Bennie G. Thompson, United States Representative from Mississippi’s Second Congressional District, is the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and as such is one of the most influential African American members of Congress. Thompson was born in Bolton, Mississippi on January 28, 1948 to … Read MoreBennie G. Thompson (1948- )
Elected to Congress in 2008, Donna Edwards was a Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 4th Congressional District of Maryland. Donna Edwards was born on June 28, 1958 in Yanceyville, North Carolina. Her father served in the U.S. Air Force, so Edwards … Read MoreDonna F. Edwards (1958- )
Marcia Fudge is now the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Joseph Biden Administration. Before then she was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 11th Congressional District of Ohio since November 2008. She was the first female African American … Read MoreMarcia Fudge (1952- )
Percy Sutton, attorney, politician, civil rights activist, and businessman, was born on November 24, 1920, in San Antonio, Texas to school teachers Samuel and Lillian Sutton. Percy Sutton attended Prairie View A&M University, Tuskegee Institute, and Hampton Institute. In 1942, Sutton joined the military. He … Read MorePercy Sutton (1920-2009)
Basil Alexander Paterson, attorney, politician, and educator, was born on April 27, 1926 in Harlem, New York to parents of West Indian descent, Evangeline Alicia and Leonard James Paterson. Paterson attended New York City public schools and in 1942, at the age of 16, he … Read MoreBasil Alexander Paterson (1926-2014)
Ronald “Ron” Kirk is the U.S. Trade Representative for U.S. President Barack Obama. Kirk was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 18, 2009, and officially sworn in two days later. Kirk is the 16th trade representative and the first African American to hold the … Read MoreRonald Kirk (1954- )
Cassandra Quin Butts is Deputy White House Counsel to President Barack Obama on issues relating to civil rights, domestic policy, healthcare, and education. She brought seventeen years of experience in politics and policy to her position. She is a long-time friend of the President, acting … Read MoreCassandra Quin Butts (1965- )
John W. Rogers Jr., business executive, investor, and entrepreneur, was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 31, 1958. Rogers’s mother was Jewel S. Lafontant, a prominent Republican attorney and federal government official and his father was John W. Rogers, a Chicago circuit court judge. Rogers … Read MoreJohn W. Rogers (1958- )
Adrian Malik Fenty was born to Philip and Jan Fenty, an interracial couple, on December 6, 1970, in Washington, D.C. Fenty’s parents were both runners and they owned the athletic shoe store Fleet Feet in Washington, D.C. Fenty graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School … Read MoreAdrian M. Fenty (1970- )
William Burney, a business consultant who lives in southern Maine, was elected as the first black mayor of Augusta, Maine, the state capital, in November 1988. He served two four-year terms in this position until 1996. Burney was born in Augusta on April 23, 1951. … Read MoreWilliam Burney (1951- )
