Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka “Common” Rashid Lynn is a Grammy Award-winning rapper, actor, and songwriter. Common was born on March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois to Mahalia Ann Hines and Lonnie Lynn Sr. Common grew up in the southside of Chicago in the Calumet Heights … Read MoreCommon (1972- )
Eugene Moszee was a civil rights activist in Seattle during the 1940s. Born in Floresville, Texas, in 1914, the first of ten children of illiterate farm laborers, Moszee moved to Seattle during the 1930s and by 1937 owned and operated his own Mobile gas station … Read MoreEugene Moszee (1914-1945)
Surgeon and oncologist Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. was born on May 22, 1930 in Tallahassee, Florida to Lula Jordan and LaSalle Leffall Sr. Leffall grew up in Quincy, Florida where his father taught agriculture at Florida A&M College, a historically black college located in … Read MoreLaSalle D. Leffall Jr. (1930-2019)
Ermias Joseph “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom was a Grammy-nominated rapper and songwriter. Nipsey Hussle was born on August 15, 1985 in Los Angeles, California, to Dawit Asghedom, an Eritrean immigrant, and Angelique Smith an African American from Los Angeles. He also had an older brother, Samiel … Read MoreNipsey Hussle (1985-2019)
The Groveland Four case was a 1940s example of injustice toward young African American men falsely accused of raping white women. The Groveland Four were four young black men, Ernest Thomas, Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin, who were accused of raping Norma Padgett, … Read MoreThe Groveland Four (1949)
Valdez (“Val”) Demings was the first female chief of police for the Orlando Police Department and now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing for Florida’s 10th District. Butler was born on March 12, 1957, in Jacksonville, Florida. Her father James worked as … Read MoreValdez Venita (Butler) Demings (1957- )
Recognized by Broward County Florida as a successful businessman and civic leader dedicated to economic development, education, and community service, Marcellus Sterling Collins, Sr. continued the early 20th Century legacy of his parents, Richard A. and Leola Collins. Beginning in 1923, his father and mother … Read MoreMarcellus Sterling Collins, Sr. (1919-2018)
Betty Jean Owens, an African American woman and Florida A&M University student, was raped by four white men, William Collinsworth, Ollie Stoutamire, David Beagles, and Patrick Scarbourough, on May 2, 1959. Unlike most cases involving white men raping black women in the pre-1970 era, the … Read MoreBetty Jean Owens (1930s- ?)
The St. Louis Cardinals’ efforts at integration began in 1953, when brewing company Anheuser-Busch bought the franchise. Company chairman August A. Busch Jr. soon realized that no black players on the field, meant very few black faces in the crowd. To remedy the situation, he … Read MoreTom Alston (1926-1993)
Donald Walbridge “Don” Shirley was an American classical and jazz composer and pianist. Shirley was born on January 29, 1927, to Stella Gertrude Young and Edwin Samuel Shirley in Pensacola, Florida. His mother and father were Jamaican-born immigrants. Shirley was a prodigy, taught to play … Read MoreDon Shirley (1927-2013)
