Keith Ellison is an American politician and lawyer, who is currently the Attorney General-elect of Minnesota. Ellison was born on August 4, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan. He is the third of five sons born to Leonard and Clida (Martinez). Since childhood Ellison was involved with the civil rightsmovement and briefly worked … Read MoreKeith M. Ellison (1963- )
Kendrick Meek, former highway patrolman, Florida state representative, and state senator, served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic representative from Florida’s 17th District from 2003 to 2011. Meek was born on September 6, 1966 in Miami, Florida. He is the youngest of three children of Harold and former … Read MoreKendrick Meek (1966- )
John Conyers Jr., who served in the U.S. Congress for 52, years from 1965 to 2017, was born on May 16, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended public schools and graduated in 1947 from Northwestern High School. After high school, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined … Read MoreCongressman John Conyers (1929- )
Afro-Turkish choreographer, dancer, instructor, and talent agent Saít Sökmen was born in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea, Africa, the sixth child of Mehmet Cemil Sökmen, a successful merchant, and Fatuma Mamady, a resident of Conakry. His father operated a bakery and winery in Conakry until political instability … Read MoreSaít Sökmen (1942– )
The author, poet, and playwright Paulette Williams was born on October 18, 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey. Until she was eight, she lived in a racially diverse community among well educated upper middle class black and white families. She socialized with prominent musicians and performers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Chuck Berry, Charlie Parker, Miles … Read MorePaulette Shange Ntozake Williams (1948- )
Democratic representative of New York City, New York, Charles Bernard Rangel, first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970 and retiring in 2017, served 46 years in Congress. Rangel was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1930 to Blanche Mary Wharton and Ralph … Read MoreCharles Bernard Rangel (1930- )
Carl Brewer served as the 100th Mayor of Wichita, Kansas, only the second African American elected to that office. Brewer was born on March 8, 1957 in Wichita, Kansas. He attended Wichita North High school, and graduated in 1975. He obtained his first job at … Read MoreCarl Brewer (1957– )
One of the last of the major riots of the “Red Summer” of 1919, the so-called race riot in Elaine, Arkansas was in fact a racial massacre. Though exact numbers are unknown, it is estimated that over 200 African Americans were killed, along with five whites, during the white … Read MoreElaine, Arkansas Riot (1919)
Scipio Africanus Jones was a prominent Arkansas African American defense attorney in the late 19th and early 20th century. He opposed Arkansas’s Jim Crow laws and successfully argued cases before the United States Supreme Court between 1913 and 1925. Known for his pro bono work for impoverished African American defendants, Jones … Read MoreScipio Africanus Jones (1863–1943)
Alice Allison Dunnigan was the first African American female correspondent at the White House and the first black female member of the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries. Dunnigan was born April 27, 1906, in Russellville, Kentucky, to Willie and Lena Pitman Allison. Her father worked as … Read MoreAlice Allison Dunnigan (1906–1983)