Julius “Nipsey” Russell was a comedian, dancer, and poet. Russell was born on October 13, 1924, in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother gave him the nickname Nipsey, and he embraced it because he liked the way it sounded. Russell attended Booker T. Washington High School in … Read MoreNipsey Russell (1924-2005)
Champion rower Anita Lucette DeFrantz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1952. As a child growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana, she began her athletic career as a member of her local swim team. She attended Connecticut College, and at almost 6 feet tall, she tried out for the women’s basketball team … Read MoreAnita L. DeFrantz (1952- )
Lovett Huey Fort-Whiteman was an American political and civil rights activistand member of the Communist International. He is regarded as the first American-born black Communist and first African American to attend a Comintern training school in the Soviet Union. Fort-Whiteman organized the Communist Party-affiliated American Negro Labor Congress and was labeled by Time magazine as … Read MoreLovett Fort-Whiteman (1889-1939)
Lusia “Lucy” Harris, a former American basketball player, is considered to be one of the pioneers of women’s basketball. She played for Delta State University in Mississippi and won a silver medal with the U.S. Women’s Basketball Team in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games … Read MoreLusia Harris (1955- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Pernell-Karl Sylvester “P.K.” Subban is a Canadian-born professional ice hockey defenceman for the Nashville (Tennessee) Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Subban was born on May 13, 1989, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Karl and Maria Subban. Subban also has … Read MorePernell-Karl Sylvester “P.K.” Subban (1989- )
Orlando Ashford is the president of Holland America Line. He assumed this position in December 2014. Holland America Line was founded in 1873, and until 1989, it was a Dutch-owned passenger and cargo shipping line operating primarily between the Netherlands and North America. In 1989 it became a … Read MoreOrlando Ashford (1968- )
On November 8, 2016, Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate from California, becoming the second African American woman to sit in that body after Carol Mosely-Braun of Illinois was elected to represent Illinois 24 years earlier in 1992. Before her election to the … Read MoreKamala Devi Harris (1964- )
African American artist and dancer Thelma Johnson Streat was born in Yakima, Washington on August 29, 1912, the second of Gertrude Beatrice Carson and James A. Johnson’s five children. Streat’s artistic ability was evident at a young age. She graduated from Washington High School in … Read MoreThelma Beatrice Johnson Streat (1912-1959)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Career Foreign Service Officer Bernadette Mary Allen was commissioned into the U.S. diplomatic service in January 1980. Twenty-five years later, on October 26, 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Allen to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger. She … Read MoreBernadette Mary Allen (1955- )
Canadian entrepreneur Viola Desmond was arrested in 1946 for refusing to leave a segregated section of a Nova Scotia movie theatre. She was physically injured by police in the incident but was convicted and fined by local courts. She was posthumously pardoned in 2010. Born … Read MoreViola Davis Desmond (1914-1965)
