Terrycina “Terri” Sewell, the current U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th district, was born January 1, 1965 in Huntsville, Alabama to Andrew and Nancy Sewell. Sewell grew up in Selma, Alabama where both of her parents were employed by the local school district. Her father, Andrew, … Read MoreTerri Sewell (1965- )
Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD), founded in 1986 in New York City, is one of the oldest organizations working toward the welfare of black gay men in the United States. They began offering services for persons with AIDS toward the beginning of the US … Read MoreGay Men of African Descent (GMAD) (1986- )
Jazz pianist, Willie “the Lion” Smith was born William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff on November 25, 1897. Smith was born to parents Ida Oliver and Frank Bertholoff in Goshen, New York. Bertholoff passed away in 1901, and Oliver married mechanic John Smith. The two raised … Read MoreWilliam [Willie “the Lion”] Smith (1897-1973)
Image Ownership: BeeCeePhoto (CC BY-SA 4.0) Harold “Hal” Jackson, legendary broadcaster, radio station owner, and philanthropist was born November 3, 1915 in Charleston, South Carolina to Eugene and Laura Jackson. Eugene Jackson owned a successful tailor shop in Charleston allowing the family to live in … Read MoreHal Jackson (1915-2012 )
In August 1955 at the age of 20, Raven Wilkinson became the first African American woman to receive a contract to dance full time with a major ballet company, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo of New York City. She was promoted to soloist during … Read MoreAnne Raven Wilkinson (1935-2018)
Poet, author, and essayist, G. Winston James was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1971 at the age of three, grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, and graduated from Paterson Catholic Regional High School. James, who has … Read MoreG. Winston James (1967- )
Charley Patton, born in Hinds County, Mississippi near the town of Edwards, is by consensus the Father of Delta blues and one of the most important American musicians of the 20th century. Legendary bluesmen Son House, Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, … Read MoreCharley Patton (1891-1934)
Norman (Norm) Robert Allen Jr. is a writer and secular humanist activist. On August 31, 1989 Allen founded African Americans for Humanism, the first organization focused on the promotion of humanism and humanist ideals among people of African descent. He was the executive director of … Read MoreNorman Robert Allen, Jr. (1957- )
Richard Bruce Nugent (also Bruce Nugent), artist, writer, actor, dancer, dilettante, and bohemian of 1920s Harlem, was born to middle class Washington, D.C. socialites Richard Henry Nugent and Pauline Minerva Bruce Nugent. His father was a Pullman porter; his mother a pianist. Nugent attended Washington, … Read MoreRichard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987)
Godwin Ajala is remembered as a U.S. national hero who fought to save the lives of countless people as they escaped from the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001. He is also the only Nigerian listed among the nearly 3,000 people who died … Read MoreGodwin O. Ajala (1968-2001)
