Black History

 

Arrested Development is an American hip hop group, that was formed in Atlanta in 1988. It was founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the late 1980s. Baba Oje and frontman Speech met at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee when they were both students. Arrested Development was formed in 1988 by rapper and producer Todd Thomas ("Speech") and turntablist Timothy Barnwell (known as Headliner). The group's debut album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... was the number-one album in the Village Voice's 1992 Pazz and Jop Critic's Poll and in The Wire's 1992 Critic's choice. The group won two Grammy Awards in 1993: for Best New Artist, making them the first hip hop artist to win this award, and for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. They were also named Band of the Year by Rolling Stone. The debut album sold over 6 million copies worldwide. A few months later, the group was approached by...

Condoleezza Rice has earned distinction as a scholar, expert on international politics, and with her appointments as the first African American woman National Security Advisor and Secretary of State of the United States. Rice was born on November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama to John Wesley Rice, Jr., a Presbyterian minister and school counselor and Angelena (Ray) Rice, a public school teacher.  Influenced heavily by her parents, Rice, their only child, showed an exceptional intelligence and scholastic focus at a very early age.  Despite growing up in the black middle-class neighborhood of Titusville in Birmingham, Condoleezza and her family could not escape the “Jim Crow” policies of that city.  Denise McNair, one of four young girls who died in the 16th St. Baptist Church Bombing in September 1963, was Rice’s childhood friend and playmate. 1989.  In 1991 Rice returned to Stanford University as Provost (the second highest administrative rank on campus after the Un...

Gladys Knight and the Pips, American vocal group that was among the most popular rhythm-and-blues and soul groups of the 1960s and ’70s and that was unique in having a female lead singer and male backup singers. The principal members were Gladys Knight (b. May 28, 1944, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.), Merald (“Bubba”) Knight (b. September 4, 1942, Atlanta), William Guest (b. June 2, 1941, Atlanta—December 24, 2015, Detroit, Michigan), and Edward Patten (b. August 2, 1939, Atlanta—d. February 25, 2005, Livonia, MI. Gladys Knight and the Pips, American vocal group that was among the most popular rhythm-and-blues and soul groups of the 1960s and ’70s and that was unique in having a female lead singer and male backup singers. The principal members were Gladys Knight (b. May 28, 1944, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.), Merald (“Bubba”) Knight (b. September 4, 1942, Atlanta), William Guest (b. June 2, 1941, Atlanta—December 24, 2015, Detroit, Michigan), and Edward Patten (b. August 2, 1939, Atlanta—d. Februa...

Colin Powell was a retired four-star United States Army General who was the first African American to serve as National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, and Secretary of State. Colin Powell was born on April 5, 1937, in the Bronx, New York to Jamaican immigrant parents. He attended public schools in the Hunts Point area of South Bronx and was eventually accepted to New York University. Lacking the funds to attend this private university, Powell instead enrolled at the City University of New York, where he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), graduating with a degree in geology and as a second lieutenant in the infantry. Taking his first post abroad in West Germany, Powell soon realized that the advanced racial integration of the armed forces would yield tremendous upward opportunities, and he decided to make a career in the army. Powell served two tours of duty in Vietnam and received eleven medals for exemplary service. In 1971, he took advantage o...

Would-be mail thieves didn’t stand a chance against Stagecoach Mary. The hard-drinking, quick-shooting mail carrier sported two guns and men’s clothing. History Logo HomeTopicsBlack HistoryMeet Stagecoach Mary, the Daring Black Pioneer Who Protected Wild West Stagecoaches Meet Stagecoach Mary, the Daring Black Pioneer Who Protected Wild West Stagecoaches Would-be mail thieves didn’t stand a chance against Stagecoach Mary. The hard-drinking, quick-shooting mail carrier sported two guns and men’s clothing. BY: ERIN BLAKEMORE UPDATED: JANUARY 28, 2021 | ORIGINAL: SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 copy page link PUBLIC DOMAIN Stagecoach Mary PUBLIC DOMAIN <EM>MARY FIELDS, BETTER KNOWN AS STAGECOACH MARY.</EM> Bandits beware: In 1890s Montana, would-be mail thieves didn’t stand a chance against Stagecoach Mary. The hard-drinking, quick-shooting mail carrier sported two guns, men’s clothing and a bad attitude. As the first African American woman to carry mail, she stood out on the trail—and bec...

Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate, was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 1947. She attended the Chicago Public Schools and received a degree from the University of Illinois in 1969.  She earned her degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1972. Moseley Braun served as assistant prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago from 1972 to 1978. In the latter year she was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and served in that body for ten years. During her tenure Moseley Braun made educational reform a priority. She also became the first African American assistant majority leader in the history of the Illinois legislature.  Moseley Braun returned to Chicago in 1988 to serve as Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Capitalizing on the public furor over the Clarence Thomas–Anita Hill controversy and in particular the way in which Hill was treated by U.S. Senators, Carol Moseley Braun upset incumbent Senator Alan ...

