Margaret Bush Wilson, prominent 20th Century Civil Rights leader, was born January 30, 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri to James and Margaret Bush; her father was a real estate agent and her mother a teacher. Her passion for the Civil Rights movement was instilled early; … Read MoreMargaret Bush Wilson (1919-2009)
Grace P. Campbell, the first of three African Americans to join the Communist Party, USA, was born in Georgia in 1882 to Emma Dyson Campbell, an African American woman from Washington, D.C., and William Campbell, an immigrant from Jamaica. After briefly relocating to Texas, the … Read MoreGrace P. Campbell (1883-1943)
Writer and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia on November 13, 1969. Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a prominent Somali intellectual and revolutionary leader. As a child, Ali had to move with her family to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, due … Read MoreAyaan Hirsi Ali (1969- )
Writer Jamaica Kincaid was born Elaine Potter Richardson on the Caribbean island of Antigua on May 25, 1949, when it was still under British colonial rule. At age three, Kincaid was taught to read by her mother but was later neglected when three boys were … Read MoreJamaica Kincaid (1949- )
Tananarive Due is a contemporary novelist who interweaves powerful themes and dilemmas among African Americans into unconventional story-telling. Due was born in Tallahassee, Florida on January 5, 1966. Her parents, John and Patricia Stephens Due, met at Florida A&M and were civil rights activists. John … Read MoreTananarive Due (1966- )
Julia May Porter Carson, one of the first African American women to represent Indiana in Congress, was born Julia May Porter on July 8, 1938. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but in her early childhood she moved with her mother to Indianapolis, Indiana, where … Read MoreJulia May Porter Carson (1938-2007)
American novelist Edwidge Danticat was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 19, 1969. Like many Haitian families, her parents fled her homeland for the United States to escape the Jean-Claude Duvalier regime, leaving Danticat and her brother in Haiti for the time being. In 1981, … Read MoreEdwidge Danticat (1969- )
Elected to Congress in 2008, Donna Edwards was a Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 4th Congressional District of Maryland. Donna Edwards was born on June 28, 1958 in Yanceyville, North Carolina. Her father served in the U.S. Air Force, so Edwards … Read MoreDonna F. Edwards (1958- )
Marcia Fudge is now the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Joseph Biden Administration. Before then she was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 11th Congressional District of Ohio since November 2008. She was the first female African American … Read MoreMarcia Fudge (1952- )
Taliaferro, the first black talk show host on a major American radio station, was born on February 7, 1939 and grew up in the Hunters Point district of San Francisco. His talk radio career began in 1967 at San Francisco’s KNEW station and shortly thereafter … Read MoreRaphael “Ray” Taliaferro (1939-2018)
