Academic Historian

Luther Adams – Free Man of Color is a student and teacher of history and culture. His work emphasizes Black life. He is Associate Professor of Ethnic, Gender and Labor Studies at the University of Washington in Tacoma.

He publishes research on police brutality, African American migration and religion, urban history, and Black history in Kentucky. He is author of Way Up North in Louisville: African American Migration in the Urban South, 1930-1970.

Alfred Charles “Al” Sharpton (1954- )

Born in Brooklyn, New York on October 3, 1954, Alfred Charles Sharpton, Jr., is an American Baptist minister and political, social, and human rights advocate.  Known as “the Wonder Boy” as a youth, he was licensed and ordained as a Pentecostal minister and toured with … Read MoreAlfred Charles “Al” Sharpton (1954- )

Asa Philip Randolph (1889-1979)

Asa Philip Randolph, born on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida, was one of the most respected leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement in the twentieth century.  Randolph was a labor activist; editor of the political journal The Messenger; organizer of the 1941 … Read MoreAsa Philip Randolph (1889-1979)

Benjamin Mays (1895-1984)

Benjamin Mays, Christian minister, scholar, advocate for justice, and an educator, was born in Ninety-Six, South Carolina on August 1, 1894, the youngest of eight children.  His parents, Louvenia Carter and Hezekiah Mays, were tenant farmers and former slaves. Mays attended Virginia Union University before … Read MoreBenjamin Mays (1895-1984)