In her five decades as a recording artist, Aretha Franklin, the undisputed “Queen of Soul,” became a music legend. Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 25, 1942. Her family soon relocated to Detroit, Michigan, where her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, became a minister at New Bethel Baptist Church. Rev. Franklin … Read MoreAretha Franklin (1942-2018)
Nationally acclaimed poet Tyehimba Jess was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1965. His father worked in the City’s Department of Health and served as vice president of Detroit’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His mother was a teacher and a nurse who founded a nursing school … Read MoreTyehimba Jess (1965- )
Ruby Elzy was a singer and actress, born February 20, 1908 in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Her father Charlie Elzy left the family when Elzy was three years old. Her mother Emma Elzy worked three jobs to support Ruby and her three siblings. She was a teacher at a colored school, … Read MoreRuby Elzy (1908-1943)
James F. Jones stood out for many years within black American religious circles. Known for his lavish living and mysterious persona, Jones’ followers referred to him as “Prophet Jones” and were captivated by his sermons. With his roots in the Black Church, Jones would influence the subsequent televangelism … Read MoreJames F. Jones / “Prophet Jones” (1907-1971)
Jesmyn Ward, an acclaimed American writer and an associate professor of English at Tulane University, was born in 1977, in DeLisle, Mississippi, the town where she grew up and where she now again lives. She is the only woman to have won two National Books Awards, the first in 2011 … Read MoreJesmyn Ward (1977- )
Rosalind G. Brewer is an American businesswoman and the first African American woman to become chief operations officer (COO) of Starbucks. Brewer was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1962. She was the youngest of five children and they were the first generation in her family to go to college. … Read MoreRosalind G. Brewer (1962- )
Legal scholar and author James Forman Jr. (a.k.a. James Robert Lumumba Forman) was born in New York City, New York on June 22, 1967. His mother, political activist Constancia Romilly, was the daughter of English author and journalist Jessica Mitford; his father, James Forman, Sr., played a prominent role … Read MoreJames Forman Jr. (1967- )
A tenor with a four-octave vocal range, Jackie Wilson was one of the most talented and dynamic R&B singers of the 1950s and 1960s. Nicknamed “Mr. Excitement,” Wilson was a charismatic, masterful performer who consistently released hits. Jackie Leroy Wilson was born on June 9, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, … Read MoreJackie Wilson (1934-1984)
Approximately 90 African Americans fought in Spain during the civil war that engulfed that nation between 1936 and 1939. The war became a proxy war for the European great powers as the Soviet Union supported the newly established Second Spanish Republic while Nazi Germany and … Read MoreAfrican American Anti-Fascists in the Spanish Civil War
Born Anna Marie Wooldridge in Chicago, Illinois on August 6, 1930, and raised on a farm in Calvin Center, Cass County, Michigan, Abbey Lincoln (stage name) was an African-American jazz singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. The tenth out of twelve children, she began her singing career at a young … Read MoreAbbey Lincoln (1930-2010)
