Wilson Alexander, Sr. was the third of seven children born on in 1919 to Charles and Pearl Alexander of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Alexander grew up in a a tight-knit community of sugar plantation sharecroppers in southern Louisiana. On July 24, 1942, he was drafted … Read MoreWilson “Ducktail” Alexander, Sr. (1919-1950)
Image Ownership: Public domain Twenty-three-year-old Sean Elijah Bell, the victim of a violent police shooting in 2006, was born on May 18, 1983, to William and Valerie Bell. As a child, Bell was interested in acting and played baseball. According to Bell’s fiancée, Nicole Poultre, … Read MoreSean Elijah Bell (1983-2006)
Image Ownership: Public domain Throughout his 20 seasons in baseball, Derek Jeter established himself as a New York Yankees legend. Growing up as a Yankee fan and having played his entire career with the franchise, his play was synonymous with the team’s success. With on-field … Read MoreDerek Jeter (1974- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Oscar Juliuss Grant III was a resident of Oakland, California, and unfortunately is best known for being killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2009. Grant was born to … Read MoreOscar Juliuss III Grant (1986–2009)
Poster for Seattle Steelheads at Borchert Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 12, 1946 “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Seattle Steelheads were the all-black minor league baseball team formed in the spring of 1946 as part of the West Coast Negro Baseball League organized by Abe Saperstein … Read MoreSeattle Steelheads (1946)
Esteemed educator, legendary basketball coach, and successful university president, Harrison Wilson Jr. was born on April 21, 1925, in Amsterdam, a small city in upstate New York. His mother Marguerite Ayers was a school teacher, and his father Harrison Wilson Sr. worked in construction. Dr. … Read MoreHarrison B. Wilson Jr. (1925-2019)
George Albert Flippin, born in Point Isable, Ohio, in 1868, was a prominent athlete and physician in Nebraska, who broke racial barriers in collegiate football and medicine for African Americans. The product of an interracial marriage, George’s father, Charles Albert Flippin, had served as a … Read MoreGeorge Albert Flippin (1868-1929)
Seattle Royal Giants, ca. 1933 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" The Seattle Royal Giants was a semi-professional baseball team that played through the Pacific Northwest in the first half of the 20th Century. The Giants began in 1928 under the leadership of three former professional players … Read MoreSeattle Royal Giants (1928-1945)
Sometime in 2013, the African American consumer market exceeded the trillion dollar mark for the first time. To put this figure in perspective, that market is larger than the market for the entire nation of Spain. In the article below business historian Robert Weems briefly … Read MoreThe Trillion Dollar African American Consumer Market: Economic Empowerment or Economic Dependency?
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Major League Baseball shortstop Edgar Renteria is Colombia’s most successful player in U.S. baseball history as well as its most prominent athlete of African descent. During his 16 years in the U.S. major leagues he played for seven different teams. Renteria … Read MoreEdgar Enrique Renteria (1975- )