Carl Maxey grew up in an orphanage and became a leading attorney, civil rights activist, and champion of the underdog. He was adopted by a Spokane, Washington, couple immediately following his birth in Tacoma but ended up in the Spokane Children’s Home after his adoptive … Read MoreCarl Maxey (1924-1997)
The fourth of seven children in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, August Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel, April 27, 1945 to an African American mother and a German immigrant father. By the time he was five, his parents divorced. His mother remarried in the late 1950s … Read MoreAugust Wilson (1945-2005)
Zora Neale Hurston, known for her audacious spirit and sharp wit, was a talented and prolific writer and a skilled anthropologist from the Harlem (New York) Renaissance to the Civil Rights Era. Born on January 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama, she grew up in the … Read MoreZora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Zilpha Elaw was born in 1790 to free black parents in Pennsylvania. One of twenty-two children, she was raised in a strong Christian home until age twelve, when her mother unexpectedly passed away and young Zilpha was sent to live with Pierson and Rebecca Mitchell, … Read MoreZilpha Elaw (1790-1873)
Yuri Kochiyama was born Mary Yuriko Nakahara in 1921 and raised in San Pedro, California, in a small working-class neighborhood. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, the life of Yuri’s family took a turn for the worse. Her father, a first-generation Japanese immigrant, was arrested by … Read MoreYuri Kochiyama (1921-2014)
It is ironic that the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France was instigated by one of the few successful slave rebellions. Toussaint L’Overture on St. Dominique (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) so bedeviled the French that Napoleon decided to sell the Louisiana Territory to the … Read MoreLouisiana Purchase and African Americans (1803)
Described by President Bill Clinton as “one of the best advisors and the ablest people I ever knew,” Ron Brown was an influential leader in the Democratic Party. Ronald Harmon Brown was born in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 1941. His father, William, was a … Read MoreRonald H. Brown (1941-1996)
Ray Charles Robinson, a talented musician, singer, and composer, was one of the first African American artists to merge the blues with gospel to pave the way for rhythm and blues (R&B) music. Robinson was born September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia. At age five, … Read MoreRay Charles (1930-2004)
Internationally regarded as a thoughtful and compassionate voice for social justice, Randall C. Robinson, the son of Richmond, Virginia school teachers, was born July 6, 1941. He spent three years at Norfolk State College on a basketball scholarship and after service in the military earned … Read MoreRandall Robinson (1941- )
