The following are short descriptions of the groups and organizations which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
The Black Star Line (BSL) was a steamship corporation established in 1919 by Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, the leader of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The name, inspired by a British luxury steamship line called the White Star Line, was applied to a highly ambitious … Read MoreBlack Star Line (1919-1923)
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers were a musical group primarily active between 1962 and 1966, singing “freedom songs” in order to fundraise and organize on behalf of SNCC. The Freedom Singers emerged out of the Albany Movement of 1962. After witnessing the Albany Movement’s mass … Read MoreSNCC Freedom Singers (1962-1966)
The Scar of Shame Movie Title Page “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Colored Players Film Corporation was a silent film production company based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early twentieth century. Though short-lived, it was able to add some much needed respectability to black … Read MoreThe Colored Players (1926-1929)
Larry Steele’s touring production review, Smart Affairs, was the largest black entertainment touring group in the United States from the 1940s through the early 1960s. Steele’s review, headquartered in Atlantic City, New Jersey, featured up to 40 entertainment acts. The revue performed in major venues … Read MoreLarry Steele’s Smart Affairs (1946-1971)
Without the kind of night life entertainment that was introduced to Idlewild by Arthur Edward Braggs during the 1950s and 1960s at his Paradise Club in Idlewild, Michigan, the small community 250 miles northwest of Detroit would not have been recognized as the most famous … Read MoreThe Arthur Braggs Idlewild Revue (1954-1964)
The Lafayette Players were a dramatic stock company composed entirely of African American actors. Originally from Harlem, this first of its kind group introduced audiences to the idea that black actors were capable of taking on a variety of roles and displaying a much greater … Read MoreThe Lafayette Players (1915-1932)
During the late 1980s the Northwest Black Pioneers (NWBP) was conceived by participants of the Roots Festival, an annual African American cultural gathering in Seattle. In the summer of 1987, a steering committee formed in that same city to discuss strategies to encourage The Bon … Read MoreNorthwest Black Pioneers (1987- )
The Cold Crush Brothers, pioneering hip-hop performers, formed as a group in the Bronx, New York City, New York in 1978. Along with founder DJ Tony Tone, the group originally consisted of Easy A.D., DJ Charlie Chase, Mister Tee, Whipper Whip, and Dot-A-Rock. As hip-hop … Read MoreThe Cold Crush Brothers (1978- )
During the first two decades of the 19th Century, escaped American slaves formed a military cadre called Britain’s Royal Navy Corps of Colonial Marines. After the War of 1812 these former soldiers established Trinidad’s “Merikin” communities. These black marines in the British Navy were first organized in 1808 to … Read MoreBritish Corps of Colonial Marines (1808-1810, 1814-1816)
Image Ownership: Public Domain The Kansas Emancipation League’s primary goal was “to bring about emancipation throughout the whole land.” It was initiated at the First Baptist Church in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1862. It also pledged to “support the war until its successful termination,” put an … Read MoreKansas Emancipation League (1862)
