Author, commentator, speaker, political advisor, and columnist Keith Boykin was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 28, 1965 but was raised in the suburb of Florissant, Missouri. Boykin’s parents separated during his childhood, but he enjoyed close relationships with both sides of his family … Read MoreKeith Boykin (1965- )
Caterina Jarboro was born one of three children in Wilmington, North Carolina, to an American Indian mother and a black father who was a local barber. She was christened Katherine Lee Yarborough at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Wilmington. She received elementary school education at … Read MoreCaterina Jarboro (1903-1986)
Will Allen, son of a sharecropper, former professional basketball player, ex-corporate sales leader and now farmer, is recognized as one of the preeminent thinkers of our time on agriculture and food policy. Allen is the founder and CEO of Growing Power, Inc., a farm and … Read MoreWill Allen (1948- )
Pearl L. Stewart, freelance journalist and journalism educator was the first African American woman to lead a major daily newspaper when she was hired in 1992 to head the Oakland Tribune. In 2002 she founded the website Black College Wire (blackcollegewire.org), an online news service … Read MorePearl Stewart (1950- )
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad on August 27, 1959, Jennifer Carroll is the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Florida. Carroll is the first African-American woman elected to the position, she took up office on January 4, 2011. Carroll served for over seven years as a … Read MoreJennifer Carroll (1959– )
Karen Ann King-Aribisala is a Guyanese-born novelist who was raised and currently resides in Nigeria. She left Guyana as a young child, moving with her parents to Nigeria around the time of the Nigerian Civil war (1967-1970). Her father introduced her to books at an … Read MoreKaren King-Aribisala (n.d.)
Image Courtesy of the New York Amsterdam News (Fair Use) Former Tuskegee University president Benjamin Franklin Payton was born in 1932 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. His father, Reverend Leroy Payton, was a Baptist minister, farmer, and teacher while his mother, Sarah Mack Payton, was a … Read MoreBenjamin F. Payton (1932-2016)
Willard Carroll Smith, Jr., better known as Will Smith, actor, rap and recording artist, was born in Wynnefield, Pennsylvania on September 25, 1968. His father, Willard Carroll Smith, is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a refrigerator engineer, and his mother, Caroline Bright … Read MoreWill Smith/Willard Carroll Smith II (1968- )
Harold M. Kingsley, Congregational minister and political activist, was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1887. The son of a wealthy white man and a poor black woman, Kingsley was raised by Baptists but sent to an Episcopal church because his family believed it was closely … Read MoreHarold M. Kingsley (1887-1970)
During his life historian Lawrence Dunbar Reddick used his scholarly expertise to fight for civil rights. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 3, 1910, Reddick received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in history from Fisk University in 1932 and 1933, respectively. He went to the University … Read MoreLawrence Dunbar Reddick (1910-1995)
