“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Bertha Lee Pate Patton was an African American blues singer from the Mississippi Delta who came to prominence during the 1920s and 1930s. She was born to Ella Johnson and Nels Pate on June 17, 1902, in Flora, Madison County, Mississippi, … Read MoreBertha Lee Pate Patton Joiner (1902–1975)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite, more commonly known as E.R. Braithwaite, was a Guyanese-born British-American novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat. He was best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination against black people. He was the author of … Read MoreEustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite (1912–2016)
On July 12, 2013, 17 year-old Deion Fludd passed away as a result of complications from blunt-trauma injuries after being attacked by New York Police Department (NYPD) officers. Raised in the Red Hooks projects of Brooklyn, New York, Deion was the middle child of five. His parents were Karen … Read MoreDeion Fludd (1996-2013)
“Image Ownership: Photofest” Dr. William H. “Bob” Bailey, Las Vegas entertainer, entrepreneur, and civil rights activist, was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 14, 1927, to John and Margaret Bailey. Bailey received a B.A. in Business Law at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, sometime in … Read MoreWilliam H. “Bob” Bailey (1927–2014)
“Image Ownership: Melissa McClinton” Harold E. Pierce Jr. was an internationally renowned American dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon known as “The Father of Black Cosmetic Surgery.” He pioneered surgical techniques for the treatment of keloids, laminar dermal reticulotomy, hair transplants, cosmetic facial surgery, chemical facial peeling, … Read MoreHarold E. Pierce (1922–2006)
Katherine Goble Johnson, heralded as the first African American woman in Aerospace Engineering, was born on August 26, 1918, in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, a city where schooling for “colored” people ended with the eighth grade. In 1937, she graduated summa cum laude (with … Read MoreKatherine Goble Johnson (1918-2020)
Ishmael Beah is a Sierra Leonean author and human rights activist who rose to fame with his personal history, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider. Beah was born on November 23, 1980, in Mattru Jong, Bonthe District, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. … Read MoreIshmael Beah (1980- )
Atlanta attorney Michael R. Hollis founded one of the earliest black-owned airlines, Air Atlanta, in 1984. Hollis was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 22, 1953, the youngest of five children of Flem H. Hollis, a Pullman porter, and Virginia R. Hollis, an official with … Read MoreMichael R. Hollis (1953-2012)
Marion Thompson Wright, educator and historian, was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in history in the United States. Wright was born on September 12, 1902, in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Moses R. Thompson and Minnie Homes Thompson. Her … Read MoreMarion Thompson Wright (1902-1962)
Rhythm and blues artist Sharon Lafaye Jones was born in Augusta, Georgia, on May 4, 1956. She was the youngest of six children born to Ella Mae Price Jones and Charlie Jones. The family moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, in 1960. … Read MoreSharon Lafaye Jones (1956–2016)
