Danita Johnson is a business executive affiliated with the WNBA, NBA, and NBA G leagues. In December 2020, Johnson was appointed as the third woman and the first Black person to serve as a Major League Soccer (MLS) team president of business operations, for the … Read MoreDanita Johnson (1984- )
In their latest book on the Black soldiers who helped build the Alcan Highway during World War II, authors Christine and Dennis McClure encountered a story of injustice in the frigid north. See a description of their new book, A Different Race, to get a … Read MoreInjustice in Alaska Territory: The World War II Court-martial of Ten Black Soldiers Who Helped Build the ALCAN Highway
Fred Whitfield is the President, Chief Operating Officer, and minority co-owner of the Charlotte Hornets, a franchise in the National Basketball Association. Whitfield shares ownership with his longtime friend and basketball great Michael Jordan. Together they are the only African American owners in the league. … Read MoreFred Whitfield (1959- )
Fred “Curly” Neal was a basketball legend for the world famous Harlem Globetrotters and became a global icon while representing the sport around the world. During his 22-year career with the Harlem Globetrotters, Neal played more than 6,000 basketball games in 97 countries. He adopted … Read MoreFred “Curly” Neal (1942-2020)
On August 23, 2020, Jacob Blake, an African American man, was left paralyzed after being shot by a white police officer in front of an apartment complex in Kenosha, Wisconsin. While there are conflicting details surrounding Blake’s arrest, the incident occurred during the aftermath of … Read MoreJacob Blake (1991- )
Rashida Jones is a television executive and journalist, who was recently named the next president of the television network, MSNBC. Jones was born on January 11, 1981, and attended Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, at Hampton University, Virginia. She earned her BA in … Read MoreRashida Jones (1981- )
Clarence Holbert is best known as the chief designer of Eritrea’s currency and the second African American engraver to work at the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Born in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, Holbert was raised in Washington D.C.’s Northeast neighborhood of Ivy City. Though … Read MoreClarence Holbert (1944-2018)
James H. Sills, Jr., the first African American mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, was born in North Carolina in 1931. We know little about his early life before he arrived in Wilmington. At various times he was a billiards hustler, farm laborer, and solider before he … Read MoreJames H. Sills Jr. (1931- )
Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail was a professor, mentor, President of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc (NACME), and most recently President of Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Irving McPhail was born on March 27, 1949 in Harlem, New York. He … Read MoreIrving Pressley McPhail (1949-2020)
