Image Ownership: Public Domain Actor Samuel Leroy Jackson was born on December 21, 1948 in Washington, D.C. to factory worker Elizabeth Jackson. His father abandoned his mother shortly after Jackson’s birth and then died of alcoholism. Jackson and his mother moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where … Read MoreSamuel L. Jackson (1948- )
The Lincoln Emancipation Statue in Washington,D.C. Archer Alexander is the Model for the Slave Here Image Ownership: Public Domain Archer Alexander was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation around the year 1810. His likeness, in face and figure, immortalizes all American slaves on a … Read MoreArcher Alexander (ca. 1810-1879)
18th Century British Slave Image Ownership: Public Domain James Sommersett was the subject of a landmark legal case in Great Britain, which was the first major step in imposing limits on Trans-Atlantic African slavery. Sommersett entered the pages of history when in 1771, he fled … Read MoreJames Sommersett (c1741-c1772)
Francis Johnson, musician, composer, and bandmaster, was born in 1792 in Martinique in the West Indies and emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1809 at the age of 17. By that point he had already mastered the keyed bugle and the violin. By his early 20s … Read MoreFrancis Johnson (1792-1844)
Image Courtesy of the Huffington Post J. Kenneth Blackwell, better known as Ken Blackwell, served as Ohio’s Secretary of State from 1999 to 2007. As a member of the Republican Party, he consistently advocated a conservative platform. Born on February 28, 1948, and raised … Read MoreJohn Kenneth Blackwell (1948- )
Thomas L. Jennings was the first black man to receive a patent. The patent was awarded on March 3, 1821 (US Patent 3306x) for his discovery of a process called dry-scouring which was the forerunner of today’s modern dry-cleaning. Jennings was born free in New … Read MoreThomas L. Jennings (1791- 1856)
Image Ownership: Public Domain James L. Walton is Tacoma, Washington’s first black city manager. Born in Dallas, the youngest of five children, he grew up in the small Texas town of Mineola. After high school graduation in 1959, he followed his brother, Willie Brown, who … Read MoreJames L. Walton (1939- )
Shaka Zulu established the Zulu Empire and revolutionized warfare in Southern Africa in the early 19th Century. Shaka was born in 1787. His father, Senzangakhona, was a minor chief of one of the Zulu-speaking clans and his mother, Nandi, was daughter of Chief Mbhengi of … Read MoreShaka Zulu (1787-1828)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Isaac Jefferson, a slave of the third President of the United States, was born in December 1775 in Monticello, on the Thomas Jefferson plantation in Virginia. His family was an important part of the Monticello labor force. His father, Great George, … Read MoreIsaac Jefferson (1775-1853)
Image Ownership: Public Domain James A. Bland was an entertainer and a prolific composer who wrote sentimental songs about the American South for use in minstrel shows. Bland was born in Flushing, New York on October 22, 1854 to educated, free parents. He briefly studied … Read MoreJames A. Bland (1854-1911)