Luther Adams, Author at

Academic Historian

Luther Adams 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.

Samuel Berry McKinney (1926-2018)

Born on December 28, 1926 to Reverend Wade Hampton McKinney and Ruth Berry McKinney in Flint, Michigan, Samuel Berry McKinney would become a Baptist minister, author, and civil rights advocate in Seattle, Washington. He served as pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, one of the … Read MoreSamuel Berry McKinney (1926-2018)

Julian Bond (1940-2015)

Horace Julian Bond was a scholar, poet, former legislator, and activist in the American Civil Rights Movement. Julian Bond, as he came to be known, was born on January 14, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee to Julia Washington Bond and Horace Mann Bond, an educator who … Read MoreJulian Bond (1940-2015)

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- )

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)

Bayard Rustin was one of the most important, and yet least known, Civil Rights advocates in the twentieth century. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania on March 17, 1912 and raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandmother, Julia, was both a Quaker and an … Read MoreBayard Rustin (1912-1987)

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)

Chandler Owen (1889-1967)

Chandler Owen, writer, editor, and founder of the radical journal the Messenger, with A. Philip Randolph, was born on April 5, 1889 in Warrenton, North Carolina. After graduating from Virginia Union University in 1913, he moved to New York City to become a fellow of … Read MoreChandler Owen (1889-1967)

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)