Ama Ata Aidoo (1942- 2023)
Author, playwright, poet, academic, and feminist Ama Ata Aidoo, a towering figure in African Literature, was born Christina Ama Ata…
Christine Voncile Mann Darden (1942-)
Christine Mann Darden is an internationally renowned aerospace engineer. In 1967 she became the youngest National Aeronautics and Space Administration…
Berkley Square Housing Project, Las Vegas (1953-)
The Berkley Square Housing Project, opened in 1953 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was a historically significant project for African Americans…
James Usry (1922-2002)
The first African American major of Atlantic City, James Leroy Usry, was born February 2, 1922, in Athens, Georgia. Shortly…
Alvin Austin Attles Jr. (1936-2024)
Alvin Austin Attles Jr. was a basketball player for the National Basketball Association (NBA) who played his entire career with…
James W. Holley III (1926-2012)
James W. Holley III was the first African American mayor of his hometown, Portsmouth, Virginia. He was born in Portsmouth…
Tommy Davis (? – ?)
The Harlem Renaissance in New York City attracted African Americans from every part of the United States, the West Indies,…
Alvin A. Brown (1961- )
Alvin A. Brown, the first African American mayor of Jacksonville, Florida was born on December 15, 1961, in Beaufort, South…
Lincoln I. Mulkey and Dorothy J. Mulkey
Lincoln I. Mulkey and Dorothy J. Mulkey were the challengers in a major lawsuit, Reitman v. Mulkey, that reestablished housing…
William A. Johnson, Jr. (1942- )
William A. Johnson Jr., the first African American mayor of Rochester, New York, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on August…
Linda Martell (1941-)
Let it play in the background as you study and immerse yourself in this topic!Linda Martell, the first black female…
Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church (1947- )
Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, located at 257 Carver Avenue in Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, was a unique institution that…
Howard Nathaniel Lee (1934- )
Howard Nathaniel Lee made history in 1969 as the first African American to be elected mayor of any majority-white city…
Betty Carter (1929-1998)
Jazz singer Betty Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones on May 16, 1929, in Flint, Michigan, to James Jones, a…
John Amos (1939-2024)
Television pioneer and Emmy-nominated actor John Amos was born John Allen Amos Jr. on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New…
Claude William Black Jr. (1916-2009)
Claude William Black Jr. was one of the most important advocates for civil rights and social justice in San Antonio,…
(2023) Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina
STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. President and Fellows of Harvard Collegecertiorari to the united states court of appeals for…
(1974) Milliken v. Bradley
MILLIKEN, GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN, ET AL. v. BRADLEY ET AL.No. 73-434.Supreme Court of United States.Argued February 27, 1974.Decided July 25,…
(2013) Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
Abigail Noel FISHER, Petitioner v. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN et al.No. 11-345.Supreme Court of United States.Argued October 10, 2012.Decided…
Oscar James Cooper (1888–1972)
Dr. Oscar James Cooper, a physician, is most remembered as one of the co-founders of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.,…
John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park
The John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, on two and a half acres at the intersection of the African American community…
Wilmont A. Barclay (1877-1944)
Wilmont A. Barclay, a professional escape artist, mind reader, and hypnotist, was one of the most successful Black magicians of…
Leah Penniman (1980- )
Leah Penniman is a farmer and food sovereignty activist who cofounded Soul Fire Farm near Grafton, New York, in 2010.…
George F. Bowles (1844-1899)
George F. Bowles, born enslaved in 1844 in Charleston, South Carolina, was one of the most prominent figures in Reconstruction…
Connie Hawkins (1942-2017)
Six-foot-eight NBA Superstar legend Connie Hawkins, one of the first basketball players capable of swooping and soaring in flights to…
Anthony “Spice” Adams (1980- )
Anthony “Spice” Adams is a former American football player for the National Football League (NFL), actor, comedian, and television host.…
David Isom, Jr. (1939-1970)
David Isom, Jr., a 19-year-old African American civil rights activist born in 1939, broke the color line at a segregated…
Vince Lamar Carter Jr. (1977- )
Vince Lamar Carter Jr, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player and T.V. producer, was born on January 26,…
Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr (1970- )
Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr is a former National Basketball Association (NBA) star and, more recently, a cancer survivor. Born on…
