In 1957 Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was next to Rev. Martin Luther King, the most recognized civil rights leader in the nation. In October of that year he addressed the Commonwealth Club of California … Read More(1957) Roy Wilkins, “The Clock Will Not Be Turned Back”
American soprano Kathleen Battle was born on August 13, 1948 in Portsmouth, Ohio. Battle’s father was a steelworker and her mother was an active participant in the gospel choir at the family’s local African Methodist Episcopal Church. Battle attended Portsmouth High School and upon graduation … Read MoreKathleen Battle (1948- )
Anne Wortham, a prolific academic who has opposed aspects of the traditional civil rights movement, was born on November 26th 1941 in Jackson, Tennessee. The first of five children, she was raised in the segregated South where her parents instilled in her religious beliefs and … Read MoreAnne Wortham (1941- )
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer and actress. She was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 26, 1944 to Fred and Ernestine Ross, who lived in the low-income Brewster Housing Project. Growing up, Diana, who was referred to as “Diane,” studied design and … Read MoreDiana Ross (1944- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Louis Jordan, alto saxophonist, vocalist, and recording artist is considered by many to be an under-recognized trailblazer in the early foundations of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Jordan was one of the first African American musicians in the 1940s to crossover from the … Read MoreLouis Jordan (1908-1975)
Alvin Aaron Coffey was born a slave in Mason County, Kentucky on July 14, 1822 as the property of Margaret Cooke. His parents were Lewis (Larkin) Coffey and Nellie Cook[e]. Coffey arrived in California in 1849 at the beginning of the Gold Rush. He was … Read MoreAlvin Aaron Coffey (1822-1902)
Herbert “Herbie” Julian Hancock is an African American pianist, composer, bandleader, and keyboardist, with a career spanning over five decades. Hancock was born on April 12, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winne Belle Griffin, a secretary and Waymand Edward Hancock, a government meat … Read MoreHerbie Hancock (1940- )
Big Joe Turner, known by many as the “Boss of the Blues,” was born Joseph Vernon in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 18, 1911. Turner is considered a major contributor to the development of the sound of Kansas City Jazz, and the early development of … Read MoreJoseph Vernon “Big Joe” Turner (1911-1985)
In the following article Sharon McGriff-Payne, a newspaper reporter and independent historian, describes her search for the history of John Grider, an early black pioneer and member of the Bear Flag Party which declared California’s independence from Mexico on June 14, 1846. McGriff-Payne, like Girder … Read MoreSearching for John Grider, an African American Bear Flag Veteran
An exceptional athlete and one of America’s leading sprinters of the 1930s, Matthew Mackenzie “Mack” Robinson, was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1912. Matthew grew up with three other siblings, including the famed Jackie Robinson. After their father left following the birth of the last … Read MoreMatthew MacKenzie “Mack” Robinson (1912-2000)
