Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a Democratic Representative of the state of Ohio. She was born on September 10, 1949 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio and attended the county’s public schools before getting her bachelor’s degree in social work from Case Western Reserve University in 1971. … Read MoreStephanie Tubbs Jones (1949-2008)
Sheila Jackson-Lee was born on January 12, 1950 in Queens, New York. She graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens, New York in 1968. She then graduated from Yale University in Connecticut with a B.A. in political science in 1972 followed in 1975 by a … Read MoreSheila Jackson-Lee (1950- )
Valenza Pauline Burke, later known as Paule Marshall, was born on April 9, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of Ada and Samuel Burke, both emigrants from Barbados, and she grew up in a neighborhood with a significant number of other families … Read MorePaule Marshall (1929-2019)
Portia White was the first Afro-Canadian singer trained only in Canada to reach an international stage. As an African-Canadian, her popularity helped to open previously closed doors for talented blacks who followed. Portia May White was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, the third child of … Read MorePortia White (1911-1968)
Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston Texas’s Fifth Ward on February 21, 1936. She received her education in public schools in Texas and graduated from Texas Southern University in 1956 with a B.A. in political science and history. Jordan then received her LL.B. from … Read MoreBarbara Jordan (1936-1996)
The first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Alice Walker was born the eighth child of sharecroppers Willie Lee and Minnie Lou Grant Walker, on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia. Walker became the valedictorian of her segregated high school class, despite … Read MoreAlice M. Walker (1944- )
U.S. Congresswoman Barbara-Rose Collins was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 13, 1939 to Lunar N. and Vera (Jones) Richardson. Collins attended Wayne State University in Detroit. Her career began at Wayne State University where she served as business manager, worked in the Physics department, … Read MoreBarbara-Rose Collins (1939- )
The widow of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King became a forceful public figure and important leader in the civil rights movement. She made numerous contributions to the struggle for social justice and human rights throughout her life. Coretta Scott was … Read MoreCoretta Scott King (1927-2006)
On January 20, 2009, with the Presidential swearing in of her husband Barack Obama, Michelle Robinson Obama became the first person of African American descent to become First Lady of the United States. Obama is an accomplished professional with an impressive resume of her own. … Read MoreMichelle Robinson Obama (1964- )
Stephanie St. Clair was born in Martinique, an island in the East Caribbean on December 24, 1897 and came to the United States via Marseilles, France. In 1912 fifteen-year-old St. Clair arrived in Harlem and eventually by the 1920s became known for her deep involvement … Read MoreStephanie St. Clair (1897–1969)
