Black Enterprise (BE) is a bi-monthly publication that is now the premier source for investing, wealth-building, and business information for African Americans. In 1969, founder Earl Gilbert Graves Sr. recognized that the then major publications being targeted towards black audiences were focusing on fashion and … Read MoreBlack Enterprise (1970- )
Essence magazine is a monthly publication whose target audience is African American women. It focuses on culture, beauty, fashion, and entertainment. Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) was founded in 1968 by Clarence O. Smith, Cecil Hollingsworth, Jonathan Blount, Denise M. Clark, and Edward Lewis. The original … Read MoreEssence Magazine (1970- )
Elmer Simms Campbell was an early syndicated cartoonist and jazz critic. Born on January 2, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, Campbell was the son of Elmer Cary Campbell, a high school chemistry teacher and assistant principal, and Elizabeth Simms Campbell, also a teacher. Inspired by … Read MoreE. Simms Campbell (1906-1971)
George Herriman was one of the first syndicated cartoonists of African descent. The son of mulatto Creole parents George Herriman Jr., a tailor, and the former Clara Morel, Herriman was born in New Orleans on August 22, 1880. At age ten, his family relocated to … Read MoreGeorge Joseph Herriman (1880-1944)
Michael Bruce Curry is the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. Curry was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 13, 1953 to the Rev. Kenneth S. L. Curry, a pastor and social activist, and Dorothy Strayhorn Curry. At age three, he moved … Read MoreMichael Bruce Curry (1953- )
Simeon Saunders Booker Jr.’s innovative career in journalism transformed how African American readers engaged with news coverage of politics and social injustices. As the first African American reporter for the Washington Post, he provided insight into the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. On August … Read MoreSimeon S. Booker (1918-2017)
Frank Ocean is a singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer and photographer. He was born Christopher Edwin Breaux on October 28, 1987 in Long Beach, California. His parents, Calvin Edward Cooksey and Katonya Breaux, moved the family to New Orleans, Louisiana when he was five years old. His father left the family … Read MoreFrank Ocean (Christopher “Lonny” Francis William Ocean) (1987- )
Samuel Scottron was a inventor of the late 1800s, best known for his invention of the curtain rod. It is unclear if Scottron was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or New England in the years 1841 or 1843. What is clear is that the Scottron family … Read MoreSamuel Raymond Scottron (ca. 1843-1905)
World War II hero Waverly B. “Woody” Woodson was born August 3, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Waverly B. Woodson Sr., a postal carrier. The historical record reveals nothing about his mother. A pre-med student at Lincoln University when World War II started, Waverly left during … Read MoreWaverly Bernard Woodson Jr. (1922-2005)
Virgil Garnett Trice Jr., a respected chemical engineer and official with the U.S. Department of Energy, was one of only a small number of African Americans who held positions as nuclear scientists in the middle decades of the twentieth century. During a long career in public service, … Read MoreVirgil Garnett Trice, Jr. (1926-1997)
