Charles Lewis Haley is a former football player for the National Football League and holds the distinction of being the first five-time Super Bowl Champion. Haley was born on January 6, 1964, in Gladys, Virginia. His mother’s name was Virginia, and his father’s name is … Read MoreCharles Haley (1964- )
Opera singer, composer, librettist Uzee Brown, Jr. was born on June 13, 1950, in Cowpens, South Carolina, to Alline Gaffney Brown from Thickety Mountain, South Carolina, and Uzee Brown, Sr. Uzee Jr’s siblings, were Willie Brown, Sr. Ethelene Brown Palmer, Delois Brown Daniels, Daisy Dawkins, … Read MoreUzee Brown, Jr (1950- )
Postmodern Composer, pianist, and conductor Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork III, who has penned more than 250 works, was born on April 17, 1941, in Rochester, New York, to Lora Hailstork and Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork Jr. However, he was reared in Albany, New York. He has one … Read MoreAdolphus Cunningham Hailstork III (1941- )
Lamont Dozier was born Lamont Herbert Dozier on June 16, 1941, in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Poe Elementary School on the city’s west side and wrote his first lyrics, “A Song,” and composed the piano accompaniment in 1953 at 12. He then attended Hutchins Junior … Read MoreLamont Dozier (1941- )
Otha Edward Thornton, Jr., the first African American President of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), was born in October of 1967 and reared in Elberton, Georgia, to Otha Edward Thornton, Sr., a Vietnam Veteran, and Estelle J Thornton. He was the oldest of seven. … Read MoreOtha Edward Thornton, Jr. (1967- )
The Capitols, an R&B doo-wop trio, originally known as the Three Caps, was formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1962 with a lineup that included principal vocalist and percussionist Samuel George Jr. (born January 23, 1942), guitarist/percussionist Don Storball, whose birth name was Don Norman and … Read MoreThe Capitols (1962-1969)
The Floaters began as an R&B quartet, with co-founders Larry Cunningham who was born on June 23, 1951, in Detroit, Michigan, and James Mitchell Jr., formerly lead singer with the Detroit Emeralds, who was born on May 27, 1949, in Perry, Florida. The lineup also … Read MoreThe Floaters (1976-1982; 1990-2019)
Chokwe Lumumba was a civil rights attorney and the former mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, where he served from July 2013 until his death on February 24, 2014. He was born Edwin Finley Taliaferro in Detroit, Michigan, the second of eight children of Lucien Taliaferro, from … Read MoreChokwe Lumumba (1947-2014)
The first African American players in the National Basketball Association in the twentieth century all came into the league in 1950. They were Earl Francis Lloyd (Washington Capitols), Charles Henry Cooper (Boston Celtics), and Nathaniel Clifton (New York Knicks). They all began their college careers … Read MoreThe First Black Players in the NBA (1950)
R&B singer Deon Jackson was born on January 26, 1946, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He played the Clarinet and performed in the band, with local vocal groups, and as a soloist while attending Ann Arbor High School. As a young composer, Jackson was signed by … Read MoreDeon Jackson (1946-2014)
