Yvette M. Jarvis has the distinction of being the first African American woman elected to serve on the Athens, Greece City Council from 2002 to 2006. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957, Jarvis traveled to Greece in 1982 after graduating from Boston University (Massachusetts). … Read MoreYvette M. Jarvis (1957- )
Born on November 24, 1943 in Washington, D.C, David Bing was a skilled point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His mother was a homemaker and his father was a bricklayer who founded a construction company. Dave Bing played with the Detroit Pistons, Washington … Read MoreDavid Bing (1943- )
Legendary basketball star William Felton (Bill) Russell was a five-time National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player and twelve-time All-Star. He was also the centerpiece of the Boston (Massachusetts) Celtics basketball dynasty when his team won eleven NBA championships during his thirteen seasons with the … Read MoreBill Russell (1934-2022)
Trish Millines Dziko is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Technology Access Foundation. A native of New Jersey, Dziko focused on college and ultimately became a first-generation college student. Ms. Dziko also made history by becoming the first woman to be awarded a full … Read MoreTrish Millines Dziko (1957- )
Born in Goliad, Texas on March 24, 1896, John Mason Brewer became one of the twentieth century’s premier African American folklorists. A poet, essayist, historian, and anthologist, Brewer earned an undergraduate degree from Wiley College in 1917 and later a graduate degree from Indiana University. … Read MoreJohn Mason Brewer (1896-1975)
Romare Bearden was a twentieth century African American artist who specialized in paintings and collages and also produced works in the performing arts and literature. Romare Howard Bearden was born on September 2, 1911, to Howard and Bessy Bearden in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bearden grew … Read MoreRomare Bearden (1912-1988)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. on August 16, 1947, in New York City, New York. He was known as Lew Alcindor until his 1973 name change. Alcindor dominated the New York City high school basketball scene. Decidedly larger than his peers from … Read MoreKareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947- )
One of the original Greensboro four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins, David Leinail Richmond is often described by those who were closest to him as “gentle, intelligent, generous to a fault, and able to take a stand.” He was born in Greensboro and … Read MoreDavid Leinail Richmond (1941-1990)
One of the four North Carolina Agricultural & Technical freshmen who initiated the Sit-In Movement at Greensboro, North Carolina. A native of North Carolina, Joseph McNeil saw Greensboro’s race relations as a mirror image of the social structure of most southern cities. McNeil recalls having … Read MoreJoseph Alfred McNeil (1942- )
Earvin Johnson, Jr. was born on August 14, 1959, in Lansing, Michigan. Johnson was given the nickname “Magic” by a Lansing newspaper reporter who watched the 15 year-old score 36 points, grab 16 rebounds and give 16 assists in a game at Lansing Everett High … Read MoreEarvin “Magic” Johnson (1959 – )
