Charles Harrison was one of the most prolific industrial designers of the twentieth century. One of only a handful of early African American industrial designers, he specialized in creating a variety of practical household goods emphasizing form and function. Harrison’s output of innovative consumer products … Read MoreCharles A. “Chuck” Harrison (1931–2018)
Award-winning broadcast journalist and author Belva Davis made history in 1966 when she was hired by San Francisco, California’s Channel 5, KPIX-TV, becoming the first female African American television news reporter on the West Coast. Born Belvagene Melton on October 13, 1932 in Monroe, Louisiana, … Read MoreBelva Davis (1932- )
Minister, civil rights activist, vocalist, Jesse Lee Douglas, Sr. was born August 19, 1930 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to William and Isabella Douglas, a Merchant Marine cook and a maid. He attended Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana and Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee before … Read MoreJesse L. Douglas, Sr. (1930- )
Cindy Lou Courville is an American diplomat and expert on Africa. Born in Opelousas, Louisiana, to Earnest and Mar Courville in 1954, she grew up attending segregated schools until the eighth grade when she was among the first groups of African American children who began … Read MoreCindy L. Courville (1954– )
In the article below, Syracuse University historian Herbert Ruffin explores the rapid rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2013 as the most recent development in the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice in the United States. In the summer of 2013, three … Read MoreBlack Lives Matter: The Growth of a New Social Justice Movement
“Image Courtesy of David Bacon” A rank-and-file activist in the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), Leo Robinson was best known for fighting apartheid by helping lead a massive boycott of South African cargo that galvanized anti-apartheid movement in California‘s San Francisco Bay Area in … Read MoreLeo Lythel Robinson (1937–2013)
Dr. Martin Luther King with Bill Chester, January 25, 1963 “Image Courtesy of Anne Rand Library, International Longshore and Warehouse Union” William “Bill” Chester, Vice President and Assistant to Harry Bridges, President of the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU), was the highest ranking African … Read MoreWilliam H. Chester (1914-1985)
James A. Joseph is a lifelong educator and public policy activist who served as the first African American U.S. ambassador to post-apartheid South Africa from 1996-1999. Joseph has worked to promote leadership opportunities in both the corporate world and through the Federal government. The father … Read MoreJames A. Joseph (1935- )
Wilbert J. LeMelle, Sr., was a scholar, development specialist, and ambassador to Kenya and the Republic of Seychelles between 1977 and 1980. In both his academic and diplomatic work, LeMelle urged the United States to become more engaged in Africa, focusing on economic development and … Read MoreWilbert J. LeMelle Sr. (1931-2003)
Alfonso E. Lenhardt is currently Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania from 2009 to 2013. A native of New York City, New York, Ambassador Lenhardt began his … Read MoreAlfonso E. Lenhardt (1943- )
