The author, poet, and playwright Paulette Williams was born on October 18, 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey. Until she was eight, she lived in a racially diverse community among well educated upper middle class black and white families. She socialized with prominent musicians and performers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Chuck Berry, Charlie Parker, Miles … Read MorePaulette Shange Ntozake Williams (1948- )
Image Ownership: Public domain George Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah, the newly elected president of Liberia, was born in the slums of Monrovia, Liberia on October 1, 1966. During his professional sports career he was considered one of the best soccer players on the African continent. For much of his youth, Weah was … Read MoreGeorge Weah (1966- )
James Whitehead, Jr., the first African American Lockheed U2 pilot, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1934. From a young age Whitehead was surrounded by a strong military presence in his family including relatives who served in World War II. Coming of age during that war he … Read MoreJames T. Whitehead, Jr. (1934- )
David L. Lewis is a twice Pulitzer Prize-winning historian. He was born on May 25, 1936 in Little Rock, Arkansas to John Henry Lewis, Sr., a Yale Divinity School graduate and college president, and the former Alice Urnestine Bell, a public school math teacher. He … Read MoreDavid Levering Lewis (1936- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Physicist and university administrator Robert Ambrose Thornton was born in Houston, Texas, on May 6, 1902 to Frank Thornton, a laborer, and the former Mary Jane Sullivan, a midwife. Thornton attended Houston Colored High School but later graduated from Los Angeles … Read MoreRobert Ambrose Thornton (1902-1982)
Image Ownership: Public domain Aja Brown serves as the youngest and first female mayor of Compton, California. Brown was born in Altadena, California, to Brenda Jackson on April 17, 1982. Brown attended John Muir High School in Pasadena and was elected president of her senior … Read MoreAja Brown (1982- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Sophia Angeli Nelson is an author, journalist, lawyer, and political strategist. Nelson was born on January 5, 1967, in Munich, Germany, where her father served overseas in the U.S. Army. She was raised in Somerdale, New Jersey, and attended San Diego … Read MoreSophia Angeli Nelson (1967- )
Image Ownership: Public domain Darryl Dawkins (also known as Chocolate Thunder—a name music legend Stevie Wonder gave him), was born in Orlando, Florida, on January 11, 1957. Born to Harriet James and Frank Dawkins, he was raised by his grandmother, Amanda Celestine Jones, in Orlando … Read MoreDarryl Dawkins (1957-2015)
Image Ownership: Public domain Joseph Kwame Kyeretwei Boakye Danquah (Dankwa) was a Ghanaian lawyer, politician, and leader in that nation’s independence movement. He was born on December 18, 1895, to Emmanuel Yao Boakye and Lydia Okom Korantemaa in the town of Bepong in the Eastern … Read MoreJ.B. Danquah (1895-1965)
Image Ownership: Public domain Douglas Dollarhide was the first African American mayor of the city of Compton, California, and a pioneer and role model for future black politicians across the state of California. Dollarhide was born in March 1923 in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. He was the … Read MoreDouglas Dollarhide (1923-2008)