What’s New on BlackPast

Sister Thea Bowman was a Catholic leader, evangelist, and teacher who has made such significant contributions to the ministry of the Catholic Church, that she is being considered for Sainthood. Thea Bowman was born Bertha Elizabeth Bowman on December 29, 1937, in Yazoo City, Mississippi. … Read MoreThea Bowman (1937-1990)

Laura and L.D. Nelson were a mother and son who were dragged from a jail and lynched in Oklahoma, on May 25, 1911. Austin Nelson married Laura in 1896, and their son, Lawrence, was born the following year. The Nelson family lived on a farm … Read MoreLynching of Laura and L.D. Nelson (1911)

Sheila Guyse was an actress, and singer during the 1940s and 1950s. She was born Etta Drucille Guyse, on July 14, 1925, in Forest, Mississippi. Her parents, Wilbert Vincent Guyse and Ethel Williams, separated and divorced shortly after she was born. Guyse was raised by … Read MoreSheila Guyse (1925-2013)

Irene Cara Escalera was a singer, actress and songwriter, who was most famous for recording the title song to the movie “Fame.” Cara was born on March 18, 1959 in the Bronx section of New York City, New York. Her mother, Louise Escalera, was of … Read MoreIrene Cara Escalera (1959-2022)

Megan Piphus Peace is a financial analyst, comedic actress, musician, ventriloquist and puppeteer for the long running PBS network television series, Sesame Street. Piphus was born on October 29, 1992, in Illinois. Her mother is a speech pathologist for Cincinnati Public Schools, and her father … Read MoreMegan Piphus Peace (1992- )

Evan Dale Abel, a pioneering endocrinologist, and advocate for more Black men being accepted into medical school, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 4, 1963.  His father and mother were educators and parents of five children; three of whom today are doctors, and two … Read MoreEvan Dale Abel (1963 -)

Robert Lee Satcher Jr., a specialist in child and adult bone cancer, a chemical engineer, and astronaut was born on September 22, 1965, in Hampton, Virginia, to Robert Lee Satcher, from Coffee County, Alabama, and the president of Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia and … Read MoreRobert Lee Satcher Jr. (1965 -)

Valerae Olive Lewis, a leader in Orthopedic Oncology, was born in 1966 in White Plains, New York, to Carl Norman Lewis, a physician from Harlem with roots in Antigua, and Dorothe Williams Lewis. Valerae had two sisters, Stephanie Lewis, and Carole Lewis. Lewis received a … Read MoreValerae Olive Lewis (1966-)

Tawanda Gumbo, an infectious disease specialist, was born in the Republic of Zimbabwe on August 31, 1967, and grew up in a rigid political system that upheld racial segregation in the former Rhodesia. He completed his medical degree from the Godfrey Huggins School of Medicine, … Read MoreTawanda Gumbo (1967- )