In 1969, Byron Eugene Lewis opened UniWorld Group (UWG), the oldest multicultural advertising and communications firm in the United States. From the outset, he focused on a Black and Brown target audience that was not well-represented in the media. Over the next few decades, UWG … Read MoreByron Eugene Lewis Sr. (1931- )
Kadir A. Nelson is one of the premier illustrators in the United States. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 15, 1974, the son of Lenwood Melvin Nelson, a former wrestling coach and Howard University graduate and Emily Diane-Gunter, a telecommunications engineer and motivational speaker. … Read MoreKadir Arfin Nelson (1974- )
Sheila Y. Oliver is a politician and the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Oliver was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 14, 1952, and raised there. She graduated from Weequahic High School in 1970 and then attended Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) graduating cum laude with a degree in Sociology in 1974. … Read MoreShelia Y. Oliver (1952- )
Phillip Pannell Jr., a 16-year-old African American, was shot and killed by Teaneck, New Jersey Police Officer Gary Spath on April 10, 1990. Pannell’s death contributed to the growing awareness of police misconduct across the United States as related to young African Americans and helped … Read MorePhillip Pannell Jr. (1973-1990)
Myron Rolle is a neurosurgery resident who at one time played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Tennessee Titans. Rolle was born on October 30, 1986 to Beverly Rolle and Whitney Rolle (his father) in Houston, Texas. The Rolle family were immigrants from … Read MoreMyron Rolle (1986- )
In 1924, Edna Guy was the first African American to study professional dance with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Katherine Graham was also later a pupil. Guy loved dance and wanted to perform like Ruth St. Denis. She saw St. Denis dance in concert … Read MoreEdna Guy McCully (1907-1983)
Rutgers University President Jonathan S. Holloway was born July 26, 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of an Air Force lieutenant colonel Dr. Wendell Mondoza Holloway and preschool and elementary school teacher Kay Trent Holloway. He grew up mainly in Montgomery, Alabama where his father … Read MoreJonathan Scott Holloway (1967- )
Isaac Wright Jr. is an African-American criminal and civil attorney, consultant, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Wright became the only person in U.S. history to be condemned to mandatory life sentence plus 70 years in prison, to secure his own release and exoneration, and then be granted … Read MoreIssac Wright Jr. (1962- )
Gilbert Edward Noble was a pianist, producer, professor, news anchor, television host, and documentarian. His entry into media was largely due to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. Born in Harlem, New York on February 22, 1932 to Jamaican parents Iris Villiers Noble, a … Read MoreGil Noble (1932-2012)
Herbert Alphonso Dixon was a Negro Baseball League (NBL) baseball outfielder. Nicknamed “Rap,” Dixon was born on September 15, 1902 in Kingston, Georgia to John and Rose Goodwin Dixon. Both of Dixon’s parents were born in Georgia; his father John was a laborer at a … Read MoreHerbert Alphonso “Rap” Dixon (1902-1944)
