The Most Searched: A celebration of Black history makers

Search trends can help us understand what people are interested in and what has endured—the people and events that have captivated our attention over time. 

Last year, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day approached, our team had a hunch that his monumental “I Have A Dream Speech” might be the most searched speech in the United States in Google Trends history. It prompted us to analyze 15 years’ worth of U.S. search trends data to find out.

Sure enough, it was.

This revelation was an electrifying moment for our team. It pushed us to explore more aggregate Search trends data to identify other Black icons, events and movements that were the most searched within a specific category or field in the U.S. 

Here’s what we found: Dozens of Black Americans and the historical movements they led were searched more than any other person or event in a category. These range from historical milestones like the Montgomery bus boycott to iconic figures like Maya Angelou to the most searched Pulitzer Prize winner—Kendrick Lamar, for his album DAMN.

That’s why, in celebration of Black History Month, we’re releasing a film tribute to these iconic moments, online and as an ad during the 2020 Grammy Awards. 

“Most Searched” tells a powerful story about how the Black community has helped shape and influence American culture. It also shows the tremendous collective interest in our history.

We're proud to celebrate the people and events in this film, and also hope that it inspires future history makers. In an effort to help build the next generation of Black leaders, scholars, artists and technologists, we’re awarding a $3 million Google.org grant to support the NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) program. As part of this, we're connecting Googlers to ACT-SO volunteering opportunities. ACT-SO provides a platform for Black high school students—more than 300,000 to date—to bring their ideas to life and kickstart their journeys to becoming leaders in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), humanities, business, and the arts. This initiative joins previous commitments to support organizations and programs that help Black and Latino students develop the technical skills they need to succeed in career and life.

To learn more about these individuals and our celebration of Black History Month, visit g.co/blackhistorymonth.