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Wilson Jr., Harrison B. (1925– )
Esteemed educator, legendary basketball coach, and successful university president, Harrison Wilson Jr. was born on April 21, 1925, in Amsterdam, a small city in upstate New York. His mother Marguerite Ayers was a school teacher, and his father Harrison Wilson Sr. worked in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Apr
21
1925
Dominique Dawes
One of the most renowned names in the history of American gymnastics, Dominique Dawes was born in November 20, 1976 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dawes recognized her passion for gymnastics at an early age of 6 years and attended lessons with Kelli Hill who remained her coach for the rest of
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Source: Black History Resources
Nov
20
1976
(1995) William Jefferson Clinton, “the Job of Ending Discrimination in This Counrt is Not Over”
In July 1995, President Bill Clinton delivered a major speech at the White House  in defense of Affirmative Action programs across the nation at a time when many critics were calling for their repeal.  He argued that such programs were still needed in a talk he officially titled, The Job of Ending
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Source: Black Past
Cris Carter
Cris Carter is a notable African-American sports figure as he formerly played football in the National Football League. The football teams he used to play for include Philadelphia Eagles, the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins. His most successful career years were with the Minnesota Vikings
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Nov
25
1965
When Blacks Succeed: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
This is part five of the award winning documentary, When Blacks Succeed: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
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Source: AA Studies Research Guide
Jul
1
1917
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain (born Wilton Norman Chamberlain) was an American basketball star who played for several NBA teams. Chamberlain  was born on August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied at Overbrook High School where he played on his school’s team for three years, scoring more than
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by New York University
Aug
21
1936
Chicago Blues Style: Characteristics and Artists
When American became embroiled in World War II, it served to increase the exodus of African-Americans from the Southern states northward to cities like St. Louis, Detroit, and Chicago. Former sharecroppers were moving out of the rural areas of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia to find jobs in the
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Source: ThoughtCo
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Sam Cook, Father of Soul Music, born.
Singer Sam Cook, the son of a minister and believed by many to be the first father of soul music, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Cook began his singing career with a gospel group known as the Singing Children. His fame came in 1965 with You and Me, Only 16, and his very famous Stand By Me and
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
22
1931
Mya
Mya Marie Harrison, or simply Mya, is a Grammy award winning singer, actress and dancer who has appeared in a variety of roles over the years. Named after acclaimed poet Maya Angelou, Mya was born on October 10, 1979 in Washington D.C. Her father Sherman is an African American while her mother
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Source: Black History Resources
Oct
10
1979
Hayes, Charles Arthur (1918-1997)
African American Congressman, Charles Arthur Hayes, will forever be remembered for his commitment to legislate equal rights for black labor workers.  After noticing racism aimed toward black workers in his hometown of Cairo, Illinois, Hayes moved to Chicago and started unionizing activities in
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Source: Black Past
(1966) Robert F. Kennedy, “Day of Affirmation Address"
On June 7, 1966, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy became one of the first major American politicians to take a public stand against South African Apartheid when he delivered an address to the National Union of South African Students in New York City.  His address appears
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Source: Black Past
Jun
7
1966
Usher
Name at birth: Usher Raymond IV
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Killings in Civil Rights demonstrations
Jonathan M. Daniels, white Episcopal seminary student from Massachusetts, killed and Richard F. Morrisroe, white Roman Catholic priest from Chicago, seriously wounded by shotgun blasts fired by white special deputy sheriff in Hayneville, Alabama. They were participating in civil rights
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
12
1965
Ralph Ellison
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the year 1914, Ralph Ellison was a celebrated National Book Award winner for his novel “Invisible Man”. He was awarded this this title in the year 1953. Even though he was best known for this novel, that is not all Ralph Ellison was. Ralph
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Apr
16
1994
1st Black Democratic Congressman
Arthur L. Mitchell defeated Oscar DePriest in a Chicago election and became the first Black Democratic congressman.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
7
1934
Remembering Brown: Silence, Loss, Rage, and Hope
In the following article, James A. Banks, the Kerry and Linda Killinger Professor and Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle, describes his Arkansas communitys reaction to the U.S. Supreme Courts Brown v. Board of Education decision when it was
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Source: Black Past
May
17
1954
Track star Carl Lewis born
Olympic track and field star Carl Lewis was born in Willingboro, New Jersey.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
1
1961
Jan Mostaert’s Portrait of a Moor (1520-1530)
In the following account University of Cincinnati historian John K. Brackett describes the famous 16th Century painting of a black courtier at the court of Margaret of Austria, the Duchess of Savoy and Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands.  The name and rank of this courtier remains
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Source: Black Past
(1888) Frederick Douglass On Woman Suffrage
? F.A.Q. Frederick Douglass was one of the few men present at the pioneer woman’s rights convention held at Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848. His support of women’s rights never wavered although in 1869 he publicly disagreed with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony who called for women
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Tina Turner
Name at birth: Anna Mae Bullock
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Lincoln Motion Picture Company
African American audiences were generally ignored by the major motion picture studios in the first two decades of the 20th Century. Nonetheless, demand for films aimed at black theaters in both the South and larger Northern cities prompted the formation of several “black” motion picture
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Robeson, Paul (1898-1976)
Paul Robeson is best known as a world famous athlete, singer, actor, and advocate for the human rights of people throughout the world. Over the course of his career Robeson combined all of these activities into a lifelong quest for racial justice. He used his deep baritone voice to communicate the
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Source: Black Past
Jan
23
1976
Charles Edward Anderson--Meteorologist
Born: August 13, 1919
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
13
1919
Ida B. Wells-Barnett: She Fought Against Racism and Lynching
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, known for much of her public career as Ida B. Wells, was an anti-lynching activist, a muckraking journalist, a lecturer, and a militant activist for racial justice. She lived from July 16, 1862 to March
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Source: ThoughtCo
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Lincoln Motion Picture Company
African American audiences were generally ignored by the major motion picture studios in the first two decades of the 20th Century. Nonetheless, demand for films aimed at black theaters in both the South and larger Northern cities prompted the formation of several “black” motion picture
Read more
Source: Black Past
Jackson, Jessie Louis, Sr. (1941- )
Long before he became a minister, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket, Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), and founder of the Rainbow Coalition, Jesse Louis Jackson impressed his family and close friends as a person destined for greatness.  Born
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Source: Black Past
Oct
8
1941
Lisa Lopes
Lisa Left Eye Lopes was one of three members of the popular music group TLC. (The Atlanta-based group was named for its members initials: Lopes, Tionne T-Boz Watkins and Rozanda Chilli Thomas.) With its made-for-MTV looks and bawdy attitude, the group was a hit with both R&B and pop music
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Hillary, Barbara (1931- )
Barbara Hillary is the first African American woman on record to reach both the North and South Poles. Born in New York City, New York on June 12, 1931 to Viola Jones Hillary and raised in Harlem, Hillary attended the New School University in New York, N.Y. where she earned both her Bachelor of
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
10 Best New Hip-Hop Artists of 2011
Big Sean has been patiently waiting in Kanyes wings for years now. He signed to G.O.O.D Music in 2007 but only has a bunch of guest verses and two ominously titled mixtapes to show for it. Look for Sean to expand on his Finally Famous mixtape series with the release of a similarly titled debut
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Source: ThoughtCo
Gary Coleman
Gary Coleman was an American actor, best known for being a child star on the television sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”. He was born on February 8, 1968 in Illinois. He was adopted at birth by Edmonia Sue and W.G. Coleman. Coleman suffered from kidney disease from his childhood, and the
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
May
28
2010
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