
African American History Challenge
Special | 26m 47sVideo has Closed Captions
The Clark County Black Caucus and CCSD present the African American History Challenge
In conjunction with CCSD’s Black Student Union and the Clark County Black Caucus, Vegas PBS hosts the African American History Challenge. The show features students competing in an academic quiz, with questions that pertain to art, history, and current events that are culturally relevant. Challenge participants test their knowledge and compete for a chance to win scholarship awards.
Education and Community is a local public television program presented by Vegas PBS

African American History Challenge
Special | 26m 47sVideo has Closed Captions
In conjunction with CCSD’s Black Student Union and the Clark County Black Caucus, Vegas PBS hosts the African American History Challenge. The show features students competing in an academic quiz, with questions that pertain to art, history, and current events that are culturally relevant. Challenge participants test their knowledge and compete for a chance to win scholarship awards.
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This episode is dedicated to the late Franklin G. Verley for his dedication and commitment to black history and culture and for his service as a judge in this annual event.
Coming up on the African-American History Challenge is Arbor View versus Southeast CTA.
This is the African-American History Challenge final!
Welcome to the 2023 African-American History Challenge sponsored by the Clark County Black Caucus in partnership with the Clark County School District.
I'm your host, Lady AK.
Tonight's final features Southeast CTA who defeated Cheyenne in the semifinals versus Arbor View, who defeated A-Tech in their semifinal.
Let's meet the players from Arbor View and Arbor View.
Welcome, welcome, and welcome back.
Who do we have here?
Starting to the left here, Kiara.
And what grade are you in Kiara?
I'm a senior.
All right, moving on.
I'm Jamya, and I'm a junior.
All right, next.
My name is Emari.
I'm a senior.
Nice.
I'm Carter, and I'm a sophomore.
Okay, sounds good.
And let's move over to the Southeast CTA.
Players starting over here to the left.
I'm Sophia, and I'm a freshman.
Oh, I'm Tamara, and I'm a freshman.
I'm Suryne.
I'm a freshman.
Im Max and I'm a senior.
All right.
All of my favorite names in one place.
That's amazing.
Tonights competition will consist of three rounds, timed at 7 minutes each, and we'll test our students knowledge of African-Americans in Nevada and some other places, too.
Each correct answer is worth one point.
Students, are you ready?
Oh, my gosh.
Are you kidding me?
Students are you ready?
And right then, let's begin.
The African-American history challenge.
Here goes round one.
Which athlete invested in Liverpool Soccer Club, which is worth $4 billion?
Kiara from Arbor View.
LeBron James.
That is correct.
Which of these black athletes was the number one basketball player as well as the number one football player coming out of high school?
Randy Moss, Deion Sanders, Allen Iverson, or Ray Allen?
Southeast CTA.
Allen Iverson.
That is correct.
Which black quarterback broke an NCAA record in total passing and rushing yards in year one in college?
Our review.
Kiara, Steve McNair.
That is correct.
Good job.
Our review.
Who were the only two U.S. African-American senators to serve in the 19th century?
Emari, Arbor View, Blanche Bruce and Hiram Revels.
That is correct.
What was the first black college organized after the Civil War?
Emari, Arbor View Shaw University.
That is correct.
Which of the following colleges was not founded during Reconstruction?
Emari?
Wilberforce.
That is correct.
About how many pyramids still stand along the Nile?
Suryne, Southeast CTA?
Over 90.
That is correct.
According to the rise of the stars.
Sirius, What significant event followed in ancient Egypt?
Carter from Arbor View.
Flooding of the Nile.
That is correct.
What does Pharaoh mean in Egyptian?
Arbor View?
Carter?
Great house.
That is correct.
What major river flows northward in South Africa?
Suryne, Southeast CTA?
The Nile?
That is correct.
Who was the first boxer to win five weight division titles?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Sugar Ray Leonard.
That is correct.
What did the Black Power Movement believe in?
Jamya, Arbor View?
