The 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps was a unit of black soldiers commanded by a white officer, Lt. James A. Moss, which was formed in 1896 to test the combat viability of bicycle-mounted troops by riding from Missoula, Montana to Saint Louis, Missouri. Moss, a West Point graduate and … Read More25th Infantry Bicycle Corps (1896-97)
The first mayor of African descent of a major European city, Severiano de Heredia, was born in Havana, Cuba, on November 8, 1836. He was the son of prosperous mulatto parents, Henri de Heredia and Beatriz de Cárdenas. Registered as a “mulatto born free” in the parish of Jesus del Monte, some … Read MoreSeveriano de Heredia (1836-1901)
Dr. Manuel Cuesta Morúa is a Cuban dissident leader, a scholar, and a political activist. He was born on December 31, 1962 in Havana, Cuba where he is still based. He claims ancestry from Martín Morúa Delgado, an Afrocuban leader and first black Cuban senator, on his mother’s side, … Read MoreManuel Cuesta Morúa (1962- )
Berta de los Angeles Soler Fernandez is a Cuban dissident and activist. She is the co-founder and current leader of Ladies in White, or Damas de Blanco, an all-female organization of the wives and female relatives of political prisoners. Soler was born July 31, 1963 in Matanzas, Cuba. She studied … Read MoreBerta Soler (1963- )
Very little is known about Major General Michael Calhoun’s childhood beyond the fact that he was born in 1954. After Graduating from Florida A&M University with a degree in Pharmacy in May, 1977, Calhoun enlisted in the Florida Army National Guard in August of that … Read MoreMichael Calhoun (1954- )
James Whitehead, Jr., the first African American Lockheed U2 pilot, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1934. From a young age Whitehead was surrounded by a strong military presence in his family including relatives who served in World War II. Coming of age during that war he … Read MoreJames T. Whitehead, Jr. (1934- )
Kathleen Neal Cleaver emerged in the late 1960s as one of the most influential leaders of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Neal was born in Memphis, Texas on May 13, 1945. Her father Ernest Neal was a sociology professor at Wiley College. Her mother, Juette (Johnson) Neal, earned a … Read MoreKathleen Neal Cleaver (1945- )
Internationally acclaimed Afro-Cuban violinist Claudio José Domingo Brindis de Salas y Garrido was born in Havana, Cuba, on August 4, 1852, the son of Claudio Brindis de Salas Monte, director of the popular orchestra Concha de Oro (Golden Shell) who played the violin and double bass, … Read MoreClaudio Brindis de Salas (1852-1911)
Luther and Joye Goodwin (Holding Their Child) in 1964 Civil Rights Demonstration Image Ownership: Public domain Tuskegee Airman, civil rights activist, and attorney Luther A. Goodwin was born April 17, 1920 in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Hilliard E. Goodwin, a college instructor and building … Read MoreLuther Ambrose Goodwin (1920-1982)
Image Ownership: Ricardo Stuckert/PR René Préval was a Haitian politician. He was prime minister under the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, exiled to the United States of America, and finally president of Haiti between 1996 and 2001, and 2006 and 2011. René Préval was born on … Read MoreRené/ García Préval, René Préval (1943-2017)
