It took him four decades to earn one star, and he never stopped climbing.

On October 25, 1940, Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the first African American general in the U.S. Army. He had begun his career at the turn of the century and served for decades in a segregated military that offered few paths forward for Black officers.

During World War II he pushed for fair treatment of Black soldiers, and his son, Benjamin O. Davis Jr., later led the Tuskegee Airmen and became the first Black general in the U.S. Air Force.

Whose perseverance inspires you most?

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