Franklin from the Peanuts Gang

Rickety Rocket

Rickety Rocket was a Saturday Morning cartoon about the adventures of a Black group of friends that created a robot rocket complete with the personality and voice befitting another Black friend which helped them run a detective agency.

The animated television series, produced by Ruby-Spears Productions, ran from 1979 to 1980 on ABC as a segment on The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show.

The Falcon

Falcon, Sam Wilson, was introduced into comics back in 1969 and became Captain America's partner. He wasn't flying then yet but later came across some wings. They were always made by other people as Sam did not have the ability to create such things. He also was later given the power to communicate with birds. Initially this was specifically with his pet falcon Redwing and was stong enough to for him to be able to see through the bird's eye. Later he became able to control all kinds of birds. There is also a version of Sam Wilson that is an excellent inventor. That version, while not represented in animation, did indeed create his own wings.

Winston Zeddemore

Winston Zeddemore is one of the original Ghostbusters. The original movie role was played by Ernie Hudson. The movie spawnned two animated cartoon series and he was in both of them. Winston was a full-fledged member of the original team but while he participated fully in most of the ghostbusting activities, due to his lack of comparable education to the other members, he was 

Superstretch and Microwoman

Superstretch and Microwoman were the code names of the crime-fighting suburban couple, Chris and Christy Cross. They wore matching uniforms without masks. Chris could shape change like Plastic Man and Christy could shrink to microscopic size. Together with their dog named Trouble, they had lightweight adventures with a bit of comedy mixed in. Their show was part of a cartoon block called Tarzan and the Super Seven. The show ran for

IQ of the Bionic Six

The animated television show, Bionic Six, featured a family of super-powered humans that were enhanced with Bionics. They were all stronger and faster than normal humans when their bionics were active but each also had his or her own special abilities. The family was multi-racial but all the non-white members were actually adopted.

The sole Black member of the family was named I.Q. Not only was he stronger than any other member of the team but he was also super-intelligent. He was a valued member of the family and his abilities were often put to the test on the show which ultimately lasted for two seasons (65 episodes). The character even had an action figure.

Maxine Gibson

In the animated series, Batman Beyond, "Maxine Gibson was the smartest girl of Terry McGinnis' class. She figured out his secret identity after a fight with Terminal, the would-be valedictorian Carter Wilson, and his Jokerz." Known as 'Max", Maxine is a computer hacking genius that is a close personal friend and has helped the new Batman on various occasions.

Pete Jones

The Hardy Boys are famous mystery solving amateur detectives whose first appearance was back in 1927. The characters began in story books which have since been revised to, among other things, remove racist stereotypes. In 1969, The Hardy Boys cartoon debuted on television,

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

You can't have a list of Black cartoon characters and not include Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Created by Bill Cosby himself as part of one of his stand-up routines, this show was one of the longest running cartoons with a Black cast. Bill Cosby voiced many of the characters, even a young version of himself. The actual cartoon began as a special for NBC but was later rejected as a series because it was too educational. Bill Cosby got a new production company, Filmation, and took the show to CBS who ultimately picked it up.

The LeBrons

LeBron James has a new animated series out called "The LeBrons" starring different versions of himself all in one family. It's pretty good actually. Each character while also a different aspect of LeBron is pretty distinct. It's not on television,

Numbuh Five

Numbuh Five is a character on Cartoon Networks's Codename: Kids Next Door animated series. Her real name is Abigal Lincoln and she is voiced by Cree Summer on the show. She is an intelligent and laid back tomboy of African American and French descent.  Larger than life and full of attitude, she often speaks in the third person. She's the cool one and while her number may be five, she's clearly second in command and probably only by choice.

John Stewart, Green Lantern

John Stewart is the name of a DC Universe comic book character who's superhero name is Green Lantern. His animated debut came in 2001 in the Justice League animated series. He was a core member of the group, appearing in most of the episodes of the show which lasted for 52 episodes. His power came from his power ring with which he was able to will himself to fly and create green constructs. The character was a former marine and he brought that ethic to the team. He was voiced by Phil LaMarr in the show.

Kid 'n Play

Kid 'n Play was an animated cartoon based on the real life rap duo Kid 'n Play. In the cartoon the characters were teenagers with a similar rap career to their real selves. The cartoon ran for one season (13 episodes) on NBC from 1990 to 1991.

ProStars: Michael Jordan & Bo Jackson

ProStars was a Saturday morning cartoon that featured Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky fighting crime using their abilities to fight crime. At the time, these three represented the pinnacle of their respective careers. While their characters would do some of their signature moves in the cartoon, none of their animated selves were voiced by the actual sports star. There were, however, short live action segments before the animated portions that showed the real characters mostly answered kids questions. The show was heavily geared toward younger children. In fact, they received their missions from children each episode.  The subject matter dealt with bad things that could happen to children or environmental issues.

The Top Black Cartoons Of All Time

News One has rated the Top Black Cartoons Of All Time. They have most of the gems except for the animal shows like Hong Kong Phooey and Panthro from the Thundercats. I can get over that but I do have other issues with the list. Maybe I'm old but I don't get how the Mister T show rates higher than the Harlem Globetrotters. And I love the Blokhedz but they were only on the Web and had about three episodes.

Mister T

Mr. T, the character originated from the A-Team live action show in the 1980's. He has been seen in numerous movies and TV shows. At the height of his fame on A-Team, Mr. T joined the rank of other action heroes such as Chuck Norris, and Rambo. Ruby-Spears created the Mister T television series (They spelled out the word "Mister"). The show aired on NBC for 2 seasons, a total of 30 episodes, from 1983 to 1984.

Valerie Smith

Valerie Smith has the distinction of being the first African-American female cartoon character on a regular animated television series. She is the third member of the music group Josie and the Pussycats. The group first started as a comic strip in the Archie universe. They weren't a band at first and Valerie wasn't one of the original characters but in 1969 when Josie and Melodie wanted to start a band, they hired Valerie to play the bass. The rest is history...

Muhammad Ali Was The Greatest

I Am The Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali starred the champ himself, animated of course, as an action hero. He and his crew would solve mysteries and bring bad people to justice not unlike most Saturday morning cartoon shows of that time. Muhammad Ali also had the additional challenge of getting his young wards out of trouble as well. The champ did his own voice work and so did his then real-life public relations agent, Frank Bannister.

Cornelius Fillmore

Fillmore! was a Disney animated series that centered around African-American Middle School student Cornelius Filmore. The lead character was a reformed juvenile delinquent that was recruited into the school safety patrol and subsequently became it's lead detective. This particular school safety patrol was considerably more active than any real middle school counterpart. Filmore and his partner

Hong Kong Phooey

Penrod Pooch was a mild-mannered Police Station janitor but when injustice abounded, he became Hong Kong Phooey. He was voiced by Scatman Crouthers, who voiced many a cartoon Black man in his time. This Saturday Morning Cartoon ran from 1974 to 1976 for a total of 31 episodes. This cartoon was a comedy and included a laugh track like many Hanna Barbara cartoons. Here's the intro: