The Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School was a military base and training facility located on the south side of Des Moines, Iowa. During World War I it was the training facility for the first large group of African Americans officers to serve … Read MoreThe Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School (1901- )
New Jack Swinger Bobby Brown was born Robert Barisford Brown on February 5, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Herbert James Brown and Carole Elizabeth Williams Brown and reared in a family of eight children in Orchard Park Housing Projects in the Roxbury section of the … Read MoreBobby Brown (1969- )
The Philadelphia International Records house band, MFSB (“Mother Father Sister Brother”), was initially an all-male multicultural R&B ensemble comprising more than thirty resident studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios. They played the music and occasionally sang backup with many soloists and groups, including … Read MoreMFSB (1972-1985)
The Philadelphia Sound was created by Kenneth (Kenny) Gamble and Leon A. Huff. Gamble, a composer, lyricist, and vocalist, was born on August 11, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Huff, a pianist, composer, vocalist, and percussionist, was born in the neighboring city of Camden, New Jersey … Read MoreGamble and Huff for Philadelphia International (1967-1984)
Composer, conductor, trumpeter Terence Oliver Blanchard, Sr. was born on March 13, 1962, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Joseph O. Blanchard, an insurance company manager, and an opera singer, and Wilhelmina Blanchard. At the age of five, Terence began piano studies, and by eight, he … Read MoreTerence Blanchard (1962- )
The Rev. Dr. Regena Lynn Thomas is a former politician who formerly held the office of secretary of state for New Jersey and is the director of the Human Rights and Community Relations Department of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Thomas was born and … Read MoreRegena Thomas (1957- )
Sylvia Yvonne Cyrus, Executive Director of The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), was born on December 16, 1955, in Plainfield, New Jersey, to John Marvin Cyrus, Sr. from Marion, Virginia, an orphan who achieved an eighth-grade education in Cranford, … Read MoreSylvia Yvonne Cyrus (1955- )
Legendary saxophonist, composer Clarence Clemons, a towering 6-foot-6, was born Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. on January 11, 1942, in Norfolk, Virginia, in the segregated Norfolk Community Hospital, to Clarence Anicholas “Nick” Clemons Jr., Sr., owner of The Clemons’ Seafood Market” on Liberty Street in the … Read MoreClarence Clemons Jr. (1942-2011)
Donald McKinley “Childlish Gambino” Glover, Jr. is an actor and rapper. Glover was born on September 25, 1983, to Donald Glover Sr. and Beverly Glover in Edwards, California. He also has a brother, Stephen Glover and a sister, Brianne Glover. Growing up, Glover attended Avondale … Read MoreChildlish Gambino/ Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (1983- )
Music executive Clarence Alexander Avant II became one of the most successful music producers in the recording industry. He guided the careers of Bill Withers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Schifrin, and Jimmy Smith. Avant was born on February 25, 1931, in Greensboro, North Carolina … Read MoreClarence Avant (1931- )
