Nikkita Oliver is an attorney, teacher, poet, and social activist. She is well-known for her 2017 run for mayor of Seattle, Washington where she came in a surprising third in a field of twenty-one candidates which included many established politicians. Oliver was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and grew up in a biracial household there. … Read MoreNikkita Oliver (1986- )
Urban gardening advocate Karen Washington was born in 1956 in New York City, New York and has lived in New York state all of her life. Washington attended Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY), earning a earning a bachelor’s of applied science with honors in physical … Read MoreKaren Washington (1956- )
National Football League (NFL) head coach Mike Tomlin was born on March 15, 1972 in Hampton, Virginia to Julia and Ed Tomlin. Mike Tomlin’s birth father was not an extremely prominent figure in his life due to his divorce with his mom at a young age, so he and … Read MoreMike Tomlin (1972- )
Berta de los Angeles Soler Fernandez is a Cuban dissident and activist. She is the co-founder and current leader of Ladies in White, or Damas de Blanco, an all-female organization of the wives and female relatives of political prisoners. Soler was born July 31, 1963 in Matanzas, Cuba. She studied … Read MoreBerta Soler (1963- )
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on December 30, 1949, Tom Colbert was the first African American Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Raised by his single mother, Edith Colbert, with four other siblings, he grew up in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, a small town near Oklahoma City, and graduated from … Read MoreTom Colbert (1949- )
David Lewis is the first African American to serve on the Criminal Court of Appeals in Oklahoma. Born to Sylvia Lewis on April 30, 1958, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, he graduated from Ardmore High School in 1976. He got a bachelor’s degree in business economics at the University of Oklahoma in … Read MoreDavid B. Lewis (1956- )
William Eugene McAnulty, Jr. was the first black justice to serve on the Kentucky Supreme Court and the first black person to ever hold a cabinet level position in Kentucky state government. Justice McAnulty was appointed to the state Supreme Court in June 2006 by Kentucky … Read MoreWilliam E. McAnulty, Jr. (1947-2007)
Charleena Lyles was 30 years old and a mother of four who was shot and killedby Seattle Police on June 18, 2017. Lyles was raised in Seattle, Washington. She had a rather difficult childhood as she grew up around drugs and her mother passed away when she was just … Read MoreCharleena Lyles (1987-2017)
Politician and lawyer Sylvester Turner was born in the Acres Homes community in northwest Houston, Texas on September 27, 1954. He was elected mayor of Houston in 2015 thus becoming the city’s second African American mayor. Turner was raised among eight other brothers and sisters by his mother, a maid, … Read MoreSylvester Turner (1954- )
Tarana Burke is an activist who is best known for creating the Me Too movement which raises awareness about sexual harassment, assault, and abuse. Burke was born on September 12, 1973, in The Bronx, New York. She had many troubling experiences growing up in a low-income, working-class family. She was … Read MoreTarana Burke (1973- )
