Montero “Lil Nas X” Lamar Hill is a rapper and singer-songwriter. Hill was born on April 9, 1999, to Robert Stafford and Shawnita Hathaway in Lithia Springs, Georgia. He was named after the Mitsubishi Montero car. His parents divorced when he was 6 years old … Read MoreMontero “Lil Nas X” Lamar Hill (1999- )
In 1961 the Royalettes, an all-female doo-woo quartet, was formed in Baltimore, Maryland. The group’s original members were sisters Sheila Ross Burnett, 17, lead singer, and Anita Ross Burnett, 16, from the Mount Holly Street neighborhood in West Baltimore, where both girls had been singing … Read MoreThe Royalettes (1961-1969)
Antoine James Hodge was a critically acclaimed opera singer, best known for his role in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Hodge was born on August 5, 1982, in Albany, Georgia, to Mildred Wingfield and Larry Hodge. Educated in the Dougherty school system, Hodge graduated from Dougherty … Read MoreAntoine Hodge (1982-2021)
Dr. Herbert Charles Smitherman Sr. was a chemist and the first African American to be employed at Proctor & Gamble as a doctorate-level employee. He helped improve formulas for products such as Crest toothpaste, Bounce fabric softeners, Folgers’ coffee, and Safeguard soap. Smitherman was born … Read MoreHerbert Charles Smitherman Sr. (1937-2010)
The academic historian and university administrator Julius Franklin Nimmons Jr. was born on September 11, 1939, in Danville, Virginia, to Julius Franklin Nimmons Sr. from Scotia, South Carolina, and Mozella Flannagan of Danville. He has two sisters. Nimmons graduated from Langston High School in the … Read MoreJulius Franklin Nimmons Jr. (1939- )
Dr. Sekazi Kauze Mtingwa is an African American theoretical high-energy physicist and co-founder of the National Society of Black Physicists. He has served as president of the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Research and Educational Access in Science and Engineering. Mtingwa’s contributions to the field of physics … Read MoreSekazi Mtingwa (1949- )
Dr. Cheryl A. Swanier is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and the Henry N. and Alice Carson Tisdale Endowed Professor at Claflin University. Her primary research focuses on Human Computer Interaction and visual programming. Dr. Swanier graduated from Albany State University with a Bachelor … Read MoreCheryl A. Swanier (1967- )
Mildred “Millie” Virginia Jackson, R&B singer, playwright, model, lyricist who is often called the “Mother of Hip Hop,” was born on July 15, 1944, in Thomson, Georgia. Her parents’ names are not publicly known. Her mother died in a fire when she was two years … Read MoreMillie Jackson (1944- )
Rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur known by his stage name, Nelly, was born Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., on November 2, 1974, in Austin, Texas to Rhonda (Mack) and Cornell Haynes. Haynes’ father was in the U.S. Air Force, and shortly after his birth, the family … Read MoreCornell “Nelly” Iral Haynes Jr. (1974- )
Dr. Arlyne Simon is a biomedical engineer, patented inventor, and author of children’s literature. She was born in 1986 on the Caribbean Island of Dominica to Beverly Stedman-Andrew, a primary school teacher, and Lionel Simon, a civil engineer. Simon earned a Ph.D. in macromolecular science … Read MoreArlyne Simon (1986- )
