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)
Eldridge Cleaver, author and civil rights activist, was born on August 31, 1935 in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. Cleaver, a child of six, lived in a household where his father abused his mother. The Cleavers moved to Phoenix, Arizona and finally settled in Los Angeles, California where … Read MoreEldridge Cleaver (1935-1998)
Carl Thomas Rowan was a diplomat, author, reporter, and broadcaster. He was the first Black deputy Secretary of State, and the first Black director of the United States Information Agency (USIA). Rowan was born August 11, 1925, in the mining town of Ravenscroft, Tennessee. When … Read MoreCarl T. Rowan (1925-2000)
William Stanley Braithwaite, the acclaimed poet and anthologist, was born in Boston on December 6, 1878. He was the second of five children born to William Smith Braithwaite and Emma Dewolfe Braithwaite. William Stanley Braithwaite’s father, originally from British Guiana, was a man of mixed … Read MoreWilliam Stanley Beaumont Braithwaite (1878-1962)
Image Ownership: Public Domain David Augustus Straker, author, lawyer, and politician, was born and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, where he achieved success as a teacher and principal at St. Mary’s Public School. In 1868, he moved to Kentucky, where he taught at a freedman’s school … Read MoreDavid Augustus Straker (1842-1908)
Image Courtesy of Suzie Dod Thomas Author and activist Piri Thomas became one of the first Americans of Puerto Rican descent to win literary acclaim when he published his 1967 memoir Down These Mean Streets online pharmacy cozaar for sale no prescription pharmacy . Born … Read MorePiri Thomas (1928-2011)
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio to parents George and Ella Ramah Wofford, novelist Toni Morrison grew up in a working-class family. She received a B.A. from Howard University after majoring in English and minoring in the classics. Wofford earned … Read MoreChloe Anthony Wofford “Toni” Morrison (1931-2019)
Born in Chatfield, Texas on June 19, 1872, Sutton E. Griggs attended Bishop College in Marshall, Texas and Richmond Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. A noted author, Baptist minister, and promoter of his race, Griggs championed the cause of racial equality in his life and … Read MoreSutton Elbert Griggs (1872-1933)
