Rosângela Cristina Oliveira Santos is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Brazil, specialising in the 100 and 200 meter sprints. Born to Brazilian parents in Washington D.C., on December 20, 1990, she contracted pneumonia as a baby and was one year old when her parents took … Read MoreRosângela Cristina Oliveira Santos (1990- )
Gregory Oliver Hines, an American tap dancer, singer, actor, and choreographer, was a major figure in the revitalization of tap dancing in the late twentieth century. Hines was born on February 14, 1946, in New York City, New York, the son of Alma Lola and … Read MoreGregory Oliver Hines (1946-2003)
“Image Ownership: Nightscream” Geoffrey Lamont Holder, acclaimed choreographer and legendary figure in the dance world, was also a respected actor, Tony Award-winning director, costume designer, singer, music composer, voice-over artist, orator, painter, sculptor, and photographer. Holder was born to a middle-class family in Port of … Read MoreGeoffrey Lamont Holder (1930-2014)
The Black Arts Movement was the name given to a group of politically motivated black poets, artists, dramatists, musicians, and writers who emerged in the wake of the Black Power Movement. The poet Imamu Amiri Baraka is widely considered to be the father of the … Read MoreThe Black Arts Movement (1965-1975)
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers were a musical group primarily active between 1962 and 1966, singing “freedom songs” in order to fundraise and organize on behalf of SNCC. The Freedom Singers emerged out of the Albany Movement of 1962. After witnessing the Albany Movement’s mass … Read MoreSNCC Freedom Singers (1962-1966)
The Scar of Shame Movie Title Page “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Colored Players Film Corporation was a silent film production company based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early twentieth century. Though short-lived, it was able to add some much needed respectability to black … Read MoreThe Colored Players (1926-1929)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Vanoye Aikens was a star dancer and choreographer for the famous Katherine Dunham Dance Company. The Dunham Company popularized African American dance and pioneered the Dunham Technique, which combined Caribbean and African dance with European ballet. A native of Georgia, Aikens … Read MoreVanoye Aikens (1917-2013)
Legendary dancer, choreographer, and actor Carmen de Lavallade came to prominence in the early 1950s when black artists came into their own in the world of American dance on Broadway, in film, and on television. De Lavallade was born on March 6, 1931, in Los … Read MoreCarmen Paula de Lavallade (1931- )
The Lafayette Players were a dramatic stock company composed entirely of African American actors. Originally from Harlem, this first of its kind group introduced audiences to the idea that black actors were capable of taking on a variety of roles and displaying a much greater … Read MoreThe Lafayette Players (1915-1932)
Misty Copeland is one of only a handful of African American soloist ballerinas in the world. When Copeland was just a newborn two ballerinas, Anne Benna Sims and Nora Kimball, respectively, became the first and second African American soloists for the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) … Read MoreMisty Copeland (1982- )
