Tavares, a band of brothers, was a rhythm and blues and funk and soul group. They have also been known as The Tavares Brothers of Cape Verdean heritage (near Senegal) and Chubby & The Turnpikes. They comprised six of seven sons and one daughter of … Read MoreTavares (1969-1976)
Fulfilling a dream he held onto for nearly a decade, on September 23, 2020, three-star Gen. Richard M. Clark, at a ceremony in Falcon Stadium, took command as top administrator of the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, in … Read MoreRichard Milo Clark (1964- )
Known as the “perfect pitch” virtuosic a cappella legends, the Persuasions were established in 1962 by Jesse “Sweet Joe” Russell, who was born on September 25, 1939, in Henderson, Kentucky; bass James Caldon Hayes, born November 12, 1943, in Hopewell, Virginia; composer/tenor Jerome Eugene Lawson, … Read MoreThe Persuasions (1962-2017)
Patrice Louise Rushen is an R&B singer and jazz pianist. She was born on September 30, 1954 in Los Angeles, California to Allen and Ruth Rushen. Rushen is a musical prodigy who began playing piano at the age of three. In 1958 her parents enrolled … Read MorePatrice Rushen (1954- )
Dr. Sekazi Kauze Mtingwa is an African American theoretical high-energy physicist and co-founder of the National Society of Black Physicists. He has served as president of the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Research and Educational Access in Science and Engineering. Mtingwa’s contributions to the field of physics … Read MoreSekazi Mtingwa (1949- )
The Del-Vikings were the first successful racially integrated Doo-Wop rock and roll ensemble formed in the United States and specifically in the United States Air Force during the Jim Crow era. The group, organized in 1955 at the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Air Force Base, comprised six … Read MoreThe Del-Vikings (1955-1973)
Virtuoso technician Classical, jazz, composer Nestor Miguel Torres was born on April 25, 1957, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to Nestor Torres Sr., pianist and vibraphone, and Ana E. Salcedo Baldovino-Torres. His first percussion and piano teacher was his father. However, Torres, skipping two grades, began … Read MoreNestor Torres (1957- )
Audrey Smedley, one of the nation’s first African American women anthropologists, was born in Detroit in 1930, the eldest daughter of Ulysses and Mattie Smedley. While raising six children, her mother maintained a career as a beautician; her father owned and operated a gas station … Read MoreAudrey Smedley (1930-2020)
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, environmental strategist, and policy expert. Born on August 23, 1980 to a teacher and an architect, Johnson was raised in Brooklyn, New York. Johnson earned a BA in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University in 2002. … Read MoreAyana E. Johnson (1980- )
Global marketer Frank Cooper, III was born on May 8, 1964, in San Francisco, California. He received the Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986 and the Juris Doctorate in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School in … Read MoreFrank Cooper III (1964- )
