Ben Gross is a legendary civil rights and union activist in San Jose, California and the surrounding Silicon Valley. Gross was born and raised in McGehee, Arkansas in 1921. In Arkansas, Gross lived under Jim Crow Laws (legal segregation) and picked cotton during the Great … Read MoreBen Gross (1921- )
Singer and songwriter Joan Armatrading, best known for her influential and eclectic music styles, ranging from soul, pop, and even reggae, was born on December 9, 1950 in Basseterre in Saint Kitts and Nevis. She lived there for seven years until her and her family … Read MoreJoan Armatrading (1950- )
Ahmad Sekou Toure in Bamako Image Ownership: Public Domain Ahmed Sékou Touré, first president of Guinea, trade unionist, Pan-Africanist and authoritarian leader, was born on January 9, 1922, at Faranah, Guinea, a town on the banks of the Niger River. His parents, Alpha Touré and … Read MoreAhmed Sékou Touré (1922-1984)
Reggae, which originated in Kingston, Jamaica in the late 1970s, is a by-product of ska and rocksteady music. While ska tends to be a more upbeat tempo and rocksteady slower, they come together to form reggae. Reggae’s distinctive sound incorporates the piano, guitar, drums, and … Read MoreReggae
John Hope Franklin, one of the nation’s leading historians, is the only African American who has served as president of both the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH). Franklin was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma on January 2, 1915 to parents … Read MoreJohn Hope Franklin (1915-2009)
In the following article Canadian independent historian Gael Greene examines the arrival of black emigrants from Oklahoma in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. These pioneer settlers carved out communities on one of the last frontiers in North America. Many Canadians feel pride about … Read MoreThe Quest for Land and Freedom on Canada’s Western Prairies: Black Oklahomans in Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1905-1912
On February 5, 1967 Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere announced the Arusha Declaration outlining the principles of Ujamaa which he called African Socialism. The principles were to guide the economy of the newly independent nation rooted in the concept of self-reliance. The Declaration appears below. On … Read More(1967) The Arusha Declaration
Brenda Ray Moryck was a Washington, D.C.-based black writer and social activist often associated with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. While Moryck and her female peers did not receive as much mainstream public attention as did many black male artists, she published short stories, … Read MoreBrenda Ray Moryck (1894-1949)
Eldridge Cleaver, author and civil rights activist, was born on August 31, 1935 in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. Cleaver, a child of six, lived in a household where his father abused his mother. The Cleavers moved to Phoenix, Arizona and finally settled in Los Angeles, California where … Read MoreEldridge Cleaver (1935-1998)
Kwame Kilpatrick is a former American politician who served as a Democratic Michigan state representative and Mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. Kilpatrick was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 6, 1970, to Carolyn and Bernard Kilpatrick. He attended Cass Technical High School and … Read MoreKwame Malik Kilpatrick (1970- )
