Ice Spice, Veeze, Rylo Rodriguez & Tink Highlight This Week’s New Music Roundup

Telling Carl Maxey’s Story: Understanding the Fighter in the Ring and the Courtroom

In the account below, Jim Kershner, author, historian, and longtime journalist for the Spokesman-Review, Spokane’s major daily newspaper, discusses what led him to the story of Carl Maxey, one of Washington States key 20th century civil rights figures, and the challenges he encountered while

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Source: Black Past

Dudley, Edward Richard (1911-2005)

Edward Dudley was the first black American to lead a U.S. Mission abroad with the rank of Ambassador. Dudley was born on March 11, 1911 in South Boston, Virginia to Edward Richard and Nellie (Johnson) Dudley. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree from Johnson C. Smith College in Charlotte, North

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Source: Black Past

Feb

11

2005

Lenhardt, Alfonso E. (1943- )

Alfonso E. Lenhardt is currently Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania from 2009 to

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Source: Black Past

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan is the black American comedian best known for his years on Saturday Night Live and for his role as the eccentric TV star in Tina Feys television series 30 Rock. A stand-up comedian since the early 1990s, Morgan got his break into television with the Martin Lawrence series, Martin. That

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, songwriter and actress and one of the best selling artists of all time. She was born on August 9, 1963 in New Jersey to two time Grammy Award winner Cissy Houston. The legendary queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, was her godmother. Whitney Houston

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Source: Black History Resources

Aug

9

1963

Prince

Prince is an American singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist and one of the best selling artists of all time. He was born Prince Rogers Nelson to musician parents John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both Prince and his younger sister Tika were very

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Source: Black History Resources

Jun

7

1958

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

Mary J. Blige

Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter and actress who has been making hit records for almost 25 years. She was born on January 11, 1971 in the Bronx, New York to Cora and Thomas Blige. She grew up in a very neglected and disastrous neighborhood and her childhood was marked by

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

11

1971

Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes is an American actor, producer, martial artist and entrepreneur. He was born on July 31, 1962 in Orlando, Florida to Wesley and Maryann Snipes, and grew up in the Bronx, New York. He was inclined towards becoming a dancer at first but later changed his mind when he took acting classes

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

31

1962

African American History: Bibliography

Home

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Source: Black Past

Brandy Norwood

Brandy Rayana Norwood (better known as Brandy) is a Grammy award winning singer, actress and model. She was born in McComb, Mississippi, in 1979 and was the eldest child of a church pastor named William Ray Norwood Sr. and his wife Sonja Norwood. Her younger brother Ray J is also a singer and

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Source: Famous African Americans

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th President of the United States of America and the first African American to have held the post. He was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham. His parents separated when he was an infant and divorced when he was 2 years

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

20

2009

Ben Harper

Ben Harper is an American musician, known for his success as an artist, instrumental skills and social activism. He was born on October 28, 1969 as Benjamin Chase Harper to Leonard and Ellen-Chase Verdries in Pomona, California. His father was African American and his mother was Jewish. He came

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

28

1969

Blackwell, Robert “Bumps” (1918-1985)

Robert Bumps Blackwell was a musician, producer, and composer who worked with the top names in early jazz and rock and roll. Blackwell was born in Seattle, Washington on May 23, 1918. By the late 1940s his Seattle-based Bumps Blackwell Junior Band featured Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, and played

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Source: Black Past

May

23

1918

Freedom’s Journal (1827-1829)

Freedom’s Journal was the first African American owned and operated newspaper in the United States. A weekly four column publication printed every Friday, Freedom’s Journal was founded by free born African Americans John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish on March 16, 1827 in New York City, New York. The

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Source: Black Past

Mar

16

1827

Bernicat, Marcia Stephens Bloom (1957- )

Born in Tinton Falls, New Jersey in 1957, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat earned a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1975. Thinking she might teach overseas, Bernicat earned a teaching credential in social sciences at the secondary level. Rather than

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Source: Black Past

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was an internationally acclaimed African American author, poet, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. She was born as Marguerite Annie Johnson in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She had a rough childhood and was sent to live with her grandparents after her own parents’ divorce. At

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Source: Black History Resources

Malcolm X

Born: 5/19/1925 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.Died: 2/21/1965 New York City, New YorkMalcolm Little and also known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Arabic: الحاجّ مالك الشباز), was an American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Tyra Banks

Banks is a former model who created the popular TV reality show Americas Next Top Model and hosted her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show. Banks was a top supermodel of the 1990s, when she became the first African-American model featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill is a singer, songwriter and actress who shot to fame in the 1990s with her R&B band “The Fugees” and later as a solo performer. She was born on May 26, 1975 in New Jersey to Valerie and Mal Hill. Her mother was an English teacher and her father was a management

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Source: Black History Resources

May

26

1975

Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was a famous American jazz musician. He was born on May 26, 1926 to a wealthy African American family in Alton, Illinois. His father was a dentist who also owned a ranch in Arkansas. Davis developed an appreciation for music at an early age after listening to gospel music at

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Source: Black History Resources

May

26

1926

Donna Summer

Name at birth: LaDonna Adrian Gaines

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Clardy Craven, Erma (1918-1994)

Erma Clardy Craven was an African American leader in the pro-life movement. Craven helped start various “pro-life” organizations such as African-Americans Against Abortion, the National Right to Life Committee, Black Americans for Life, National Democrats for Life, and Americans United

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Source: Black Past

(1828) David Walker, “The Necessity of A General Union Among Us”

David Walker (1796-1830) is best known for his revolutionary pamphlet, Walker’s Appeal, in Four Ariticles: together with a preamble, to the coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular and Very expressly to those of the United States of America. This twenty-six-page pamphlet warned of a bloody

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Source: Black Past

Dec

19

1828

Florence Griffith Joyner, track legend born

Delorez Florence Griffith Joyner

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

21

1959

Anderson, Marian (1897-1993)

Marian Anderson, renowned contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th Century, was born on February 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Anderson was the daughter of John Berkley Anderson, a small business owner, and Annie Delilah Rucker Anderson, a former Virginia

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Source: Black Past

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson is one of the most interesting inventors ever, not simply because of his invention but more so because of his celebrated and controversial life. Johnson was born on March 31, 1878 in Galveston, Texas under the name John Arthur Johnson and spent much of his teenage life working on boats

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Source: Black History Resources

Horne, Lutrelle (193?- )

Lutrelle Horne is a producer who worked for Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Shop). He was one-time Executive Vice-President of Children’s Television Workshop and Executive Producer and Director of its International

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Source: Black Past

Ciara

Ciara Prince Harris is an American singer, songwriter, actress and model. She was born on October 25, 1985 to military parents and consequently traveled around a lot as a child. When her parents finally settled in Atlanta, Georgia, the young Ciara was already dreaming of becoming a singer. As

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Source: Black History Resources

Baquaqua, Mahommah Gardo (1824?-1857?)

Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua’s biography is the only known biography of a former slave from Brazil. Baquaqua was born around 1824 near Djougou in modern day Benin to a Muslim merchant family. Baquaqua was captured from Djougou in 1845 while acting as a messenger for a local king; he was taken to the

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Source: Black Past

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