Aida Cartagena was a prominent Afro-Latina poet, novelist, scholar, and public intellectual. She was born in Moca, Dominican Republic on June 18, 1918, and died at the age of seventy-five on June 3, 1994. Aida was the daughter of Olimpia Portalatin and Felipe Cartagena Estrella. … Read MoreAida Cartagena Portalatin (1918-1994)
Farai Chideya is an American author, radio host, and Pop and Politics radio series producer and host. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to an American mother and a Zimbabwean father on July 27, 1969. Chideya explores and focuses her work on race relations, politics, … Read MoreFarai Chideya (1969- )
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian economist who, on March 3, 2021, was sworn in as the first woman and first African director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO). She was also the longest serving finance minister in the government of Nigeria and has headed initiatives … Read MoreNgozi Okonjo-Iweala (1954 – )
Activist, writer, and educator Margaret Just Butcher was born on April 28, 1913, in Washington, DC, to Dr. Ernest E. Just, the renowned scientist and advisor and incorporator of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. from Charleston, South Carolina, and Ethel Highwarden, one of the … Read MoreMargaret Just Butcher (1913-2000)
Historian, athlete, and professor Otey Matthew Scruggs was born in the seaport town of Vallejo, California, on June 29, 1929 but reared in Santa Barbara. He was the son of Otey Scruggs and Maude Smith Scruggs. He had one sister, Consuelo Scruggs Devereaux. Scruggs attended … Read MoreOtey Matthew Scruggs (1929-2014)
Historian, political activist, and educator Clarence Albert Bacote was born on February 24, 1906, in Kansas City, Missouri. His parents were Samuel William Bacote from Society Hill, South Carolina, a graduate of Richmond Theological Seminary (now Virginia Union University) and pastor at Second Baptist Church … Read MoreClarence Albert Bacote (1906-1981)
Doxey Alphonso Lewis Alexander Wilkerson, communist, Marxist, professor, author, editor, and union leader, was born April 24, 1905 in Excelsior Springs, Missouri to Mattie L. Wilkerson of Kentucky (1884-1955) and Methodist minister Alphonso Wilkerson. A 1921 graduate of Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kansas, … Read MoreDoxey Wilkerson (1905-1993)
Activist for ethnic and intellectual diversity, author, and attorney Lawrence Otis Graham was born December 25, 1961, in New York City, New York to Richard C. Graham, a real estate developer, and Betty J. Graham, a social worker. He and his brother, Richard, were reared … Read MoreLawrence Otis Graham (1961-2021)
Arlan Hamilton is the founder of Backstage Capital and the author of “It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage,” which was published in 2020. Hamilton was born on October 30, 1980, in Dallas, Texas. Her first interest was the … Read MoreArlan Hamilton (1980- )
Fabián Jesús Colón López, Afro-Puerto Rican Marxist, socialist, communist, writer, and political and community activist, was born on January 20, 1901 in Cayey, Puerto Rico (PR), to Paula López Colón (1874-1927), a domestic worker, and Mauricio Colón Coto (1863-1920), a baker, jointer, artisan, and US … Read MoreJesús Colón (1901-1974)
