In the following article longtime BlackPast.org contributor and San Diego State University Librarian Robert Fikes discusses African American emigrants to and visitors in Italy. Since the 1850s, African Americans have gone to Italy as tourists, students, soldiers, writers, musicians, opera singers, social activists, and actors. … Read MoreThe African American Experience in Italy, 1852 to 2013
Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, the first African American female dentist, was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, on March 4, 1867. She became an orphan when her mother, Jennie Gray, died in her early teens. Rollins’ white father, whose name is unknown, played no role in her … Read MoreIda Gray Nelson Rollins (1867-1953)
THE MICHIGAN CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE (MCRI), PROPOSAL 2, AMENDMENT TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION (2006) ARTICLE I, SECTION 26: Civil Rights. 1. The University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and any other public college or university, community college, or school district shall not … Read More(2006) The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative
Ralph Johnson Bunche, American political scientist, renowned scholar, award winner, and diplomat, was one of the most prominent African Americans of his era. Bunche was born on August 7, 1903 or 1904 (there is some disagreement about the year of his birth) in Detroit, Michigan. … Read MoreRalph J. Bunche (ca. 1903-1971)
Image Ownership: Library of Congress Dr. George Marion Johnson had a distinguished public and professional career that included high administrative positions at universities on two continents as well as governmental positions in agencies which protected the civil rights of all Americans. Throughout his career, he … Read MoreGeorge Marion Johnson (1900-1989)
Image Ownership: Library of Congress Abner Leonard Howell was a star athlete in Utah whose accomplishments went largely ignored during the peak of his football career because of his race. Howell, born on August 9, 1877, moved with his family from Louisiana to Salt Lake … Read MoreAbner Leonard Howell (1877-1966)
Shirley Verrett was a distinguished mezzo-soprano and soprano opera singer. Born in New Orleans on May 31, 1931, one of five children to strict Seventh Day Adventists, her father was a successful building contractor. She came from a musical family, her mother often sang in … Read MoreShirley Verrett (1931-2010)
From precocious five-year-old piano player in the 1890s to internationally known choral director, composer, concert pianist, and poet, R. Nathaniel Dett became champion for preservation of the black spiritual which he called authentic American folk music: He dedicated his life to finding a musical form … Read MoreR. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)
Hansen Clarke is a Democratic politician, lawyer, and artist who represented the 13th District of Michigan in the U.S. Congress between 2011 and 2013. Born on March 2, 1957 in Detroit, his father, Mozaffar Ali Hashem, was an undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant, and his mother Thelma … Read MoreHansen Hashem Clarke (1957- )
Image Courtesy of Kaiser Health News Otis Brawley is an American physician, oncologist, researcher, author, and health care reform advocate, who is currently the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of the American Cancer Society (the largest non-profit health-oriented charity in the … Read MoreOtis Webb Brawley (1959- )
