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 would become a prominent … Read MoreJames L. Walton (1939- )
After Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he and representatives of the African National Congress (ANC) began a public period of negotiations in preparation for majority rule in that nation. The negotiations were set back however when ANC leader Chris Hani was assassinated. … Read More(1993) Nelson Mandela, “Address to the Nation”
In 1990 the South African government released Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, South Africa after more than 28 years of incarceration including more than 20 years in South Africa’s most notorious prison, Robben Island. Here is the speech he gave in Cape … Read More(1990) Nelson Mandela, “We Have Waited Too Long For Our Freedom”
In 1962, Nelson Mandela, leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) the armed wing of the African National Congress, was convicted by a South African court of traveling outside the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike. He was sentenced to … Read More(1964) Nelson Mandela, “I Am Prepared To Die”
On January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama, became the 44th President of the United States. His inaugural address appears below. My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne … Read More(2009) President Barack Obama Inaugural Address
Es’kia Mphahlele was a South African writer, professor, and political activist who was critical of the nation’s apartheid regime. He subsequently spent twenty years in exile from South Africa between 1957 and 1977. In the speech below, given in Johannesburg, South Africa in June, 1963, … Read More(1963) Es’kia (Ezekiel) Mphahlele, “On Negritude in Literature”
Eric H. Holder, Jr., U.S. Attorney General since 2009, was born on January 21, 1951 in the Bronx, New York to parents of Barbadian descent, Eric, a real estate agent and Miriam Holder, a telephone operator. Holder was raised in East Elmhurst, Queens, a community … Read MoreEric H. Holder (1951- )
On January 15, 2009 Roland Wallace Burris was sworn in as the U.S. Senator from Illinois. Burris’s appointment made him the third African American U.S. Senator from the state and the sixth black U.S. Senator in the history of the United States. The appointment, however, … Read MoreRoland Burris (1937- )
Forrester Blanchard Washington was an African American pioneer in social work first with the Detroit Urban League and later with the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration. Washington was born in1887 in Salem, Massachusetts. He graduated from Tufts College (University) in 1909 and received graduate degrees from … Read MoreForrester B. Washington (1887-1963)
Heman Marion Sweatt was a postal worker from Houston, Texas, who integrated the University of Texas (UT) Law School in 1950. Sweatt was born on December 11, 1912 in Houston, Texas. He was the fourth child of James Leonard and Ella Rose Sweatt. In 1930, … Read MoreHeman Marion Sweatt (1912-1982)
