Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was a Zimbabwean anti-colonialist revolutionary and politician who was vice-president of Zimbabwe from 1990 to his death in 1999. Nkomo was born on June 19, 1917 in what was then Matabeleland, Rhodesia into a family where he had eight siblings. After … Read MoreJoshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (1917-1999)
Danny Lyon Scarborough made his mark in the world in two arenas, as an innovative, Emmy Award-winning choreographer/dancer and as one of the first well-known African Americans to go public about having AIDS. Born on July 27, 1947, he grew up on a farm near Wake Forest, North … Read MoreDanny Scarborough (1947-1989)
Sandra “Sandy” Maria Cane was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the younger of two daughters of an African American father, a US Army paratrooper during World War II, and an Italian mother, whose family had established a stonemason business in northern France. At age 10, in … Read MoreSandy Cane (1961- )
Addisu Messele, the first person of sub-Saharan African ancestry elected to the Israeli Parliament, was born on June 16, 1961, in the Gondar region of Ethiopia to a Beta Israel (Jewish) family. As a student in the late 1970s, he became an active member of … Read MoreAddisu Messele (1961- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Rennie Harris, hip hop dancer, artist, teacher, artistic director, choreographer, and founder of Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM), was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1963. At the age of 15, Harris began teaching workshops and classes at universities around the country, educating … Read MoreLorenzo “Rennie” Harris (1963- )
Diane Abbott, the first black woman to be elected to the British Parliament, was born to Jamaican immigrant parents in 1953. Growing up in Paddington, London, she attended Harrow County grammar school before pursuing studies in History to Master’s level at Newnham College, Cambridge. Upon … Read MoreDiane Abbott (1953- )
Bill Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia on May 25, 1878 to Maxwell and Maria Robinson. Due to the death of both of his parents when he was an infant, Bill and his younger brother Percy were brought up by his grandmother. As a young … Read MoreBill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949)
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater began in 1958 in New York City, New York as a repertory company of seven African American dancers performing both Ailey’s work and also classic modern pieces. They were soon acknowledged as the preeminent dance company articulating African American … Read MoreAlvin Ailey Dance Theater
Fayard and Harold Nicholas, whose careers spanned over six decades, made up one of the most beloved dance teams in the history of dance, The Nicholas Brothers. They were best known for their unforgettable appearances in more than 30 Hollywood musicals in the 1930s and … Read MoreNicholas Brothers
Ernest William Chambers, Africana intellectual, has lived in the semi-segregated community of North Omaha, Nebraska for his entire life. A community activist in the 1960s, Chambers rode into office in the Nebraska State Legislature on the crest of new-black electoral power in 1970. As a … Read MoreErnest William Chambers (1937- )
