Eustace A. Dixon II, 20th century author and environmental health advocate, was born at home in Brooklyn, New York on July 9, 1934. He was the youngest child of Eustace A. Dixon, a native of Jamaica and Beulah Talbot, a native of Bermuda. Dixon graduated … Read MoreEustace Augustus Dixon II (1934-2000)
Author, commentator, speaker, political advisor, and columnist Keith Boykin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 28, 1965, but was raised in the suburb of Florissant, Missouri. Boykin’s parents separated during his childhood, but he enjoyed close relationships with both sides of his family … Read MoreKeith Boykin (1965- )
Thomas Nelson Baker Sr. was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy. He was a writer, orator, ethicist, and advocate for a positive black cultural identity. Baker was born a slave on August 11, 1860 to Thomas Chadwick and Edith Nottingham Baker … Read MoreThomas Nelson Baker Sr. (1860-1940)
Lisa Williamson, also known as Sister Souljah, is an author, lecturer, rap singer, activist, community organizer and political commentator. Through her music, books, lectures and community work she advocates black power, personal responsibility and activism. She proudly challenges black Americans to strengthen their communities and … Read MoreSister Souljah/Lisa Williamson (1964- )
Gloria Naylor, a major 20th-century writer of African American literature, was born on January 25, 1950, in New York City, New York, to Roosevelt and Alberta Naylor. She was born just six weeks after her parents moved to the city from Robinsville, Mississippi, to escape … Read MoreGloria Naylor (1950-2016)
Author Harriet E. Wilson is believed to be the first African American woman to publish a novel in the United States. Her fictional autobiography Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-story White House, North. Showing that Slavery’s Shadows … Read MoreHarriet E. Adams Wilson (ca. 1828-?)
Pulitzer-prize-winning author Alex Haley was best known for his historical work, including the widely acclaimed Roots. Alexander Palmer Haley was born in Ithaca, New York, on August 11, 1921. He soon moved with his mother to Henning, Tennessee, while his father finished his degree at … Read MoreAlex Haley (1921-1992)
Writer, teacher, and cultural critic, bell hooks, was born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to a working-class family. Her father, Veodis Watkins, was a janitor for the local post office, and her mother, Rosa Bell Watkins, was a homemaker, raising … Read Morebell hooks/Gloria Jean Watkins (1952-2021)
Writer Ann Petry was born Ann Lane on October 12, 1908, to pharmacist Peter Clark Lane, Jr. and podiatrist Bertha James Lane in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Like her father, Ann was trained as a pharmacist and practiced in the family’s drugstores in Old Saybrook. However, … Read MoreAnn Lane Petry (1908-1997)
John Willis Menard, abolitionist, author, journalist, and politician, was born in 1838 in Kaskaskia, Illinois, to French Creole parents. He was the first African American elected to Congress but was not seated after a dispute over the election results. Menard attended Iberia College, an abolitionist … Read MoreJohn Willis Menard (1838-1893)
