Martin Luther King Jr. jailed

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American singer and actress. She was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 12, 1981 to Darnell Donnerson and Samuel Simpson. She started singing in her church choir as a child and also performed in community theatre. She graduated from high school in 1999 and enrolled at

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Source: Black History Resources

Sep

12

1981

Walt Frazier

Walter Frazier is a retired professional NBA player who played for the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was born on March 29, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia and was the eldest of nine children. An exceptional athlete since childhood, Frazier was the star of the football, baseball and

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Source: Black History Resources

Mar

29

1945

Blayton, Jesse B., Sr. (1879-1977)

Jesse B. Blayton, Sr., was a pioneer African American radio station entrepreneur. Blayton founded WERD-AM in Atlanta, Georgia on October 3, 1949 making him the first African American to own and operate a radio station in the United

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Source: Black Past

Oct

3

1949

Coretta Scott is born

Coretta Scott is born in Marion, Ala. She will marry Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1953 and be an integral part of his civil rights activities. After his assassination in 1968, she will continue her civil rights activities, founding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change in

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

27

1927

Haley, George (1925- )

Ambassador George Williford Boyce Haley served as the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Gambia from 1998 until 2001. Haley was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He then traveled to Banjul, the capital of Gambia to assume his post as head of the

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Source: Black Past

Aug

28

1925

Young, Andrew (1932 - )

Andrew Young, Jr., came into prominence as a civil rights activist and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the modern civil rights movement in the United States. Young worked with various organizations early in the movement, but his civil rights work was largely done with the

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Source: Black Past

Mar

12

1932

Andrew Young

Andrew Young (born on the 12th of March, 1932) is an American activist, former pastor and diplomat from Georgia. Andrew Young served as Mayor of Atlanta, the US ambassador to the UN and as a congressman from the 5th congressional district from Georgia. Young was also a member of the Southern

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Source: Black History Resources

Cassandra Wilson

Cassandra Wilson (born. Dec 4, 1955) is a best known as an American songwriter, singer, jazz musician and music producer who hails from Jackson, Mississippi. Wilson, whose ancestry includes Welsh, Eastern European and West African blood is the third youngest child of jazz musician Herman Fowlkes

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Source: Black History Resources

Dec

4

1955

Ross, Michael K. (1941-2007)

Michael K. Ross was a Washington State legislator, civil rights activist, and contractor who, although he worked from within established political channels, was not afraid to go against the grain to affect social

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Source: Black Past

Howlin' Wolf

Howlin’ Wolf, a nickname for Chester Arthur Burnett, was an American Blues musician, born on June 10, 1910, in White Station, Mississippi. Ranked at #51 by the Rolling Stone Magazine in the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and arguably deserving a better spot on the list, Wolf is without a doubt

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

10

1976

Latrell Sprewell

Latrell Fontaine Sprewell is a former NBA star who played for the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was born on September 8, 1970 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Washington High School in Milwaukee where he played basketball. Between 1988 to

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Source: Black History Resources

Sep

8

1970

Betty Shabazz

Betty Shabazz was the wife of Malcolm X, a prominent leader of the Nation of Islam. Her exact date of birth is not known, but it is believed to be May 28, 1934. She was born in Georgia to unwed teenage parents named Ollie Mae Sanders and Shelman Sandlin, and raised in Detroit. By some accounts, her

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Source: Black History Resources

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe was a twentieth century famous African American tennis player. He is considered the world’s number one tennis player after he won three Grand Slam titles. He was the first black man to be selected for the United States Davis Cup team and won the singles title at

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

10

1943

Ella Baker

One of the leading figures of the Civil Rights Movement which took place in the 1950s and 1960s, Ella Baker, was born in Virginia in 1903. Growing up in North Carolina, Baker had a close relationship with her grandmother, a former slave, and heard narrations of many of the experiences which the

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Source: Black History Resources

Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock was born on April 12, 1940, in Chicago Illinois into a musical family. His father was a government meat inspector and mother was a secretary. Herbie began studying piano at the age of 7, he started his education with classical music. On February 5, 1952, along with Chicago Symphony

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Source: Black History Resources

