“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Lovie Louise Yancey was the African American founder of the Fatburger restaurant chain. She was born in Bastrop, Texas, on January 3, 1912, one of eight children of Clayborn and Minnie Yancey. Very little is known about her early life in … Read MoreLovie Yancey (1912–2008)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” William Benjamin Scott, known in the racing world as “The Professor” because of his other career as a college instructor and administrator, was a second-generation African American race car driver. He was born on February 4, 1945 in Los Angeles, California. … Read MoreBenny Scott (1945–2009)
Cindy Lou Courville is an American diplomat and expert on Africa. Born in Opelousas, Louisiana, to Earnest and Mar Courville in 1954, she grew up attending segregated schools until the eighth grade when she was among the first groups of African American children who began … Read MoreCindy L. Courville (1954– )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Pierre-Richard Prosper is an attorney and diplomat who turned his passion for the rule of law into a global pursuit for justice for victims of the worst crimes of humanity, and accountability for the perpetrators of those crimes. Born in Denver, … Read MorePierre-Richard Prosper (1963– )
John Wendell Thompson served as Chair of the Board of the Microsoft Corporation for seven years from 2014 to 2021. Born April 24, 1949, to working-class parents in Fort Dix, New Jersey, John Wendell Thompson climbed the high-tech world’s business ranks from entry level sales … Read MoreJohn Wendell Thompson (1949– )
“Image Ownership: Preston Mack/Darden” Corporate CEO Clarence Otis was born April 11, 1956, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His father, Clarence Otis Sr., worked as a janitor while his mother, Calanthus Hall Otis, stayed home to raise their three children. The family moved to the Watts section … Read MoreClarence Otis (1956– )
In the article below, Syracuse University historian Herbert Ruffin explores the rapid rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2013 as the most recent development in the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice in the United States. In the summer of 2013, three … Read MoreBlack Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement
William “Willy” Theodore Ribbs, Jr. is the first African American to test-drive a Formula One car, the first African American to compete in the Indianapolis 500, and one of only a few African American NASCAR racers. Born January 3, 1955, in San Jose, California, William … Read MoreWilliam T. “Willy” Ribbs, Jr. (1955- )
Early 20th Century East San Francisco (California) Bay civic leader and activist, Fannie Franklin Wall, was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1860 She married Archy H. Wall, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army who also later worked for the San Francisco Post Office. They … Read MoreFannie Franklin Wall (c. 1860-1944)
“Image Courtesy of David Bacon” A rank-and-file activist in the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), Leo Robinson was best known for fighting apartheid by helping lead a massive boycott of South African cargo that galvanized anti-apartheid movement in California‘s San Francisco Bay Area in … Read MoreLeo Lythel Robinson (1937–2013)
