Pierre Réjon was the first black French military pilot to fly during World War I and one of the first people of African ancestry to become a military pilot anywhere in the world. Réjon was one of the three pilots with the Allied Air Forces, … Read MorePierre Réjon (1895-1920)
Dr. Carolyn L. Robertson Payton was the first African American and the first woman to become the director of the U.S. Peace Corps. She was appointed in 1977 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Carolyn L. Robertson Payton was born on May 13, 1925, in Norfolk, … Read MoreCarolyn L. Robertson Payton (1925-2001)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Bethel AME Church Reno is the longest operating African-American congregation in Nevada. An African Methodist Episcopal congregation of seven organized it in 1907. Its first building was constructed in 1910 at 220 Bell Street in Reno, Nevada. The AME Church sent Reverend … Read MoreBethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Reno, Nevada (1907– )
Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, a columnist, and member of the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal, a Fox News commentator, and a frequent contributor to National Review. Riley has authored two very popular books on the … Read MoreJason Riley (1971- )
“Image Ownership: Christopher Nelson” Horatio Viscount “Berky” Nelson was a widely recognized scholar of 20th Century African American political history and particularly class dynamics in the modern black community. His first major work, The Rise and Fall of Modern Black Leadership, was a searing critique … Read MoreHoratio Viscount “Berky” Nelson Jr. (1939-2015)
Edward Perkins served as U.S. Ambassador on four occasions; more than all but two other African Americans. He was born Edward Joseph Perkins, Jr. on June 8, 1928 in Sterlington, Louisiana to Edward Perkins, Sr. and Tiny Estella Noble. After moving to Portland, Oregon and graduating … Read MoreEdward Joseph Perkins, Jr. (1928-2020)
William E. Kennard is a telecommunications expert, attorney, and American diplomat. He was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 19, 1957, to his father, Robert Kennard, an architect, and his mother, Helen King, an elementary school teacher. William attended Stanford University, receiving his bachelor’s … Read MoreWilliam Earl Kennard (1957– )
Bonnie Jenkins is a retired U.S. Naval Reserve officer, diplomat, and expert in international security, arms control, treaty laws, and nonproliferation and disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. Born in Queens, New York, and growing up in the Bronx, New York, Jenkins was the child … Read MoreBonnie Denise Jenkins (ca.1960– )
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) “Image Ownership: Cfiles-aflcio“ Labor leader Tefere Gebre fled Ethiopia at fourteen years of age, moved to the United States, and was elected years later, in 2013, executive vice president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial … Read MoreTefere Gebre (1968–)
Robert Frederick Smith is best known as the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a multi-billion-dollar private equity and wealth management company that employs over thirty thousand people around the world and focuses on the growth of firms that develop enterprise software. Forbes … Read MoreRobert F. Smith (1962- )
