We’ve come to the end of Black History Month for 2014, but we haven’t come the end of learning about Black History, World History, American History, Bible History, etc. So here’s the posting schedule for the remaining of 2014 up until February of 2015. Beginning March 4, 2014, we will be posting each Tuesday on …
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1942. Guion Bluford became the first African American to travel in space. He later participated in three other missions. Quotes I felt an awesome responsibility, and I took the responsibility very seriously, of being a role model and opening another door to black Americans, but the important thing …
Will.i.am is a hit-making master as a solo artist and as a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group the Black Eyed Peas. The multi-talented singer has also excelled as a songwriter and producer. Outside of the music biz, Will.i.am dabbles in fashion, acting, technology, business and social activism. Quotes I’m just a guy who …
Jane Bolin graduated from Yale Law School and, after relocating to New York City, became sworn in by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as the first African-American female judge in the U.S. Quotes I’d rather see if i can help a child than settle an argument between adults over money. ~ Jane Bolin Background Jane Matilda …
Otis Boykin was born on August 29, 1920, in Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Fisk College in 1941 and took a job with the Majestic Radio and TV Corporation. He later worked at P. J. Nilsen Research Laboratories. He began to invent products on his own, with some of his noteworthy inventions including a wire …
Born on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds played with the band The Deele before forming a songwriting/production team with L.A. Reid. The two formed their own label, launching artists like Toni Braxton and TLC, and scoring multitudes of hits. Having helmed the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack among other projects, Babyface is …
Wally Amos was born on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. He started in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency and in 1962 became the first black talent agent in their history. As an agent, he signed Simon & Garfunkel and headed the agency’s rock ‘n’ roll department. In 1975, he opened the first …
Born on July 8, 1902, in Giddings, Texas, Gwendolyn Bennett found success as a poet, fiction writer and journalist during the Harlem Renaissance with publications like The Crisis, New Negro and Opportunity. A visual artist as well, she later headed educational programs for the local African-American community. Having also worked in antiques with her second …
Ralph Abernathy was a Baptist minister who, with Martin Luther King Jr., organized the historical Montgomery bus boycotts. He co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a major civil rights figure, serving as close adviser to King and later assuming SCLC presidency. Quote “There will be no quiet or peace in this land until …
Tichina Arnold was popular for her role as Pam James, opposite Martin Lawrence, on the sitcom Martin. After Martin, Arnold made guest appearances on The Jaime Foxx Show and Soul Food. In 2005, she landed a starring role as Rochelle, a tough mom of three, on Everybody Hates Chris. Along with acting, she ran a …
Flex Alexander was born in New York City on April 15, 1970. Alexander started his profession as a dancer and choreographer, traveling for a long time with the trio Salt-n-Pepa. He then branched out into film and television, creating and starring in the television show One on One for quite a while and showing up …
Born into humble circumstances on February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama, Hank Aaron ascended the ranks of the Negro Leagues to become a Major League Baseball icon. Aaron played as an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves for nearly 23 years, during which time he broke many of baseball’s most distinguished records, including most career home …
Maya Angelou is famous for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. In 1971, Angelou published the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die. She later on wrote the poem “On …
Just in case you don’t have anyone to share Valentine’s Day with, I’d like to say you Happy Valentines Day Friends.
Born February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, Marian Anderson displayed vocal talent as a child, but her family could not afford to pay for formal training. Members of her church congregation raised funds for her to attend a music school for a year, and in 1955 she became the first African American singer to perform as …
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland. An absolutely free black who owned a farm near Baltimore. Banneker was mainly self-educated in astronomy by watching the stars and in mathematics by reading borrowed textbooks. Quote The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind …
Brooklyn-born Aaliyah Dana Haughton began voice lessons soon after she learned to talk. Determined to be a star, she signed an agreement with Jive Records at the age of 12 and became well known in 1994. On her way home from a music video shoot in 2001, a plane crash killed Aaliyah and eight members …
Macon Bolling Allen was born in 1816 in Indian, and moved to Maine in the early 1840s. In 1844, Allen became the first African American to be admitted to the Maine bar. He died in 1894 in Washington, D.C. Groundbreaking Lawyer Born in Indiana in 1816, Macon Bolling Allen is best known as the initial …