The area of South Texas known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley became in the period between the U.S. Civil War and World War I one of the few regions south of the Mason-Dixon Line where racial miscegenation laws were frequently challenged. As a consequence … Read MoreBorder Love on the Rio Grande: African American Men and Latinas in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas (1850-1940)
Marlon Riggs was a black gay writer, filmmaker, and social activist. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas to a military family on February 3, 1957, and spent his childhood at various military posts, including time spent living in Georgia and Germany. Riggs graduated with … Read MoreMarlon Riggs (1957-1994)
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)
Born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, Wilfredo Lam personally exemplified the complex multiethnic nature of Latin America: his father was Chinese while his mother boasted a combined African, Indian, and European cultural background. Utilizing some of this background, Lam, through art, would explore various African … Read MoreWilfredo Lam (1902-1982)
Robert Louis Johnson, founder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Black Entertainment Television (BET), is also the majority owner of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the first African American billionaire. He was born in Hickory, Mississippi in … Read MoreRobert Louis Johnson (1946- )
Solomon Melvin Coles was a minister, educator, and community leader. Born a Virginia slave in 1844, Coles pursued an education before the Civil War, and in its aftermath moved to Connecticut where available educational opportunities existed for African Americans. In 1869 Coles became the first African … Read MoreSolomon Melvin Coles (1844-1924)
The C.R. Patterson & Sons Company was a carriage building firm, and the first African American-owned automobile manufacturer. The company was founded by Charles Richard Patterson, who was born into slavery in April 1833 on a plantation in Virginia. His parents were Nancy and Charles … Read MoreC.R. Patterson & Sons Company (1893-1939)
William DeHart Hubbard was the first African American to win a gold medal at the Olympics as an individual, placing first in the running long jump. Hubbard was born on November 25, 1903, in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Walnut Hills High School in that city. … Read MoreWilliam DeHart Hubbard (1903-1976)
Nigerian nationalist, politician, lawyer, statesman, and chancellor, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo was born on March 6, 1909 in Ogun State, Nigeria, where he commenced his political career. Awolowo attended various local schools in Ogun State, Nigeria and later served as an editor of The Nigerian … Read MoreObafemi Awolowo (1909-1985)
