General Fred A. Gorden was the first black Commandant of Cadets, the officer in charge of the training, discipline, and physical condition of the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Commandant of Cadets position is second only to … Read MoreFred Gorden (1940- )
Far better known as a popular and versatile actor in Italy and parts of Europe than in his native country, the United States, John Kitzmiller was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, on December 4, 1913, one of two children of John B. and Mary E. … Read MoreJohn Kitzmiller (1913-1965)
Ice-T, pioneering West Coast rapper, singer and actor, was born Tracy Marrow in Newark, New Jersey to Solomon and Alice Marrow on February 16, 1958. The Marrows were a working-class African American family who lived in the predominantly white town of Summit, New Jersey, where … Read MoreTracy Lauren “Ice-T” Marrow (1958- )
Alvin J. Boutte Sr., co-founder and past chairman and CEO of Independence Bank (at one time America’s largest black-owned bank), was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on October 10, 1929. He was the youngest of 10 children. His mother Adorea Darensbourg Boutte was a seamstress, and his … Read MoreAlvin J. Boutte Sr. (1929-2012)
Walter Edward Williams, economist, educator, political pundit, radio personality, and syndicated columnist, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in March 31, 1936. Williams and his sister were raised by a single mother in the Richard Allen Housing Project in North Philadelphia. Williams was educated in Philadelphia … Read MoreWalter Edward Williams (1936-2020)
Tone Johnson, medical doctor, Vietnam hero, and civic leader was born on November 9, 1944 to Lyzer (Elizabeth) Marks Johnson and sawmill worker and farmer Henry Johnson in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. After graduating from Carrie Martin High School in Plain Dealing in 1963, he went … Read MoreTone Johnson Jr. (1944– )
In 1946, U.S. Army Sergeant Isaac Woodard challenged a Greyhound bus driver while traveling from Georgia to South Carolina after being discharged from service in World War II. Police officers, who met him at the next stop, brutally attacked him and left him permanently blind. … Read MoreIsaac Woodard (1919-1992)
Christian Fleetwood, soldier, choir master, clerk, and abolitionist, was born free in Baltimore, Maryland to Charles Fleetwood and Anna Marie Fleetwood on July 21, 1840. At an early age, Christian Fleetwood showed signs of intelligence and quickly endeared himself to the wealthy sugar merchant John … Read MoreChristian Abraham Fleetwood (1840-1914)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Ruth Alice Lucas, who overcame race and sex barriers back in 1968 by becoming the first African American woman to be promoted to the rank of full colonel in the United States Air Force, was born in Stamford, Connecticut on November … Read MoreRuth Alice Lucas (1920-2013)
Tuskegee Airman Howard Adolphus Wooten was born on April 20, 1920 in Lovelady, Texas to parents Johnnie C. Morris Wooten and Howard L. Wooten. His father was the principal of the “colored school” in Lovelady, a town 100 miles north of Houston, and his mother … Read MoreHoward A. Wooten (1920-1948)
