Actress Diahann Carroll was born July 17, 1935 in the Bronx, New York but grew up in Harlem. She received her education and her theater training at Manhattan’s School of Performing Arts. At the age of 19, Carroll received her first film role when she … Read MoreDiahann Carroll (1935-2019)
James Monroe Whitfield, a black abolitionist and colonizationist, was born on April 10, 1822 in New Hampshire. Little is known about his early life except that he was a descendant of Ann Paul, the sister of prominent black clergyman Thomas Paul. Whitfield had little formal … Read MoreJames Monroe Whitfield (1822-1871)
Willie O’Ree, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) first black player, is an African–Canadian, born on October 15, 1935, in Fredricton, New Brunswick. He began skating at an early age and quickly developed into one of the best players in eastern Canada. O’Ree joined the Quebec … Read MoreWillie O’Ree (1935- )
William L. Patterson, born in San Francisco on August 27th, 1891, was a Marxist lawyer, author, and civil rights activist. His mother had been born a slave on a Virginia plantation in 1850 and lived there until she was ten. Before the outbreak of the … Read MoreWilliam L. Patterson (1891-1980)
In the article below University of California, Riverside historian Ralph Crowder describes this fascinating but little known attempt by Joe Louis and Fidel Castro to encourage middle class African American tourism to Cuba in the first year of the new regime. When Fidel Castro successfully … Read MoreAfrican Americans and Cuba’s First Experiment in Castro-Era Tourism: The Joe Louis Commission in Post Revolutionary Havana, 1959-1960
Edmonia Lewis, the first woman of African American and Native American ancestry to gain notoriety as a sculptor, was born near Albany, New York on July 4, 1845 to a Chippewa Indian woman and an African American man. Her parents died when she was very … Read MoreEdmonia Lewis (1845-1907)
When in June 1928, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chose to hold its 19th annual conference in Los Angeles, California, it was the first time the Association’s meeting was held in the West. W.E.B. DuBois was the major speaker. He … Read More(1928) Beatrice Morrow Cannady Speaks to the NAACP
Octavia was born in Pasadena California to Laurice and Octavia Butler. Her father passed away when she was a baby, so she was raised by her grandmother and her mother. As a girl, she was known as Junie, derived from “Junior” since her mother was … Read MoreOctavia E. “Junie” Butler (1947-2006)
Jesse Binga’s rise from relative poverty to become the wealthiest African American entrepreneur and banker in Chicago in the late 19th century earned him a national reputation. Binga was born on April 10, 1865, in Detroit to William W. Binga, a barber and native of … Read MoreJesse Binga (1865-1950)
California Congresswoman Barbara Jean Lee, a self-described “Army brat,” has consistently been one of the most outspoken critics of the Iraq War. She has also called for the creation of a Department of Peace as a cabinet level agency in the federal government. Barbara Jean … Read MoreBarbara J. Lee (1946- )