An emphasis on self-determination and self-reliance.
That is correct.
This woman was the first African-American female to be the gubernatorial nominee in the U.S.. Jamya from Arbor View.
Stacey Abrams.
That is correct.
This social/political organization was founded in 2013 by three African-American women in protest against the acquittal of the murder of Trayvon Martin.
Southeast CTA, Max?
Black Lives Matter.
That is correct.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started by the refusal of Mrs.
Parks to give up her seat to a white man.
And what year did this boycott occur?
Tamara from Southeast CTA?
1955.
That is correct.
Who invented a special type of clothes ringer in the 1880s?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Thomas Jennings.
That's incorrect.
Arbor View if you're going to steal it.
And that's all right, the answer is .
Ellen F. Eglin.
moving forward in 1950 who invented the knockdown wheeled toy easily assembled pull toys.
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Lydia M. Holmes That is correct.
In 1969, who patented a modern home security system using television surveillance.
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Marie Van Brittan Brown.
That is correct.
Who was the first African-American in Clark County to legally own land and now his property is now a part of the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas.
Jamya, Arbor View.
John Howell.
That is correct.
Good job.
Who was a former president of the local chapter of the NAACP and nurse who worked to expand employment opportunities in Las Vegas and helped to enact open housing legislation in Nevada.
Max, Southeast CTA?
Lubertha Johnson.
That is correct.
Max.
Who was the first African-American woman to hold a Nevada gaming license and broke barriers as she and others worked to desegregate the casino industry?
Max, Southeast CTA?
Sarann Knight-Preddy That is correct, Max.
Who is recognized as the first African-American social worker in the state of Nevada?
A teacher and mentor to many during many of the 50 years of community activism?
Max.
Southeast CTA?
Oh my God.
Out of time for that question.
Moving right along, the answer was Dr. Esther Langston.
Who was the first African-American dentist in Las Vegas and also a civil rights leader who helped to overturn Jim Crow laws in Nevada?
Max, Southeast CTA?
Dr. James McMillan That is a good recovery, correct.
Who said the concept of neighborhood parenting to another level, living by the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child.
Jamya from Arbor View.
Daisy Miller.
That is correct.
Which African-American woman was diagnosed with polio yet earned three gold medals in the track and field Olympics?
Kiara, Arbor View.
Wilma Rudolph.
Say again?
Wilma Rudolph.
That is correct.
Which NCAA College was the first to start a game with five black basketball players?
Kiara, Arbor View, Texas Western.
That is correct.
Who is the five time world record holder in track and field?
Sophia, Southeast CTA?
Usain Bolt.
That is correct.
Who was one of the first African-American hotel executives in Las Vegas in the 1950s?
Going to have to send it to Arbor View.
because you stepped on my question Suryne.
Arbor View if you have a guess, you can go ahead and click in.
If not, then I have to just say it was James Gay III.
Who became the first African-American elected representative to officially head a government body as Mayor Pro-Tempore of North Las Vegas in September 1981, followed by his daughter, who was elected Mayor of the city in 2011.
What are their names?
Arbor View.
Who?
You stoped glittering?
Who was it?
You Jamya?
Go ahead.
Theron Goynes and Pamela Goynes.
That is correct.
Who assisted in the revision of the kindergarten curriculum for the Clark County School District and organized and implemented the first SRA Language and Arithmetic program in Las Vegas.
You can still answer that.
That's our final question, though.
No answer.
No answer.
No, I'm sorry.
Your buzzer isnt working?
Buzz me again.
Haha, Suryne of Southeast CTA.
Naomi Jackson Goynes.
That is correct.
And that concludes this round.
Good job, you all.
Good job.
Thanks for sticking beside me and my pronunciation.
Y'all are really good friends.
So we are going to let the judges calculate our scores.
You stay right there.
We'll be right back.
Welcome back.
The score as we go into round two is Arbor View 14 and Southeast CTA with 13.
We had a little change.
Welcome Chloe as our stand in.
