Omali Yeshitela, Pan-Africanist, socialist, and activist, was born Joseph Allen Waller Jr. on October 9, 1941, in St. Petersburg, Florida, to Lucille Waller of Pensacola, Florida, and Joseph Waller of Eatonton, Georgia. Lucille, a licensed practical nurse and cosmetologist, owned multiple hair salons, and Joseph … Read MoreOmali Yeshitela (1941- )
Hamilton Earl Holmes was the lesser-known of the Black duo who desegregated the University of Georgia in 1961. He was born July 8, 1941, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of businessman Alfred Holmes and schoolteacher Isabella Holmes. A precocious, goal-driven youth, early on, he took … Read MoreHamilton Earl Holmes (1941-1995)
Journalist, historian, activist A. Peter Bailey was born on February 24, 1938, in Columbus, Georgia, to Upson Bailey, Sr. from Randolph County, Alabama, and Alga McFarlane Bailey from Birmingham. However, he was reared in Tuskegee, Alabama. From the first grade in 1944 to the eighth … Read MoreA. Peter Bailey (1938- )
Timuel D. Black Jr. was an African American educator, civil rights activist, historian, and author. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 7, 1918, he was one of four children of Timuel Dixon Black Sr. and Mattie McConner Black. In the summer of 1919, Black’s parents … Read MoreTimuel Dixon Black, Jr. (1918-2021)
Dr. Herbert Charles Smitherman Sr. was a chemist and the first African American to be employed at Proctor & Gamble as a doctorate-level employee. He helped improve formulas for products such as Crest toothpaste, Bounce fabric softeners, Folgers’ coffee, and Safeguard soap. Smitherman was born … Read MoreHerbert Charles Smitherman Sr. (1937-2010)
On May 18, 2021, longtime University of Washington Professor Emeritus Thaddeus Spratlen died in Seattle, Washington at the age of 90. Few people knew his name, but his work transformed black economics in the United States. In the article below, Professor William Bradford, former Dean … Read MoreThaddeus H. Spratlen: Scholar and Philanthropist Generating Economic Change in Black America
The Mad Lads were vocalists of soul/funk, R&B from Memphis, Tennessee. They were led by founding members tenor John Gary Williams who was born in the city on September 15, 1946. Other members included bass/baritone Julius Eichenfeldt Green, born October 30, 1947, in Memphis, tenor … Read MoreThe Mad Lads (1964–1972)
Frederick Stephen Humphries Sr., university president, professor, and HBCU advocate, was born December 26, 1935, in Apalachicola, Florida to Minnie Fry Henry, a domestic servant and teacher, and Thornton Govan Humphries Sr., a lumber mill worker and salter. A lifelong Catholic, Humphries was influenced by … Read MoreFrederick Humphries (1935-2021)
Rhythm and blues vocal ensemble Archie Bell & the Drells was established in 1968 by lyricist Archie Bell. He was born in Henderson, Texas, on September 1, 1944, and reared in Houston. At the age of 10, he started singing in local clubs. When Bell … Read MoreArchie Bell & The Drells (1968 – 1980)
Renowned composer and pianist John Daniel Carter was born on April 19, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri but was reared in Tallahassee, Florida. He was the only child of John Hannibal Carter, a pianist, and his first music teacher, and Lilly Carter. John Carter quickly … Read MoreJohn Daniel Carter (1932-1981)
