“Image Ownership: Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times” Lloyd George Richards was an African American film, theater, and video director. He was born on June 29, 1919, in Toronto, Ontario, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. Richards was only nine years old when his father died, … Read MoreLloyd George Richards (1919–2006)
When the First World War began in 1914, black Canadian men responded to the call to arms. Like other loyal citizens who flocked to recruiting centers, they wanted to do their part for king and country. Despite being ready and willing to serve overseas, and … Read MoreCanadian Expeditionary Force No. 2 Construction Battalion (1914-1918)
Anna Maria Weems is best known as an enslaved person who gained her freedom with a daring escape from slavery. Weems was born into slavery about 1840 in Maryland to John and Arabella Talbot Weems. Her father was a free man of color, but her … Read MoreAnna Maria Weems (1840-?)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Thomas J. Bowers, businessman, pianist, and activist, was best known as an African American opera singer, who was compared favorably with the leading world tenors of the mid-nineteenth century. Bowers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1823, one of John C. … Read MoreThomas J. Bowers (1823-1885)
In 2014, Cynthia Akuetteh, career Senior Foreign Service officer, was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to Gabon and the island nation of Sao Tomé & Principe. After U.S. Senate confirmation she arrived in Libreville, capital of Gabon, to take up her … Read MoreCynthia Helen Akuetteh (1948- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” On August 5, 1999 President William Clinton appointed Gregory Lee Johnson U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland. He served in that post from November 16, 1999 to October 18, 2001. Johnson began his career in the Foreign Service in 1968 and has served … Read MoreGregory Lee Johnson (1945- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Jerome R. Riley, medical doctor, author, political and civil rights activist, was born in St. Catharines, Canada West on March 17, 1840 to Isaac and Catherine Riley. His father and mother were runaway slaves who made their way from Perry County, … Read MoreJerome R. Riley (1840-1929)
Michael Lee-Chin is best known as a business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chairman of Portland Holdings Inc., a privately held investment company which owns a collection of diversified operating companies in media, tourism, health care, telecommunications, and financial services. He … Read MoreMichael Lee-Chin (1951- )
Austin Steward, author, businessman, abolitionist, and temperance leader, was born a slave in Prince William County, Virginia to Robert and Susan Steward sometime around 1793. By the age of seven he was working as a house slave on the plantation of Capt. William Helm. The … Read MoreAustin Steward (1793-1869)
Bestselling author, journalist, and public intellectual Malcolm Gladwell was born in Fareham, Hampshire in southern England on September 3, 1963, the second son of Graham Gladwell, a British mathematics professor, and Joyce Nation, a psychotherapist from Jamaica. The couple first met at University College in … Read MoreMalcolm Gladwell (1963- )
