Vere Cornwall Bird, the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, is a national hero of this Caribbean nation. Vere Cornwall Bird was born in New Street, St John’s, Antigua on December 7, 1910, the fourth child of Edghill and Theophilus Bird at a time … Read MoreVere Bird (1910-1999)
Country baritone singer, lyricist, actor, activist, freestyle rapper was born on September 23, 1994, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Michael and Delores Jones. He creatively blends hip-hop and country music. During his childhood, Jones wrote verse and improvised music almost instantly. He early on showed the … Read MoreWillie Jones (1994- )
Rory Gamble is the first Black president of the United Auto Workers. His term as president began in 2019, and expires in 2022. The union has over 390,000 active members. Because he was the son of an auto worker who was also a union representative, … Read MoreRory Gamble (1955- )
The New Negro Alliance (NNA) was a Washington, D.C. based organization founded in 1933 by mostly middle class blacks to use pickets, economic boycotts, and other direct action protests to promote civil rights. It sought to increase African American employment opportunities, especially in white collar … Read MoreThe New Negro Alliance (1933-1940s)
Joseph James was president of San Francisco National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1944 he won a successful lawsuit, James v. Marinship Corporation which prohibited the Boilermakers union from discriminating against black workers in California. James and his wife, Alberta, came … Read MoreJoseph James (?-?)
One of the original Greensboro Four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins. It is reported that as a nine-year-old he boasted to friends that he would “one day drink from the white people’s fountains and eat at their lunch counters.” Blair was the most … Read MoreJibreel Khazan/Ezell Blair, Jr. (1941- )
Lester Blackwell Granger was a social worker and civil rights and labor rights activist best known for leading the National Urban League (NUL) from 1941 to 1961. Granger was born on September 16, 1896, in Newport News, Virginia, to William “Ran” Randolph and Mary Louise … Read MoreLester Blackwell Granger (1896-1976)
