American actor of stage and screen. He is perhaps best known known for films such as Shaft (1971), Ragtime (1981), and Heartbreak Ridge, (1986). He won his first Obie Award for his portrayal as Aaron in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, and was nominated for a Tony … Read MoreMoses Gunn (1929-1993)
Jeff Fort is a co-founder and former leader of the Chicago, Illinois street gang known by various names over time as the Blackstone Rangers, the Blackstone Nation, and the El Rukns. Fort was born on February 20, 1947 in Aberdeen, Mississippi to Annie Fort and … Read MoreJeff Fort (1947- )
Marion William Dial was the first African American elected to a city-wide office in Missouri. Dial was born in Chetopa, Kansas, on June 27, 1903. After receiving bachelors and master’s degrees from the Kansas State Teachers College (now Pittsburg State University), Dial embarked on a … Read MoreMarion William Dial (1903-1972)
Katherine Carper Sawyer is one of the nearly-forgotten plaintiffs in the famous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. While most attention was focused on Linda Brown’s central role in the most important school desegregation case in the nation’s history, in 1952 … Read MoreKatherine Carper Sawyer (1942- )
McKinley Langford Burnett was a little-known but significant figure in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that theoretically desegregated public schools across the United States. Burnett was born in Oskaloosa, Kansas, a racially integrated small town, in 1897 to parents who … Read MoreMcKinley Langford Burnett (1897-1968)
Fred “The Hammer” Williamson is an African American actor-director-writer-producer who built and sustained a long career as a black action hero from the “blaxploitation” era of the 1970s to well into the twenty-first century. Born on March 5, 1938 in Gary, Indiana to parents Frank … Read MoreFred Williamson (1938- )
William Jones, one of the last Buffalo Soldiers, was also a U.S. Army Master Sergeant, Prisoner of War (POW) in Korea and successful entrepreneur. Jones was born in Tamo, Arkansas to farmers Joseph and Elizabeth Jones on July 15, 1918, the youngest of seven children. Jones grew up in Kansas and attended the … Read MoreWilliam Jones (1918-2009)
Linda Brown is best remembered as the subject of the lawsuit that led to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision which eventually impacted public schools across the United States. Brown was born on February 20, 1943, in Topeka, Kansas. She was the daughter of Oliver and … Read MoreLinda Brown (1943-2018)
As an Army Major General, Frederic Ellis Davison paved the way for many African Americans who became military officers. Through Davison’s decorated career, those he led and served alongside respected him. His legacy as an officer in World War II and the Vietnam War marked his place in both military and … Read MoreFrederic Ellis Davison (1917-1999)
Carl Brewer served as the 100th Mayor of Wichita, Kansas, only the second African American elected to that office. Brewer was born on March 8, 1957 in Wichita, Kansas. He attended Wichita North High school, and graduated in 1975. He obtained his first job at … Read MoreCarl Brewer (1957– )
