James Weldon Johnson: Author of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
James Weldon Johnson was an African-American writer, who distinguished himself in civil rights, diplomacy, education, journalism, law, literature, and music. In 1900, Johnson wrote the song “Lift Ev’ry...
View ArticleMathias De Sousa: The first African-American in Maryland
Mathias de Sousa, possibly of African and Portuguese ancestry, is considered the first known Portuguese immigrant on record to have settled in North America. He is also recognized as the first free...
View ArticleWilma Rudolph: The fastest woman in the world in the 1960s
Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an African-American athlete who in 1960 became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympic Games. Rudolph became a...
View ArticleThomas Peters: One of the Black Loyalist Founders of Sierra Leone
In 1999, Thomas Peters, one of the founding fathers of Sierra Leone, was honored by the Sierra Leone government by being included in a movie celebrating the country’s national heroes. A statue of...
View ArticleLucille Clifton: The Award-winning Poet
“I write to celebrate life.” “I would like to be seen as a woman whose roots go back to Africa, who tried to honor being human…” Lucille Clifton was a distinguished award-winning poet, who from 1979 to...
View ArticleZelda Wynn Valdes: The Creator of the Playboy Bunny Costume
“I just had a God-given talent for making people beautiful…” Zelda Wynn Valdes was a fashion legend who was the first African-American designer to open her own shop on Broadway in New York in 1948. She...
View ArticleMarie Couvent: A Controversial African-American Philanthropist
“Marie Couvent was the first [Black] woman to set the example of an enlightened charity, and that for a long time she was the only woman to enjoy this distinction is an undeniable fact.” Marie Bernard...
View ArticleGwendolyn B. Bennett: The Harlem Renaissance Writer and Painter
Gwendolyn B. Bennett was an African-American poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. Although she never published her own volume of poetry, she was one of the most revered poets of her era, and...
View ArticleMary Annette Anderson: The first African American woman elected to Phi Beta...
“The sunshine of her life she gives, To everything around her, Though brief the season that she lives Nor lost is her endeavor. She is indeed the eye of day, – Gentle, hopeful, and sweet always, She...
View ArticleTHE URBAN SHAMAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH ELLIOTT RIVERA
“Afrikans are in bondage today because they approach spirituality through religion provided by foreign invaders and conquerors.” ~Haile Selassie I Elliot Rivera, known as the Urban Shaman, has over 40...
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