Frankie Annette Reed is a career Foreign Service officer who has held a variety of diplomatic postings in Europe, Africa, and Pacific Island nations. Between 2011 and 2013, she served as concurrent Ambassador to the Republic of the Fiji Islands, the Republic of Nauru, the … Read More … Read MoreFrankie A. Reed (1954- )
It is hard to argue that Jack Daniel’s hasn’t become the most famous brand of whiskey in the world. However, this may have never happened without the work of a black slave named Nathan “Nearest” Green. While he was a key figure in forming the … Read More … Read MoreNathan “Nearest” Green (c.1820-?)
John A. Coleman was born a slave in 1852 in Talladega County, Alabama. After he received his freedom at the end of the Civil War, Coleman attended the newly established Talladega College for three years. He worked on a Mississippi River steamboat and then migrated … Read More … Read MoreJohn A. Coleman (1852-?)
Louise Jenkins Meriwether, a novelist, essayist, journalist and social activist, was the only daughter of Marion Lloyd Jenkins and his wife, Julia. Meriwether was born May 8, 1923 in Haverstraw, New York to parents who were from South Carolina where her father worked as a … Read More … Read MoreLouise Jenkins Meriwether (1923- )
Ronald Vernie Dellums was born on November 24, 1935, in Oakland, Californiato Willa Terry Dellums and Vernie Dellums. His father, Vernie Dellums, was a longshoreman, and his mother was a labor organizer. As a child, he attended St. Patrick Catholic School in Oakland. After high school, Dellums served … Read More … Read MoreRonald Vernie Dellums (1935-2018)
Sheryl Patrice Underwood is a comedian, actress, and talk show host. Underwood was born on October 28, 1963, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Joyce Evelyn and Cleo Underwood. She has been very vocal about the various traumas she has experienced in her life since birth. … Read More … Read MoreSheryl Patrice Underwood (1963- )
Washington State politician George Fleming was born February 22, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, to parents A.R. and Lilla N. Fleming. He started post secondary education at the University of Washington, Seattle. While attending the University, Fleming was running back and kicker for the Washington Huskies … Read More … Read MoreGeorge Fleming (1937-2021)
Two profoundly affecting interviews highlight the power and importance of the imagination, art, endurance, hope, and hard, hard work. As 2016 comes to a close, please listen to the interviews below. Anthony Ray Hinton (left) The first is an interview conducted by John Hockenberry of … Read More … Read MoreTwo Stories to Reflect Upon as 2016 Comes to a Close
Taylor Emmanuel Gordon was born in 1893 in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, one of six children of a cook and a laundress. He is best known for his career as a singer in the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. After leaving Montana in 1910 for a job in Minnesota, … Read More … Read MoreTaylor Emmanuel Gordon (1893-1971)
The legend of Prester John, a wealthy Christian king with a kingdom somewhere outside of the Western European realm, pervaded European thought throughout the Middle Ages. The limited understanding of the unexplored regions of the world and the inability to find his kingdom resulted in … Read More … Read MorePrester John
