Roy Emile Alfredo Innis is the current National Director of the Congress for Racial Equality. He is a controversial civil rights activist whose conservative stance on many issues continues to draw national attention. Innis was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands on June 6, 1934. … Read MoreRoy Innis (1934- )
Richard Gordon Hatcher, the first African American mayor of Gary, Indiana and one of the first African Americans to serve as mayor of a major city, was born on July 10, 1933, in Michigan City, Indiana. Hatcher was elected mayor of Gary, Indiana in 1967 … Read MoreRichard G. Hatcher (1933-2019)
Robert L. Carter, the youngest child in a family of eight children, was born in Careyville, Florida in 1917. His family moved north to Newark, New Jersey shortly after his birth. Carter’s father died soon after arriving in Newark and his mother supported eight children … Read MoreRobert L. Carter (1917-2012)
Floyd Bixler McKissick replaced James Farmer as National Director of the Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE) on January 3, 1966, making him the second ever National Director of CORE. Under McKissick’s leadership, CORE underwent a radical transformation from an interracial, non-violent civil rights organization into … Read MoreFloyd B. McKissick (1922-1991)
Gwendolynne Moore is the first African American member of Congress from Wisconsin where she represents the state’s Fourth Congressional District. Moore, a community leader and lifelong civil rights and human rights advocate, is the first woman to represent the Fourth Congressional District. She is only … Read MoreGwendolynne S. “Gwen” Moore (1951- )
James Reese Europe, one of the first African Americans to record music in the United States, was born on February 22, 1881 in Mobile, Alabama to Henry and Lorraine Europe. When he was ten, his family moved to Washington D.C. where he began to study … Read MoreJames Reese Europe (1881-1919)
Harold G. Moss, leader and a founder of the Tacoma Urban League and past president of the Tacoma branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was the first African American to serve as mayor of Tacoma, Washington. He was also … Read MoreHarold Moss (1929-2020)
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) was established in 1971, although its roots go back to the Democratic Select Committee (DSC). The DSC was started in 1969 by Representative Charles Diggs of Michigan, who was looking for a way the nine black members of the House … Read MoreCongressional Black Caucus (1971- )
Donald Payne, a Democrat, was the first African American elected to Congress from the State of New Jersey. Payne was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 16, 1934. He earned a B.A. degree in social studies from Seton Hall University in 1957 and also has … Read MoreDonald Milford Payne (1934-2012)
Ohio’s first African American Congressman, Louis C. Stokes was born to Charles and Lois Stokes on February 23, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended its public schools before joining the United States Army in 1943. Stokes served in the army for three years and … Read MoreLouis C. Stokes (1925-2015)