Hey, Chloe.
Hi.
What grade are you in?
I'm a senior.
Okay.
Well, welcome.
Let's take you out of here with the bang.
All right, let's get started.
You all and move on right into the next round.
Which NBA player made the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons of playing?
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Tim Duncan.
That is correct.
Which NBA player won the most titles in NBA history?
Chloe Arbor View?
Bill Russell.
That is correct.
In 1898, who patented and improved a version of the hairbrush that came apart for easy cleaning.
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Lydia D. Newman.
That is correct.
On March 3rd, 1821, who was the first African-American to get a patent for a dry cleaning process?
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Thomas Jennings.
That is correct.
In 1884, who invented a mechanical eggbeater?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Willis Johnson.
That is correct.
In 1872, who invented the lubricator cup?
Sophia.
Southeast CTA.
Elijah McCoy.
That is correct.
What political act effectively ended the Reconstruction era and soon Democrats formed governments in the South based on the concept of white supremacy.
Sophia, Southeast CTA?
The compromise of 1877.
That is correct.
The laws enacted to segregate the white population from people of color were called?
Emari, Arbor View.
Jim Crow Laws.
That is correct.
The suppression of the black community continued under Jim Crow laws all the way until when?
Sophia, Southeast CTA?
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
That is correct.
That is correct.
After Reconstruction, approximately how many towns were established predominantly for blacks in the West.
Emari, Arbor View?
20.
That is correct.
During reconstruction, free slaves began to leave the South for communities in the north and west.
The oldest town community was incorporated in 1877 by six blacks and white.
What was the name of this community?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Nicodemus, Kansas.
That is correct.
Who held the heavyweight title for 140 consecutive months?
The longest such streak in boxing history.
Chloe, Arbor View.
Joe Lewis.
That is correct.
Which baseball player holds the record for career RBIs?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Hank Aaron.
That is correct.
Who established the Nevada Economic Development Corporation that assisted minority businesses with obtaining more than $300 million in funding.
Chloe, Arbor View.
William Bob Bailey.
That is correct.
Who was the first African-American showgirl dancer on the Las Vegas Strip?
Suryne, Southeast CTA.
Anna Bailey That is correct.
Who served in the Nevada State Assembly and was pastor of the Zion Methodist Church for more than 40 years?
Suryne, Southeast CTA.
Reverend Marion Bennett?
That is correct.
Who was an innovative elementary school principal, community activist, and Clark County School District trustee who advocated for equity and accessibility for all and Arbor View got to give it to CTA.
If you want to take it.
Suryne, Shirley Barber.
That is correct.
Nice steal Suryne.
Who was the second African-American family practitioner in the state of Nevada and a founding member of the West Crear Medical Society, a local chapter of the National Medical Association.
Chloe Arbor View.
Dr. John Crear.
Good save.
That is correct.
Chloe, who served as the first African-American principal in Nevada and was the first African-American man to graduate from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Emari, Arbor View.
H.P.
Fitzgerald.
That is correct.
What board game did ancient Egyptians play that is similar to backgammon?
Carter, Arbor View?
Senet.
That is correct.
What system The ancient Egyptians use to acquire goods and services.
Suryne Southeast CTA.
A barter system?
That is correct.
How did ancient Egyptians water their crops with almost no rainfall?
Carter, Arbor View.
Canals.
That is correct.
With canals.
Who patented a hand-operated machine for needing and rolling dough in 1884?
Sophia.
Southeast CTA?
Judy W. Reed.
That is correct.
Sarah E. Goode Patented a bed that folded into a what that could serve as a desk?
Sophia?
{inaudable } That is correct.
Good job.
Southeast CTA.
Who is the only player in NCAA history to finish the top three in the Heisman Trophy, voting in three collegiate seasons?
Chloe from Arbor View.
Herschel Walker.
That is correct.
Who was the only running back to win multiple MVP awards?
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Jim Brown.
That is correct.
