Riggs’s journey from her home in a small, West African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, to now leading Sailors at Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, is an example of hard work, perseverance and making the most of every opportunity.
After escaping from slavery in 1863, Ann Bradford Stokes was captured and taken aboard the Union hospital ship USS Red Rover. She volunteered as a nurse and became the first African-American woman to serve aboard a U.S. military vessel.
Researcher on cancer health disparities and prevention
Madeline Swegle became the Navy’s first-known African-American woman to become a tactical air pilot when she earned her ‘wings of gold’ in 2020.
US Congressional Delegate from the Virgin Islands
In 1972, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke made history as the first African-American woman elected to Congress from California and only the third Black woman to serve on Capitol Hill.
US Representative from Pennsylvania
US Representative from California
US Representative from North Carolina
US Representative from California