Legendary composer, conductor, and saxophonist King Curtis was born Curtis Ousley in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, on February 7, 1934, to Ethel Montgomery and a biological father was never present. William and Josie Ousley adopted him and his sister Josephine Ousley Allen. Curtis began … Read MoreKing Curtis (1934-1971)
Lucille Boynton Skaggs Edwards, a journalist and suffragist, was the first African American woman magazine publisher in Nebraska. Edwards was born to Mary and David Skaggs in Washington, D.C. on July 23, 1875. Some documents suggest that her mother was a white Irish immigrant while … Read MoreLucille Boynton Skaggs Edwards (1875-1972)
Elvi Gray-Jackson is the second African American woman elected to the Alaska state senate and the first African American to become Chair of the Senate in the state. Born in Newark, New Jersey on April 8, 1953, Gray-Jackson graduated from Barringer High School before attending … Read MoreElvi Gray-Jackson (1953- )
In the following article novelist and independent historian Amy Sommers briefly outlines the experience of African Americans in Asia between World Wars I and II. She argues that African American influence in Asia was situated in four broad categories: the performing arts, international relations, faith, … Read MoreThe Black Pacific, 1919-1941: African Americans and Asia in the Interwar Period
Clara Mae Ward, one of the most outstanding soloists and conductors in gospel history, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 21, 1924, to George Ward, a handcrafter and ironworker from Anderson County, South Carolina, and Gertrude Mae Murphy Ward, a pianist and singer also … Read MoreClara Mae Ward (1924-1973)
Earl Simmons was a rapper, songwriter, and actor, best known by his stage name DMX. Simmons was born on December 18, 1970 in Mount Vernon, New York. At the time of his birth, his mother Arnett Simmons was nineteen years old, and his father Joe … Read MoreDMX/ Earl Simmons (1970-2021)
Psychiatrist Dr. Oscar Clement Allen was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 21, 1921. The eldest of four siblings, Allen was reared in Gloucester, Virginia. His parents were John T. Allen, a farmer, and Bertha Frazier Allen, a homemaker. Allen attended the racially segregated Woodville … Read MoreOscar Clement Allen (1921-2004)
Leonard Jeffries, Jr., university administrator, professor, and Pan-Africanist was born January 19, 1937 in Newark, New Jersey to Leola Smith Jeffries of Lynchburg, Virginia, an office secretary, and Leonard Jeffries of Akron, Ohio, a tailor at Irvington Cleaners & Dryers. Reared in Newark’s Roseville section, … Read MoreLeonard Jeffries (1937- )
Moses Simons was the first black Yale graduate and the first black lawyer in the nation. Simons practiced law in 1816, decades earlier than some of the more well-known, and believed to be first, black practitioners like Macon B. Allen (1844); George Vashon (1848); and … Read MoreMoses Simons (?- 1822)
AIDS caregiver and activist Mavis Thompson-Blaize who practiced medicine and provided community services for more than five decades, was born in Newark, New Jersey, on June 20, 1927, to parents who migrated from Jamaica. After graduating from Hunter College High School in New York City … Read MoreMavis Thompson-Blaize (1927-2020)
