Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) directed by Robert Wise

From Wikipedia: Odds Against Tomorrow is a 1959 film noir produced and directed by Robert Wise for HarBel Productions, a company founded by the film’s star, Harry Belafonte. Belafonte selected Abraham Polonsky to write the script, which is based on a novel by William P. McGivern. As a blacklisted writer Polonsky used a front, John O. Killens, a black novelist and friend of Belafonte’s. In 1996, the Writers Guild of America restored Polonsky’s credit under his real name.

Odds Against Tomorrow is the first noir with a black protagonist.