Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel, a professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), was the league’s first athlete to test positive for COVID-19, the Coronavirus. Gobert who is one of a handful of international players in the NBA, began his professional basketball … Read MoreRudy Gobert-Bourgarel (1992- )
John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi is a psychologist, consultant, and former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Amaechi was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 20, 1970 to Wendy Amaechi, an English mother, and Jon Amaechi, a Nigerian father who descends from the Igbo people. Amaechi has … Read MoreJohn Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi (1970- )
Michael Bruce Curry is the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. Curry was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 13, 1953 to the Rev. Kenneth S. L. Curry, a pastor and social activist, and Dorothy Strayhorn Curry. At age three, he moved … Read MoreMichael Bruce Curry (1953- )
Ron Stallworth was the first African American police officer and detective hired by the Colorado Springs Police Department. He also holds the distinction of being the only African American “member” of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Stallworth was born on June 18, 1953, in Chicago, … Read MoreRonald Tobias Stallworth (1953- )
When the U.S. Army was reorganized on July 28, 1866 for peacetime service after the American Civil War, six regiments were set aside for black enlisted men. These included four infantry regiments, numbered 38th through 41st. The 25th Infantry was created during a reduction in March 1869 by … Read More25th Infantry Regiment (1866-1947)
Larry Spencer is a retired Air Force 4-star General who began his military service in 1971 as a eighteen-year-old private. Spencer was born on August 1, 1954 in Washington, D.C. to Alfonzo Spencer, a disabled career Army mechanic, and Selma Gaines Spencer. After graduating from Central High School … Read MoreLarry Oneil Spencer (1954- )
Four-star general and precision flier Lloyd W. Newton was born December 24, 1942 in Ridgeland, South Carolina, the fourth of seven children of John H. Newton, a farmer, and Annie Newton. Finishing Jasper High School in Ridgeland, he majored in mechanical engineering at Tennessee State … Read MoreLloyd Warren Newton (1942- )
Darryl Dawkins (also known as Chocolate Thunder—a name music legend Stevie Wonder gave him), was born in Orlando, Florida, on January 11, 1957. Born to Harriet James and Frank Dawkins, he was raised by his grandmother, Amanda Celestine Jones, in Orlando where he attended Maynard … Read MoreDarryl Dawkins (1957-2015)
Image Ownership: Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune James M. Evans, a politician and business owner, was the first African American chairman of the Utah Republican Party. He was born to Robert and Beatrice Evans in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 1962. He graduated from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High … Read MoreJames M. Evans (1962- )
Lusia “Lucy” Harris, a former American basketball player, is considered to be one of the pioneers of women’s basketball. She played for Delta State University in Mississippi and won a silver medal with the U.S. Women’s Basketball Team in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games … Read MoreLusia Harris (1955- )
