Chris Dickerson, born Henri Christophe Dickerson, was the first African American to become Mr. America. He was born August 25, 1939, the youngest of triples, in Montgomery, Alabama. After his parents’ divorce, Dickerson entered a Quaker boarding school in Ohio, where he gained an interest … Read MoreChris Dickerson (1939-2021)
The forced removal of Native Americans from the southeastern United States beginning in the 1830s to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River is known as the Trail of Tears. Under British colonial rule and continuing during the first decades of American independence, Indians were … Read MoreTrail of Tears (1831-1850)
R&B doo-wop, balladeer duo Don & Juan hail from Long Beach, New York. They are pianist, vocalist Roland “Don” Anderson Trone, who was born on July 2, 1936, in Birmingham, Alabama and reared in Long Beach and composer, lyricist, vocalist Claude “Juan” Johnson, born November … Read MoreDon & Juan (1962-2002)
Rhythm & Blues musician Robert Parker, Jr. was born on October 14, 1930, in Mobile, Alabama, to Robert Parker, Sr., and Leana Parker. However, he was reared on Melpomene (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played in the Booker T. … Read MoreRobert Parker, Jr. (1930-2020)
R&B tenor singer Jimmy J. Hughes was born February 3, 1938, in Leighton, Alabama. At the age of 5, he listened to Radio WLAY, a country music station in Littleton, Alabama. He sang country because that was the only radio station he heard until he … Read MoreJimmy J. Hughes (1938- )
James Alexander Hood was the first African American male student to register and attend classes at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a previously all-white institution. Hood was born on November 10, 1942, in Gadsden, Alabama, to Octavie Hood and Margaret Hughes Hood. James had … Read MoreJames Alexander Hood (1942-2013)
Composer, lyricist, blues singer Clarence George Carter was born blind on January 14, 1936, in Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and began guitar lessons when he was 9. Carter graduated from high school in 1954. Afterward, he … Read MoreClarence Carter (1936- )
On August 5, 2016 Jamarion Robinson, a 26-year-old African American was shot 76 times while at his girlfriend’s residence, Parkside Camp Creek Luxury Apartments, in Atlanta, Georgia. Robinson was killed when members of several law enforcement agencies opened fired during an attempt to serve a … Read MoreJamarion Rashad Robinson (1990-2016)
Historian, thespian, activist Georgette M. Norman was born on January 27, 1946, in Montgomery, Alabama, to George Maggie Norman, a real estate broker from Hope Hull, Alabama, and Juliet Graham Norman, who taught at W.B. Paterson Elementary School and was from Montgomery. Georgette’s early education … Read MoreGeorgette M. Norman (1946- )
A cappella doo-wop, gospel sextet Take 6 was formed on the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Seventh Day Adventist campus of Oakwood University in 1980 in Huntsville, Alabama. The ensemble’s repertoire includes jazz, doo-wop, Contemporary R&B, Negro Spirituals, and Classical European genres of … Read MoreTake 6 (1980- )
