyzed from the neck down. He went on to serve as mentor, then assistant scouting coach, then as special coach at the team's annual spring training camp. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.
Which celebrity was diagnosed with Lupus at the age of 52?
1. Toni Braxton
2. Solange Knowles
3. Alicia Keys
4. Kerry Washington
Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton discovered she had Lupus in the middle of her successful career. Lupus, A chronic and complex autoimmune disease that can affect any partts of the body and cause tissue damage in the affected par, can be treated but not cured. Braxton manages her through fewer performances, diet, exercise and effective pain control.
Which of the following celebrities does not have ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)?
1. Whoopie Goldberg
2. LeBron James
3. Harry Belafonte
4. Michael Jordan
LeBron James
ADHD is such a common mental disorder that many people have it and have not been diagnosed and many who have it don’t find out until late in life that they are affected by the disorder. Such was the case for Michael Jordan, Harry Belafonte and Whoopie Goldberg. LeBron James has never been diagnosed as having ADHD.
Which of the following celebrities is NOT working and effectively dealing with diabetes?
1. Patti Labelle
2. Anthony Anderson
3. Denzel Washington
4. Halle Berry
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington has not been diagnosed with diabetes, but Halle Berry was diagnosed at the age of 22; Patti Labelle passed out on stage in 1994; Anthony Anderson’s parents both experienced diabetes, his father died from it.
Who was the deafblind lawyer who went on to become an advocate for disability rights?
1. Serena Jordan
2. Janine Blackman
3. Habena Girma
4. Tremain Bluford
Habena Girma
Habena Girma, born of Eritrean parents, lost both her vision and hearing at an early age. Nevertheless, she graduated from Lewis & Clark College magna cum laude in 2010, then became the first deafblind student to attend and graduate from Harvard Law School, earning her J.D. in 2013 and immediately joined Disability Rights Advocates.
Who was the deaf sports figure who became the first disabled African American to play for the NFL?
1. Curtis Pride
2. Derrick Coleman
3. Kyle Maynard
4. Mike Glenn
Derrick Coleman
Derrick Coleman was a deaf player who served as running back on the Seattle Seahawk 2014 Super Bowl Championship team. He also achieved fame after the 2014 Duracell battery commercials in which he uses the company’s batteries for his hearing aids.
Depression is a major issue in the Black community, especially among women; which singer was severely afflicted with bi-polar disorder?
1. Diana Ross
2. Nina Simone
3. Gladys Knight
4. Beyonce
Nina Simone
In the early years of Nina Simone’s career neither diagnosis nor treatment existed for her mental health issues. Hence, even though she was a musical celebrity, she was forced to manage her condition the best she could, which often meant self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Only in the 1980s was she diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.
Shaquem Griffin made NFL history by becoming the first player in the league with one hand when he was drafted as a lineman by which team?
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. New England Patriots
3. Seattle Seahawks
4. Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks drafted Shaqeum Griffith in 2018, whose left hand was amputated at age 4, the result of a congenital birth defect. He was able to maintain the pact with his brother who had been drafted the previous year. They vowed they would always play together.
Who is the actor, with cerebral palsy, who has had the opportunity to assume a number of acting roles that have not been disability specific?
1. Sharon Nightingale
2. Carin Belvedere
3. Farrah Kincade
4. Diana Jordan
Diana Jordan
Diana Elizabeth Jordan’s career has been varied. Having started acting in theatre, she’s gone on to appear in TV and film, and is now trying her hand at directing. She graduated in 2001 from the acting school of California State University Long Beach and became the first actress in the country with a disability to obtain a Masters of Fine Arts in Acting
Who was the '70s-era go-go dancer who was plagued with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), also called multiple personality disorder?
1. Frankie Murdoch
2. Florence Brownlee
3. Mamie Golden
4. Sharon Steele
Frankie Murdoch
Frankie Murdoch was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder in her adult years. Her multiple identities included a scared 7-year old girl named Genius and a bigoted, white southern belle named Alice. She fought her demons without help until she encountered a psychiatrist who was able to diagnose her condition. Halle Berry played the role of Frankie Murdoch in the 2014 film, Frankie and Alice.
When Maya Angelou was eight years old she was raped and when she told the name of the rapist, relatives of hers killed him. What disability did she endure for five years as a result of this trauma?
1. Temporary blindness
2. Selective mutism
3. Severe depression
4. Short-term hearing loss
Selective mutism
Because of the trauma she experienced for saying her rapist’s name, she blamed herself for his death and for the next five years she did not speak at all; doctors call this condition “selective mutism.”
