“Image Ownership: Preston Mack/Darden” Corporate CEO Clarence Otis was born April 11, 1956, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His father, Clarence Otis Sr., worked as a janitor while his mother, Calanthus Hall Otis, stayed home to raise their three children. The family moved to the Watts section … Read MoreClarence Otis (1956– )
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
George Shirley is an educator, lecturer, and internationally acclaimed tenor whose leading roles in 28 operas with the Metropolitan Opera (“Met”) for 11 seasons helped push open doors on operatic stages for many African American tenors. In 1956 Shirley became the first African American member … Read MoreGeorge Irving Shirley (1934- )
In 1930 Bessie Stringfield became the first African American woman to ride her motorcycle across the United States solo. Her feat was credited with breaking down barriers for both women and African-American motorcyclists. Born Betsy Leonora Ellis on February 9, 1911, in Kingston, Jamaica, she … Read MoreBessie Stringfield (1911-1993)
Attorney and public prosecutor Loretta Elizabeth Lynch was born on May 21, 1959 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her father was a Baptist minister and her mother was an English teacher and school librarian. Lynch received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, … Read MoreLoretta Elizabeth Lynch (1959- )
In 2013, Brian A. Nichols, career Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to Peru. Nichols was born in 1965, to Charles Harold and Mildred (Thompson) Nichols. Charles Harold Nichols was a Professor … Read MoreBrian A. Nichols (1965- )
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- )
“Image Ownership: Arkansas Black Hall of Fame” Ambassador June Carter Perry was born November 13, 1943 in Texarkana, Arkansas. After completing grade school, Perry was accepted at the Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois where in 1965 she earned her degree in history. Two years later … Read MoreJune Carter Perry (1943- )
In the following essay independent historian Robert Fikes explores the eclectic experiences of African Americans in the world’s largest nation in the 19th and 20th Centuries It was in May 1824 that Nancy Gardner Prince, rescued from a life of poverty and hardship in Massachusetts … Read MoreIn the Land of Czars and Commissars: African Americans in Russia, the Soviet Union, and Post-Soviet Russia, 1824-2015
Shirley Elizabeth Barnes is a former United States Ambassador to the African country of Madagascar, 1998-2001. Barnes was nominated by President Bill Clinton on June 29, 1998 and after confirmation by the U.S. Senate, arrived in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, and presented her credentials … Read MoreShirley Barnes (1938- )
