Kathleen Neal Cleaver emerged in the late 1960s as one of the most influential leaders of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Neal was born in Memphis, Texas, on May 13, 1945. Her father, Ernest Neal, was a sociology professor at Wiley College. Her mother, Juette (Johnson) … Read MoreKathleen Neal Cleaver (1945- )
Ryan S. Green is a bass-baritone opera singer. Born April 1, 1986, in Suffolk, Virginia, his parents, Cecil and Valerie Green, separated when he was a child. The divorce forced his mother, an Air Force veteran, to move her children to a crime-ridden housing project in … Read MoreRyan Speedo Green (1986- )
Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., who eventually served on the United States Court of Appeals, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1928. His mother, Emma Lee Higginbotham, was a maid and his father, Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Sr., was a factory worker. Higginbotham attended racially segregated schools in Trenton, … Read MoreA. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. (1928-1998)
Vasco De Gama Hale, educator, blinded veterans’ association organizer, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) official, was born in Crawford, Mississippi, to Brotop and Jane Hale on February 16, 1915. His father, Brotop, toiled as a sharecropper for a short time … Read MoreVasco De Gama Hale (1915-2002)
Image Ownership: Fair Use New York Times literary critic, author, and teacher Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 16, 1920, the son of carpenter Paul A. Broyard and Edna Miller, two light-skinned African Americans. With the nation in the throes of … Read MoreAnatole Paul Broyard (1920-1990)
Image Ownership: U.S. Coast Guard Joseph Charles Jenkins, the first African American naval officer, paved the way for the beginning of desegregation in the United States Coast Guard. Jenkins was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1914. Unfortunately, there is little information regarding his childhood. He … Read MoreJoseph Charles Jenkins (1914-1959)
Lynne Patton at a March 7, 2019 town hall meeting at Queensbridge, New York City Image Ownership: Kathy Willens/AP Photo In June 2017, Lynne Patton, Vice President of the Eric Trump Foundation and a senior assistant to Eric Trump, was appointed by President Donald Trump … Read MoreLynne Patton (1973- )
Arthur Prysock was an important multi-genre vocalist born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1924. During the Second World War, Prysock moved from his home to Hartford, Connecticut, in order to work in the aircraft manufacturing industry. It was during this time that he realized his … Read MoreArthur Prysock (1924-1997)
“Image Ownership: Daniel Benavides” Lupita Amondi Nyong’o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress who is best known for her role as the character Patsey in the Academy Award-winning film, 12 Years a Slave. Nyong’o was born on March 1, 1983, in Mexico City, Mexico, to Kenyan parents … Read MoreLupita Amondi Nyong’o (1982– )
Henrietta Vinton Davis was an American elocutionist, dramatist, and impersonator. She was also considered to be the physical, intellectual, and spiritual link between the abolitionist movement of the Frederick Douglass era and the African Redemption Movement of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities … Read MoreHenrietta Vinton Davis (1860-1941)
