Legal scholar and author James Forman Jr. (a.k.a. James Robert Lumumba Forman) was born in New York City, New York on June 22, 1967. His mother, political activist Constancia Romilly, was the daughter of English author and journalist Jessica Mitford; his father, James Forman, Sr., played a prominent role … Read MoreJames Forman Jr. (1967- )
Ellis Cose is an internationally renowned author with many important works that focus on African Americans and their interactions with society. On December 2, 1994, Ellis Cose published The Rage of a Privileged Class: Why Are Middle-Class Blacks Angry? Why Should America Care?. This book-length essay focuses on … Read MoreEllis Cose (1951- )
Alicia Garza is an activist and writer who now lives in Oakland, California. Although she has organized around issues related to health, student services, and rights for domestic workers as well as violence against trans and gender nonconforming people of color, she is best known one of three founders of … Read MoreAlicia Garza (1981- )
Sophia Angeli Nelson is an author, journalist, lawyer, and political strategist. Nelson was born on January 5, 1967, in Munich, Germany, where her father served overseas in the U.S. Army. She was raised in Somerdale, New Jersey, and attended San Diego State University (SDSU) in … Read MoreSophia Angeli Nelson (1967- )
Lester Walton was a journalist, entertainment professional, and diplomat who promoted civil rights at home and abroad. Born Lester Aglar Walton on April 20, 1882 in St. Louis, Missouri, his early life was spent as a journalist. At the age of 20 in 1902, when … Read MoreLester Aglar Walton (1882-1965)
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- )
George Pau Langevin is a French lawyer, politician, and author who was born October 19, 1948, in Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe of parents who were teachers. At the age of 17 she journeyed to Paris where she studied and received degrees in literature at the … Read MoreGeorge Pau Langevin (1948- )
Civic leader, environmentalist, activist, and journalist Benjamin Jealous is currently the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, one of the largest and oldest environmental defense organizations in the United States. He was named to that post on November 14, 2022 and is the first person … Read MoreBenjamin Todd Jealous (1973- )
Acclaimed African writer Bessie Head was born on July 6, 1937, at Fort Napier Mental Institution in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Her mother, Bessie Amelia Emery (from the wealthy South African Birch family) had suffered from mental illness and was confined there at the time. Bessie … Read MoreBessie Head (1937-1986)
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, was an international cricketer, journalist, politician, and lawyer. Constantine was the first person of African/ Caribbean ancestry to be invested as a life peer in the United Kingdom. Born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1901 he was the son of … Read MoreLearie Constantine (1901-1971)
