Over the course of its history, The Negro Leagues spawned a series of baseball legends with many going on to dominate in the formerly all-White Major League Baseball organization. Catcher Josh Gibson, the home run king of the Negro League, never got a chance to go to the big show, but was properly recognized […]
Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, was elected to the post on December 18, 1996 after serving decades as an international civil servant for the organization. Mr. Annan’s efforts with the U.N. a led to he and the organization jointly being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. Kofi Atta Annan was born April […]
Sharon Weston Broome has made political history twice in the state of Louisiana. Over the weekend, she was elected the first Black woman to serve as Mayor-President of the East Baton Rouge Parish. Broome, 60, will also effectively be the first Black woman mayor of Baton Rouge and will preside over several smaller townships […]
On this date in 1968, a student-led strike at San Francisco State University led to the suspension of classes. The Black Student Union and a multicultural group of student activists known collectively as the Third World Liberation Front joined forces to challenge SFSU to make ethnic studies a part of its curriculum and to protest […]
Jelly Roll Morton famously introduced himself as the inventor of jazz. While that claim has been questioned over time, the New Orleans pianist undoubtedly planted the early seeds of innovation in the genre. Morton was born Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe on October 20, 1890, although some sources cite 1885. A Creole, Morton was of Spanish, French […]
The Baton Rouge lunch counter protests of 1960 were inspired by the Greensboro protests of that same year. A group of Southern University students were expelled from school because of their peaceful protests in support of Greensboro, but their case was overturned on December 11, 1961 with help from the NAACP and President John F. […]
The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity was the first Black Greek letter organization on an intercollegiate level, and it celebrates its Founder’s Day this coming Sunday, December 4th. The “Seven Jewels” of the fraternity formed the organization in 1906 on the campus of Cornell University, and it has since spawned a star-studded list of notable members. […]
Richard Pryor is, without doubt, one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time and was an inspiration to Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Mike Epps and others. Pryor would have been 76 today after his life was cut tragically short in 2005. Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was born in Peoria, Ill. and raised […]
Colonel Abrams as one of dance music’s most influential pioneers. House and dance music fans from around the globe joined in mourning one of its most notable legends who died last week. Abrams was born in 1949 in Detroit, Mich., relocating to Manhattan at a young age with his family. Influenced by the Motown soul […]
The island nation of Cuba is both celebrating and mourning the death of longtime leader Fidel Castro this weekend, a mixed reaction to the loss of one of the world’s most controversial figures. While Castro is viewed as both a dictator or a revolutionary, one of the hallmarks of his rise to power was his […]
Janie L. Miles made her mark on military history by becoming the first Black woman to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. Miles went on to a stellar career in business after ending her time with the U.S. Navy. Born in 1958 in Aiken, S.C., the 1976 Aiken High School graduate and honor student […]
Agbani Darego became the first native African to be crowned Miss World on this day in 2001. While other African nation-based models have won the coveted title, the women were not of African descent. Ms. Darego was born December 22, 1983 in Lagos State, Nigeria, as one of eight children. After the passing of her […]
