Imari Obadele, black power activist, reparations advocate, and college professor, is best known as co-founder of the Republic of New Afrika. Obadele was born Richard Bullock Henry on May 2, 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His homemaker mother, Vera N. Robinson Henry, and his father, Walter … Read MoreImari Abubakari Obadele, I (1930-2010)
Actor, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Terrence Deshon Howard is best known for his role as Lucius Lyons, music mogul, in the TV series Empire for which he won the BET Best Actor Award in 2015. While he began his career appearing on several … Read MoreTerrence Howard (1969- )
Marion Stokes, best known for her collection of television news recordings, was born on November 25, 1929 in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Girls High in Philadelphia and worked as a librarian for the Free Library of Philadelphia from the 1940’s … Read MoreMarion Marguerite Butler Stokes (1929-2012)
Entrepreneur and tech aficionado Malcolm CasSelle made and continues to make pioneering contributions to cutting-edge internet technology. Born March 22, 1970 on a farm near Allentown, Pennsylvania, CasSelle went from building with Legos and TinkerToys as a child to discovering computers in his local high … Read MoreMalcolm CasSelle (1970- )
James Wormley Jones is the first African American FBI agent in the United States. Jones was born on September 22, 1884 to John Bradford Jones and Sally Jones in Fort Monroe, Virginia. Jones had one sibling, a brother named Paul W. Jones. His family later … Read MoreJames Wormley Jones (1884-1958)
Niara Sudarkasa, born Gloria Albertha Marshall, was an accomplished scholar, educator, and cultural anthropologist. She was born on August 14, 1938, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Rowena Marshall. Her mother and maternal grandparents, a farmer and a housewife, who migrated from the Bahamas, raised her … Read MoreNiara Sudarkasa (1938-2019)
Lisa LaTrelle Blunt Rochester has served in the cabinet of two Delaware governors, including five years as Deputy Secretary of Health and Social Services and three years as the Secretary of Labor for Governor Tom Carper, and as State Personnel Director for Governor Ruth Ann … Read MoreLisa Blunt Rochester (1962- )
James Richardson Bacote was an artist, preservationist, historian and co-founder of the Geechee Kunda Cultural Center in Georgia. Bacote was born on December 18, 1948 in Brunswick, Georgia, to Sally and James Bacote Sr. He attended local schools on the Georgia Coast, as well as … Read MoreJames R. Bacote II (1948-2018)
Reconstruction-Era Attorney Joseph E. Lee was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 15, 1849. Lee graduated from Howard University’s law school in 1873 and then moved to Florida where he was admitted to the state bar and became Jacksonville, Florida’s first African American lawyer. Lee, … Read MoreJoseph E. Lee (1849-1920)
William F. Powell, a late 19th Century politician, was born in Troy, New York on June 26, 1848. When he was young, his family moved to New York City where he attended public schools. Powell had a diverse education as a young man. He attended … Read MoreWilliam F. Powell (1848-1920)
