Benny Nelson Napoleon was an attorney, law enforcement officer, and politician. Napoleon was born on September 10, 1955 to Reverend Harry and Betty Napoleon, in Detroit, Michigan. Napoleon played little league baseball in his youth and graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1973. He … Read MoreBenny Napoleon (1955-2020)
Marc H. Morial is an American politician and civil rights activist. He is best known as an influential political figure in Louisiana and the CEO and president of the National Urban League. Morial, the second of five children, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on … Read MoreMarc H. Morial (1958- )
Born on September 1, 1857 in Columbus, Mississippi, Henry E. Baker was remarkable for being the first author to explore and record the work of African American inventors. He began his education at the United States Naval Academy in 1874 where he was only the … Read MoreHenry E. Baker (1857-1928)
Dr. John Morton-Finney was an accomplished lawyer, civil rights activist, and academic who accumulated eleven degrees over the course of his life. Born in Kentucky on June 25, 1889, Morton-Finney was one of seven children. His father, a former slave, and his mother, a free … Read MoreJohn Morton-Finney (1889-1998)
Steven L. Reed is the first African American mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. Reed was born in 1974 in Montgomery, to Mollie and Joseph L. Reed. His mother was an educator, and his father was a former educator and well-known politician who served on the Montgomery … Read MoreSteven L. Reed (1974- )
Donald Dean Haley, was an attorney King County Superior Court judge, one of thirteen founders and past president of the Loren Miller Bar Association, formerly the Loren Miller Bar Club (a black legal association), and a lifelong member and former president of the Seattle-King County … Read MoreDonald Dean Haley (1932-2018)
Jerome A. Holmes, is the first African American to serve as an United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Holmes was born in Washington D.C. on November 18, 1961. His parents were Ryland and Hattie Holmes. Holmes graduated from Wake Forest University in 1983 … Read MoreJerome A. Holmes (1961- )
Rufus Calvin Kuykendall was an attorney, politician, and one of the first African Americans to be elected judge in Indiana’s Marion County Superior Court. Kuykendall was born on September 24, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana to John, a former slave from Tennessee, and Belle (Jackson) Kuykendall. … Read MoreRufus Calvin Kuykendall (1903-1977)
Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, social justice advocate, and law professor at New York University School of Law. Stevenson was born on November 14, 1959 in Milton, Delaware. His father, Howard Carlton Stevenson, Jr. was a laboratory technician at General Foods, and his mother, Alice … Read MoreBryan Stevenson (1959- )
United Airlines executive Brett Jonah Hart was born on March 22, 1969 and raised in the small town of Cassopolis, Michigan where his parents were both self-employed at their own companies. In his youth, he spent his summers working on construction sites with his contractor … Read MoreBrett Jonah Hart (1969- )
