This claim makes it into the news cycle every so often, and it's come back 'round again.
The claim is generally that Lewis Latimer, a black man, actually created the light bulb and not Edison. From what I've seen, this claim is usually refuted entirely. A more (ostensibly) nuanced claim is that he patented an innovation of the light bulb that we all use today - the upshot being that while he didn't originate the invention of light bulbs, it is fair to credit him as the inventor of what the general public is familiar with today.
Unfortunately it's hard to pin down the facts on this because so much of the discussion around it gets caught up in politics. I'm asking here to try and cut past the noise.
Who was Lewis Latimer, and what was his actual role in the creation of modern light bulbs as we understand them? Does he actually deserve more recognition than he gets?
He contributed very little to the light bulb then, and nothing to the light bulb we use today.
Edison in 1879 displayed his first light bulbs to the public in Menlo Park, NJ. He got his famous patent on january 27, 1880. His bulbs at this time primarily used carbonized thread for the filament. They were groundbreaking because Edison was the first to not only patent and bring these bulbs to market, but to also realize the bulbs needed total vacuum and high resistance in order to work practically. By 1881 he was in the middle of a search for the ideal fillament and found it in carbonized bamboo. By 1882 he was commercially manufactuing bamboo filament bulbs. They were capable 1200 hours and manufactured up until at least the 1890s when other methods over took them.
Latimer at this time did not work for Edison, but instead worked for his competitor, Hiram Maxim, at the US Electric Lighting Co. While there in 1881 he patented a design for a light bulb, focused primarily on the fillament manufacture. The next patent was in 1882 and for and improved manufacturing process for carbon filament using the Maxim "M" type filament. These patents were bought by the US Electric Light Co and thus Edison never benefited from them, he couldn't even of he wanted to. In September of 1882 another employee at Maxim's firm, Edward Weston , patented a new fillament developed by of Tamidine and by the time it was being mass produced in the mid 1880s capable of 1500 hours, which is what they used from then on.
Maxim-Latimer bulbs were produced and one example exists in the Hammer collection at the Henry Ford Museum, produced in 1882, but how many were made and if they ever were produced in any quantity I have been unable to find evidence of.
By the end of 1882 Latimer was no longer with Maxim, and in 1884 was hired by Edison's company. He worked with electrical systems but did not work on the research lab or develop bulbs further. He was, however, very essential in the litigation regarding Edison's bulb patents as an expert witness, and helped cement Edison's win in those cases, further legitimizing Edison as the inventor of the light bulb.
Ultimately neither Latimer nor Edison can lay claim to the "Modern Bulb" as many claims about Latimer state. Both of their designs were vacuum carbon filanent bulbs. It was not until the first decade of thr 20th century when inert gas bulbs with tungsten filament were invented and made practical. Those were the first "modern" incadencent bulbs and incandecents today remain intert gas tungsten filament bulbs.