Black History at Home and Abroad: 13 Leaders Whose Impact Went Global

JAMES MEREDITH

In 1962, the civil rights activist was the first African American student admitted to the University of Mississippi. After graduating, he enrolled in a program at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria to further study political science. He toured Africa during that time at the invitation of the governments of countries including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan.

Upon his return to the States, he became active in the Republican Party, unsuccessfully running for Adam Clayton Powell Jr.’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1967, and running for the Senate in 1972. After his unsuccessful congressional bids, from 1989 to 1991 Meredith served as a domestic adviser to U.S. Senator Jesse Helms.