Feb

5

1952

Usher

American singer Usher is a teen sensation turned R&B icon who has several bestselling albums, numerous awards and his own recording label. He was born Usher Terry Raymond IV on October 14, 1978 in Tennessee. His father abandoned the family when Usher was only a year old. As a child, he

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Source: Black History Resources

Lil' Romeo

Percy Romeo Miller Jr, or more commonly referred to as Lil’ Romeo, is a celebrated American personality. Born on August 19, 1989 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Miller is the son of Hip Hop star Master P. He is not only an outstanding singer and rapper, but has become a successful actor, basketball

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Source: Black History Resources

Aug

19

1989

Evans, Melvin Herbert (1917–1984)

Melvin Herbert Evans was born on August 7, 1917, in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. He attended public schools until entering Howard University where he received his B.S. in 1940. In 1944 he received his M.D. from Howard College of Medicine, whereupon he served in a variety of medical

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Source: Black Past

Jan

3

1979

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was a legendary American jazz singer, songwriter and actress. She was born as Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 to Sarah Julia Fagan and Clarence Holiday. Her parents were neither married, nor living together and Clarence left the family when Billie was just a child. Her mother moved

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

17

1959

Aaron Neville

Known for his characteristic near-soprano vibrato and refined voice, Aaron Neville is an acclaimed American R&B musician. Born on January 24, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Neville has been active as a musician since 1960. Apart from R&B, he has also explored other avenues in musical

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

24

1941

Taye Diggs

Taye Diggs was born on January 2, 1971 in Newark, New Jersey. He is the oldest of five children born to Marcia and Andre Young. Diggs grew up in Rochester, New York where he attended Allendale Columbia School. He later transferred to School of the Arts. He also received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

2

1971

Percy Julian

Dr. Percy Lavon Julian was an African American chemist who is most well known for extracting medicinal drugs from plants. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama on April 11, 1899 to James Sumner and Elizabeth Lena Julian. His grandparents had been slaves in the Civil War era and Julian grew up facing

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Source: Black History Resources

Apr

11

1899

Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is a renowned Hollywood actor and producer, known for his powerfully portrayed performances in film and television. Washington was born on December 28, 1954 near New York City. His father, Reverend Denzel Hayes Washington Sr. was a minister, and his mother Lennis owned

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Source: Black History Resources

Dec

28

1954

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was a dancer and singer who later became a Civil Rights activist. Her birth name was Freda Josephine McDonald and she was born on June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother used to be a dancer as well, but she gave up her aspirations in order to raise her children. Her father

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Source: Black History Resources

Jun

3

1906

(2017) New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's Address on the Removal of Confederate Monuments in New Orleans

On May 19, 2017, New Orleans, Louisiana Mayor Mitch Landrieu addressed an audience in his city as a backdrop and explanation of the city’s recent decision to remove statutes of General Robert E. Lee and other Confederate military and political leaders from public squares in New Orleans. His speech

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Source: Black Past

May

19

2017

Marion Jones

Marion Lois Jones, also called Marion Jones-Thompson is a respected retired American athlete and basketball player. She was born on October 12, 1975 Los Angeles, California and specialized in track and field races. Standing at 5 feet 10 inches and weighing 68 kilograms, Jones is most often

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

12

1975

Bernie Mac

Bernard Jeffrey “Bernie” McCullough, or Bernie Mac, was an American comedian and actor, born on October 5, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. After losing his mother at the age of 16, Mac would set up stand-up comedy shows for neighborhood kids and spent most of his 20s serving various

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Source: Black History Resources

Aug

9

2008

Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker was one of the first well known African American scientists and mathematicians. He was born on November 9, 1731 to an ex slave named Robert, and Mary Banneky, the daughter of an Englishwoman and a free African slave. He grew up on his parents farm along with three of his sisters

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

9

1806

Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson was 42 when she sang her legendary open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial on 9 April 1939. Anderson was a famous contralto of the day, and the concert was arranged after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her perform at Constitution Hall because she was

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Baldwin, James (1924-1987)

James Arthur Baldwin, fiction writer, essayist, dramatist, and poet, was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York during the Harlem Renaissance. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx in 1942, he began his formal career as a writer. Baldwin was inspired by Richard

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Source: Black Past

Aug

2

1924

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Martin Luther King Jr. jailed

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