Which NBA player recorded the most three pointers made in a season?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Steph Curry.
That is correct.
Good job.
The first time that Congress passed a bill in spite of a presidential veto was what bill and what year?
Arbor View?
The Civil Rights Act of 1866.
That is correct Emari good job.
In 1866 these two events helped to strengthen the support for the passage of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Bill of 1866.
Emari, Arbor View?
The Memphis Riot in the New Orleans Massacre.
That is correct.
Good job.
After emancipation, some blacks leave their owners while others become wage earners.
The important thing is that they now have- Sophia Southeast CTA?
Choices.
That is correct.
Prior to the Civil War, these activities were forbidden.
But by the turn of the century, with the help of blacks and whites, primarily from the North, most blacks could do what?
Emari, Arbor View?
Read and write?
That is correct.
Northern teachers, many of whom were white women, traveled into the South to help provide education and training for newly freed populations, Who are they?
Emari, Arbor View?
Northern Teachers.
That is correct.
I'm going to read another question.
I thought I was, but I'm not.
Good job, you all.
We're going to Clap for you all, first of all.
Good job.
And we're going to take a pause for the cause and the cause being our judges tallying up those numbers so we can see where we're at and where we're headed.
You all stay right there.
Do not go anywhere.
Whoo!
Things are really getting intense.
The score as we go into round three is Arbor View, 28 Southeast CTA with 31.
And we have two subs over on the Arbor View side.
Jasmine and Samiya, welcome to the show.
Jasmine, what grade are you in?
I'm in Senior.
Samiya how about you?
I'm a sophomore.
All right, well, let's get you all into it and put you into the ringer with the rest of them.
But first question is the US civil rights movement occurred when what approximate time period?
Samiya, Arbor View?
1942 to 1968.
That is correct.
Which was not a major milestone that occurred during the civil rights movement.
Brown versus Board of Education, The March on Washington, passage of the 15th Amendment, Presidential Election of 1968?
Southeast CTA?
Tamara?
The passage of the 15th Amendment.
That is correct.
Good job.
The civil rights era is sometimes referred to as Tamara, Southeast CTA?
The second Reconstruction era.
That is correct.
Good job.
This black abolitionist is often referred to as the father of the Underground Railroad, helping many slaves to freedom and often housing them at his home.
Jasmine, Arbor View.
William Still.
That is correct.
The three Selma marches in 1965 were from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, were organized to protest the blocking of this lawful right.
Samiya Arbor View?
The right to vote?
That is correct.
One of the most active groups in the civil rights movement was SNCC.
What does that stand for?
Samiya, Arbor View?
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
That is correct.
Who invented the cotton planter on August 31st, 1836?
Jasmine, Arbor View.
Henry Blair.
That is correct.
Who invented and discovered about 325 different products that were made from peanuts.
Jasmine, Arbor View.
George Washington Carver.
That is correct.
Who developed and marketed a line of cosmetics and hair care products for black women?
Jasmine, Arbor View.
Madam C.J.
Walker.
That is correct.
Who was an African-American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for inventing 105 patents in 1990 and laid the foundation for the steroid drug industry?
Sophia.
Southeast CTA.
Dr. Percy Lavon Julian .
That is correct.
Who is an African-American ophthalmologist who invented an improved device for laser cataract surgery.
Jasmine, Arbor View.
Patricia Era Bath.
That is correct.
Who was an African-American inventor, physicist, engineer and space scientist who was one of the two naval researchers who helped to perfect the Apollo 16 lunar surface Ultraviolet Camera Spectrograph?
Jasmine, Arbor View.
George R. Carruthers.
That is correct.
Good job.
Who was an African-American schoolteacher and inventor who invented a chair with a signaling device on it.
She is the second African-American woman to receive a patent.
Jasmine, Arbor View.
Miriam E. Benjamin That is correct.
In 1892, Sarah Boone patented what?
Sophia Southeast CTA?
Ironing board.
That is correct.