Edgar Amos Love (1891-1974)
Edgar Amos Love was an American bishop with the Methodist Episcopal Church and cofounder of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Love…
Sharon Y. Bowen (1956- )
Sharon Y. Bowen, the first Black woman to head the New York Stock Exchange, was born on July 23, 1956,…
Louis Allen (1919-1964)
Louis Allen, an American farmer and logger, was murdered on January 31, 1964, because of his efforts to vote in…
Charles Smith (1940- )
Charles Smith, a visual artist, historian, activist, and minister, was born on November 11, 1940, to Bertha Mary Smith and…
Joseph “Joe” Pierre Torry (1965- )
Joseph “Joe” Pierre Torry is an actor and comedian. He was born on September 28, 1965, to Robert Torry and…
Ben Kelly (1931-2014)
Benjamin Franklin Kelly made history on September 19, 1953, when he became the first African American to play at an…
Mary Smith Kelsey Peake (1823-1862)
Mary Smith Kelsey Peake, a pioneering educator, is one of few African American women to have a school, The Mary…
Oriental Opera Company (1892-1897)
The Oriental Opera Company (OOC), established in 1892, was one of the nation’s first all-African American opera and classical music…
John Thomas Salley (1964-)
John Thomas Salley is a former National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball star, television and motion picture actor, and a major…
Walden University (1865-1925)
On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment was ratified by the Congress of the United States, abolishing slavery. This pivotal…
First Missionary Baptist Church of Decatur (1866- )
First Missionary Baptist Church of Decatur was established in 1866 in northwest Alabama by 21 former slaves in the home…
Roger Williams University (1866-1929)
Founded as the Nashville Normal and Theological Institute and by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, a Christian missionary society…
Edna May Griffin (1909-2000)
Edna May Griffin, often referred to as ‘the Rosa Parks of Iowa,’ was a prominent American civil rights pioneer in…
Nathan Hare (1933-2024)
Nathan Hare, the founder of The Black Scholar: A Journal of Black Studies and Research and called by many scholars…
Arkansas Freedom Summer (1965)
The Arkansas Freedom Summer, also known as the Arkansas Summer Project, was a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement…
Louisiana Freedom Summer (1964)
Louisiana Freedom Summer, also known as CORE’s Louisiana Project, was a Civil Rights campaign in Louisiana during the summer of…
Daunte Demetrious Wright (2000-2021)
Daunte Demetrious Wright, a 20-year-old African American man, tragically lost his life during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.…
Katz Drugstore Sit-In Protests, Des Moines (1948-1949)
The Katz Drugstore Protests in Des Moines, Iowa, began on July 7, 1948, when Edna May Griffin, John Bibbs, Leonard…
Dianne White Clatto (1938-2015)
Pioneering T.V. Broadcaster Dianne White Clatto, born Dianne Elizabeth Johnson on December 28, 1938, in St. Louis, Missouri, was the…
Charles Luther Sifford (1922-2015)
Charles Luther Sifford, the first Black player to participate in the PGA Tour and the first named to the World…
William “Bill” Lawson (1929-2024)
Civil Rights Advocate, professor, and Pastor William “Bill” Lawson was born William Alexander Lawson on June 28, 1928, in St.…
Esperanza Spalding (1984- )
Let it play in the background as you study and immerse yourself in this topic!Esperanza Spalding, a composer, librettist, bassist,…
The Durham Desegregation Movement (1960-1964)
The Durham Desegregation Movement was a multi-year civil rights campaign in Durham, North Carolina, between 1960 and 1964. On February…
Clarence Eugene Sasser (1947-2024)
Clarence E. Sasser was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his outstanding service in the Vietnam War. He was…
James Earl Chaney (1943-1964)
James Earl Chaney was a civil rights activist and a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). On June…
Charles DeLesline Foster (1948-1986)
On September 6, 1966, Charles DeLesline Foster became the first African American to enroll in The Citadel Corps of Cadets,…
Rance Lee Allen (1948-2020)
Gospel musician, lyricist, and composer Bishop Rance Lee Allen was born on November 20, 1948, in Monroe, Michigan, to Thomas…
Joyce Ladner (1943- )
Dr. Joyce A. Ladner, activist, sociologist, educator, mentor, and author, worked fervently for equality and justice. Ladner was born Joyce…
Robert Charles O’Hara Benjamin (1855-1900)
Robert Charles O’Hara Benjamin, also known as R.C.O. Benjamin, was a Caribbean-born political activist, newspaper editor, minister, poet, teacher, author,…
Charles F. Booker (1923- )
Charles F. Booker was an Army veteran, civil servant, and community activist who fought against racially discriminatory schools in Plainfield,…
Harrison Williams (Parson Sykes) (1847–1916)
Harrison Williams was born enslaved on a Southampton County, Virginia, plantation in 1847, but by December 1864, he was a…