Bakari Sellers is a noted attorney, political commentator and politician. He was born September 18, 1984 in Bamberg, South Carolina the son of Cleveland and Gwendolyn Sellers. His father is a well-known civil rights activist and leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during … Read MoreBakari Sellers (1984- )
Hip-hop fashion entrepreneur and media personality Daymond Garfield John was born in Brooklyn on February 23, 1969, to Garfield John from Trinidad and Margot John. He was reared in Queens, and by the age of 10, he started working by handing out flyers on the … Read MoreDaymond John (1969- )
Rhythm & Blues vocalist, lyricist, and actor Tyrese Darnell Gibson was born on December 30, 1978, in the Watts community of Los Angeles, California, to Tyrone Richardo Gibson, Sr., and Priscilla Murray Durham Gibson, who died from COVID-19 complications and pneumonia on February 14, 2022. … Read MoreTyrese/Tyrese Darnell Gibson (1978- )
Dr. Kariamu Welsh was recognized as a pioneer and trailblazer of African diaspora dance, professor of dance at Temple University for 30 years before retiring in 2019, author and editor of seminal works on Afrocentricity and Black movement traditions. Welsh was born Carole Ann Welsh … Read MoreKariamu Welsh Asante (1949-2021)
Alice Ruth Clark Brown, dancer and aerial acrobat, was born on August 22, 1952, in the Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, to Charles Clark and Mattie Miller Clark. She was the second child of three which includes a brother, Gerry Clark, and sister, Anna … Read MoreAlice Ruth Clark Brown (1952-2021)
Elizabeth Duncan Koontz was the first African American president of the National Education Association (NEA) which at that point was an 820,000-member Association of Classroom Teachers. Koontz was born on June 3, 1919, in Salisbury, North Carolina. Her parents were Samuel E. Duncan, former president … Read MoreElizabeth Duncan Koontz (1919-1989)
New Jack-Swing R&B singer Montell Du’Sean Barnett Jordan was born on December 3, 1968, in Los Angeles, California, and reared in the South Central section of the city. His parents were Elijah Jordan and Deloris Jordan. Montell had two sisters, Jennifer Jordan and Tracy Singley. … Read MoreMontell Jordan (1968- )
RuPaul Andre Charles is an actor, model, singer, and drag queen, who is best known by his first name, RuPaul. Charles was born on November 17, 1960, in San Diego, California. His father, Irving Andrew Charles, and his mother, Ernestine (Fontenette) Charles, divorced when he … Read MoreRuPaul Andre Charles (1960- )
Abdulrazk Gurnah is an academic, novelist, and first Tanzanian writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, first African to win the award since 1986 when Wole Soyinka of Nigeria received the prize, and first black writer to receive the prize since 1993 when Toni … Read MoreAbdulrazk Gurnah (1948- )
Teacher, civil rights activist, and author Barbara E. Pope was born free in January 1854, to former slaves Hannah and Alfred Pope, in the city of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. Her parents were enslaved in New Jersey and her father, Alfred, became famous … Read MoreBarbara E. Pope (1854 -1908)
