(2003) Rev. Jeremiah Wright, “Confusing God and Government”

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, whose most famous congregant was Illinois Senator Barack Obama, burst unto the national political scene when media outlets reported and aired segments of previous sermons.  The segment which appeared most … Read MoreRead More(2003) Rev. Jeremiah Wright, “Confusing God and Government”

Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno
(1984- )

Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno is the Chairman of the Transitional Military Council of Chad (de facto President). Déby is the son of the former President of Chad, Idriss Déby. He was born on April 4, 1984, in the capital city of N’Djamena and is known … Read MoreRead MoreMahamat Idriss Déby Itno
(1984- )

Jefferson A. Beaver (1908-1991)

Jefferson August Beaver, banker, businessman, local politician, and civil rights activist, was born in Warren, Arkansas on May 20, 1908 to parents Rev. Robert Jefferson Beaver, a minister with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and Ethel Jordan.  Beaver’s family resided in Monticello, Arkansas before … Read MoreRead MoreJefferson A. Beaver (1908-1991)

Barbara Ann Posey Jones (1943- )

In 1958, Barbara Ann Posey, then a high school student, emerged as one of the most important youth leaders in the campaign which began that year to desegregate the major public accommodations in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Posey’s public stand against racial injustice began when she … Read MoreRead MoreBarbara Ann Posey Jones (1943- )

(1926) John Williamson Kuyé, “Right of the People to Self-Determination”

John Williamson Kuyé, an early 20th Century advocate of African self-rule was in many respects part of the first wave of African nationalists.  Born in Bathurst, Gambia, on November 10,  1894, he attended Stanley Day School and Wesleyan Boys’ High School in Sierra Leone.  Kuyé … Read MoreRead More(1926) John Williamson Kuyé, “Right of the People to Self-Determination”

North from Mexico: The First Black Settlers in the U.S. West

The first Black settlers in what is now the western United States were Spanish speakers who came north from what is now central Mexico. Their roots there began in 1519, when Black men were among the Spanish conquistadores who invaded and destroyed the Aztec Empire, … Read MoreRead MoreNorth from Mexico: The First Black Settlers in the U.S. West

Linda Thomas-Greenfield (1952- )

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the new United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a Cabinet-level post in the President Joseph Biden Administration. Born in Baker, Louisiana circa 1952, Linda Thomas-Greenfield graduated from a segregated high school in 1970. The first in her family to graduate from … Read MoreRead MoreLinda Thomas-Greenfield (1952- )

(1963) Haile Selassie, “Towards African Unity”

On May 25, 1963 the Organization for African Unity (OAU) was established with a permanent headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, was selected as the first President of the OAU.  His acceptance speech appears below. This is indeed a momentous and … Read MoreRead More(1963) Haile Selassie, “Towards African Unity”