Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (SGRho), one of the four college sororities for African American women, was founded by seven public school teachers at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 12, 1922. SGRho is thus the only Greek-letter organization founded by university graduates rather … Read MoreSigma Gamma Rho Sorority (1922- )
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (Sigma) was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., on January 14, 1914, by three college students, A. Langston Taylor, Lenard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown on the principles of Brotherhood, Scholarship, and Service. The founders … Read MorePhi Beta Sigma Fraternity (1914- )
Carl Lewis was a successful track and field athlete whose career spanned two decades from 1979 to 1997. He won ten medals as a member of five Olympic teams and won ten World Championship medals. Carl Lewis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 1, … Read MoreFrederick Carlton “Carl” Lewis (1961- )
Betty Shabazz, wife and later widow of Malcolm X, became an important political activist after the assassination of her husband in 1965. Betty Shabazz was born Betty Dean Sanders to parents Ollie May Sanders and Shelman Sandlin. Ollie May Sanders was a teenager and Sandlin … Read MoreBetty Sandlin Shabazz (1934-1997)
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the first Prime Minister of Nigeria before and after Nigerian independence from Great Britain in 1960. Born in December of 1912 in Bauchi in Northern Nigeria, Balewa’s father, Mallam Yakubu, was a minor official in the Native Authority, part of … Read MoreSir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966)
Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first President of Nigeria and was instrumental in founding a string of newspapers across Nigeria. Azikiwe was born on November 16, 1904 in Zungeru which was then the capital of Northern Nigeria. His father, Chukwumeka Azikiwe, was a civil servant in … Read MoreBenjamin Nnamdi “Zik” Azikiwe (1904-1996)
By 1968 the freedom struggle for Namibia was a two year old guerilla war against South African control of the region. That struggle was directed by the Southwest African People’s Organization (SWAPO). In the address below which was originally published in April, 1968, Toivo Herman … Read More(1968) Toivo Herman Ja Toivo, “Freedom for Namibia”
As the post-World War II campaign for African independence heated up, young leaders such as Nigeria’s Nnamdi Azikiwe (who would eventually become the first President of Nigeria), carried their arguments to Great Britain. On October 23, 1949 Azikiwe spoke at the Plenary Session of the … Read More(1949) Nnamdi Azikiwe, “A Denunciation of European Imperialism”
The National Medical Association (NMA) was founded in 1895 by African American physicians as an alternative to the white-only American Medical Association. It was created by twelve black doctors at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. Robert F. Boyd was the organization’s … Read MoreNational Medical Association (1895- )
The Moorish Science Temple of America is a sect of the Islamic religion that teaches the uplifting of fallen humanity and the making of better citizens. Symbols of this religion include the star and crescent, fezzes, turbans, the Moorish Flag, and the addition of “El” … Read MoreNewark Moorish Science Temple of America (1914- )