The ancient port city of Adulis belongs to which ancient kingdom?
Carter, Arbor View?
Aksum.
That is correct.
What was the first name of the Queen?
Mother of Aksum?
Suryne, Southeast CTA?
Candace?
That is correct.
The Port City of Adulis is located on what sea?
Sophia, Southeast CTA?
The Red Sea.
That is correct.
What was the state religion of Aksum in the fourth century under King Ezana?
Carter, Arbor View?
Christianity.
That is great.
And that is correct.
What was the last Egyptian ruler?
Who was the last Egyptian ruler rather?
Suryne, Southeast CTA?
Cleopatra VII Philopater.
That is correct.
The study of ancient Egypt is called what?
Carter, Arbor View?
Egyptology?
That is correct.
What was a chief food in the diet of most ancient Egyptians?
Carter, Abor View.
Bread.
That is correct.
Ancient Guyana's academy included a vast trade in what, three major products?
Suryne.
southeast CTA.
Salt, copper and gold.
That is correct.
What is the name of the literate and powerful group that recorded everyday living and extraordinary happenings in ancient Egypt?
Carter Arbor View.
Scribes.
That is correct.
What library is an ancient Egypt hat?
I'm sorry.
What library?
In ancient Egypt had approximately 500,000 papyrus scrolls?
Suryne, Southeast CTA.
The Library of Alexandria?
That is correct.
Ancient Egypt grew their crops.
And what kind of mineral rich soil?
Carter, Arbor View.
Silt.
That is correct.
Upper and lower Egypt does not refer to its cardinal directions, but to what?
Suryne, Southeast CTA.
To the flow of the Nile North and South.
That is correct.
By 1868, How many African-Americans were registered voters?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Approximately 700,000.
That is correct.
How many seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were held by African-Americans after the Civil War in 1868?
Sophia, 14?
That is correct.
Who was an American chemist who contributed to the invention of food preservation during his career, He amassed 59 U.S. patents?
Jasmine, Arbor View.
Lloyd Augustus Hall.
That is correct.
The most popular snack in America was invented by George Crumb.
Jasmine Arbor View Potato chips.
Yep, that's correct.
Who served on the city of Las Vegas Police Department and later with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for a total of 31 years, all while mentoring hundreds of officers, including Deputy Chief Larry Baldwin.
Suryne, Southeast CTA.
Detective Herman Moody.
That is correct.
Who was the first African-American elected to the Nevada State Senate and helped lead the way on public safety improvements in commercial buildings following the deadly MGM fire in 1980?
Max Southeast CTA.
Senator Joe Neel.
That is correct.
Which former NFL player became the second highest paid celebrity on Instagram?
Sophia, Southwest CTA.
Dwyane,The Rock Johnson.
That is correct.
Which former black athlete made more millions after he played by taking part ownership in over 50 brands?
Sophia Southeast CTA.
Shaquille O'Neal.
That is correct.
Which former athlete made a deal that pocketed him over $250 million after leaving his sport?
Sophia, Southeast CTA.
Magic Johnson.
That is correct.
And that concludes that that around right there.
It's almost like you all know.
All right.
We are going to take a breather.
And when we come back, it's time to drop the bomb.
We'll find out who is going to take home the championship trophy.
You all don't want to miss this.
Wooo now?
That's what I call an African-American history challenge.
As we bring it to a close, we find out that our winner is Southwest CTA!
But you've got to understand, with a final score of Arbor View 46 and Southeast CTA there really was a big, fierce competition and y'all showed us selves We could not be prouder of all of the hard work that you all have done.
And we hope to see you all right back here for the African-American History Challenge, 2024.
Here you go.
Congratulations again Southeast CTA, a thank you so much, Arbor View.
You all fought that fight.
And we have to make sure that we give it up to you all.
Make sure you spread the word.
You spread the word, too, because we hope to see some of your students participate next year.
Or if nothing else, keep watching.
Education and Community is a local public television program presented by Vegas PBS