Michael Vincent Drake, a physician and college administrator, became president of two major American universities. Born on July 9, 1951 in New York City, Drake grew up in Englewood, New Jersey and Sacramento, California. His parents Carl Everett Drake, a psychiatrist who had once been … Read MoreMichael Vincent Drake (1951- )
Jeremiah G. Hamilton (a.k.a. Jerry Hamilton, though both names may be fictitious) was known as the “Prince of Darkness” and considered the wealthiest African American of the 19th century. Although the details of his life are somewhat enigmatic, he may have been born somewhere in … Read MoreJeremiah G. Hamilton (1807?-1875)
Hakeem Sekou Jeffries is a four-term Congressman representing New York’s 8th congressional district in Brooklyn and Queens. On November 28, 2018, Jeffries’ House colleagues elected him Democratic Caucus chairman putting him three steps away from making history as the first African American Speaker of the … Read MoreHakeem Jeffries (1970- )
Medical technician and lawyer, state executive, and judge Alice Athenia Lytle was born on March 2, 1939 in Newark, New Jersey. Her father Lacey Lytle worked as a janitor in a building where she lived. He and her mother Margaret moved the family to Harlem … Read MoreAlice Athenia Lytle (1939-2018)
Candace Owens is a conservative political activist and media personality that serves as the Communication Director for Turning Point USA, a non-profit student organization that promotes conservative campus activities and speakers. Owens is also a Fox News contributor, blogger, and YouTuber. Having gained prominence from … Read MoreCandace Owens (1989- )
In a July 1918 editorial in The Crisis, W.E.B. DuBois urged African Americans to set aside their differences with their countrymen over the nation’s treatment of its black citizens and “close ranks” in the war against Imperial Germany and its Allies. Ten months later, after … Read More(1919) W.E.B. DuBois, “Returning Soldiers,” Editorial from The Crisis
John Edward James is an Iraq War Veteran, businessman, and former Republican United States Senate candidate from Michigan. James became a rising star in the Republican Party after defeating Sandy Pensler, another Michigan businessman, in the 2018 Michigan GOP Senate primary. James went on to … Read MoreJohn Edward James (1969- )
Pioneering scholar in black women’s history, Rosalyn Marian Terborg-Penn was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 22, 1941, to Jeanne Van Horn Terborg, a clerical worker, and Jacques Arnold Terborg, a jazz musician born in Suriname. Terborg and her brother Jacques Jr., spent their … Read MoreRosalyn Terborg-Penn (1941-2018)
Comedian turned movie director Jordan Haworth Peele was born on February 21, 1979 in New York City, New York. His white mother Lucinda Williams raised him in a small apartment on the Upper West Side; Peele did not know his father, who was black, and … Read MoreJordan Peele (1979- )
Vanessa Diane Gilmore is the first African American and the youngest sitting federal judge at the time of appointment for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Vanessa Diane Gilmore was born in October, 1956 in St. Albans, New York and … Read MoreVanessa Diane Gilmore (1956- )