Toni Morrison, original name Chloe Anthony Wofford, (born February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.—died August 5, 2019, Bronx, New York), American writer noted for her examination of Black experience (particularly Black female experience) within the Black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Morrison grew up in the American Midwest in a family that possessed an intense love of and appreciation for Black culture. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood. She attended Howard University (B.A., 1953) and Cornell University (M.A., 1955). After teaching at Texas Southern University for two years, she taught at Howard from 1957 to 1964. In 1965 Morrison became a fiction editor at Random House, where she worked for a number of years. In 1984 she began teaching writing at the State University of New York at Albany, which she left in 1989 to join the faculty of Princeton University; she retired in 2006. Morrison’s first book, The Bl...

If your kids or perhaps yourself need a hero or inspiration to accomplish something or motivation to start or complete a project then read on. I found Ms. Hamm while working on my doctoral degree. I was and am so impressed by what one individual can accomplish. She's been my Public Hero ever since. I love what she stands for!! ~ Sabrina Hamm - Director of State Policy and Advocacy at FreeFrom About:  I hold a Master of Public Policy degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. I am most interested in addressing issues of poverty and economic inequality through policy and systems change work. I am passionate about economic and racial justice. As an undergrad at UC Berkeley, I worked on addressing inequalities in the education system through empowering under-served high school students to pursue higher education. I participated in numerous high school and community college outreaches. I was in the 18th class of Emerson National Hunger Fellow. My field site placemen...

John Coltrane departed this mortal plane more than fifty years ago; today he remains among us, more alive than ever. His sound continues to grab the ears of an ever-widening circle of fans. His legend is stone solid: planted firmly in our culture as that of any 20th century musical giant. His saxophone sound—brooding, searching, dark—is still one of the most recognizable in modern jazz. His influence stretches over styles and genres, and transcends cultural boundaries. The modern ideal of music serving a deeply spiritual, connective purpose? A defining facet of John Coltrane. To Coltrane, a musician was a message-giver; making music was an endeavor tied to a larger, greater good. “I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music,” Coltrane wrote in 1964 in a letter to his listeners, telling of a prayer to God. In 1966, less than a year before his death, he stated: “ I know that there are bad forces, forces that bring suffering to others and misery t...

SHARON PRATT DIXON KELLY Sharon Pratt Dixon was born on January 30, 1944 in Washington, D.C. to parents Carlisle Pratt and Mildred (Petticord) Pratt.  Carlisle was a Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge.  Mildred Pratt died of breast cancer when Sharon was four years old.  Pratt’s father played a major role in her life by instilling certain values and encouraging her commitment to public service.  Sharon Pratt attended public schools in Washington, D.C. and graduated with honors from Roosevelt High School in 1961. Although she initially wanting to pursue an acting career, her father persuaded Pratt to attend Howard University where in 1965 she received a B.A. degree in Political Science.  She then enrolled in Howard University’s School of Law.  While in law school, she married Arrington Dixon in 1966 who later became a Washington, D.C. city councilmember.  In 1968 Dixon earned her law degree and gave birth to their first daughter, Aimee Arrington Dixo...

Douglas Wilder Born in Richmond, Virginia on January 17, 1931, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was the first African American to be elected governor in the United States of America. For four years Wilder served as the governor of Virginia (1990-1994) after previously serving as Lt. Governor of the state from 1986 to 1990.  He later served as mayor of Richmond, Virginia. Wilder began his education in a racially segregated elementary school, George Mason Elementary, and attended all-black Armstrong High School in Richmond.  In 1951 he received a degree in chemistry from Virginia Union University in his hometown.  After college, Wilder joined the United States Army and served in the Korean War, where he earned a Bronze Star for heroism. After the war, Wilder worked in the Virginia state medical examiner’s office as a chemist. Using the G.I. Bill, Wilder graduated from Howard University Law School in 1959 and soon afterwards established Wilder, Gregory and Associates. In 1969 Wilder ...

Rachelle Ferrell Composer, lyricist, arranger, musician, and vocalist Rachelle Ferrell is a recent arrival on the contemporary jazz scene, but her visibility on the pop/urban contemporary scene has boosted her audience's interest in her jazz recordings. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Ferrell got started singing in the second grade at age six. This no doubt contributed to the eventual development of her startling six-and-change octave range. She decided early on, after classical training on violin, that she wanted to try to make her mark musically as an instrumentalist and songwriter. In her mid-teens, her father bought her a piano with the provision that she learn to play to a professional level. Within six months, Ferrell had secured her first professional gig as a pianist/singer. She began performing at 13 as a violinist, and in her mid-teens as a pianist and vocalist. At 18, she enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study composition and arranging, whe...