Today’s NBA features a bevy of African-American superstars as the sport has far evolved beyond its predominantly white past. During the 1950-51 season, a quartet of Black players broke the color lines, paving the way for the future of the league. Chuck Cooper (pictured) was the first Black player drafted into the NBA, selected first […]
Ohio, often referred to as the birthplace of aviation, has battled with North Carolina over that distinction for many years. But there’s no debate that pioneering aviator Lonnie Carmon was the first African-American to fly in Central Ohio in an aircraft he built from scratch. According to accounts from Carmon’s family and several historical societies, […]
The late Ann Petry holds the distinction of being the first Black woman writer to sell over 1 million copies of a book. Her 1946 bestseller, The Street, focused on a single mother living on 116th Street in Harlem and was inspired by her time living in the famed New York borough. Petry was born Anna […]
She may not be as familiar a name as other pioneers in women’s basketball, like former L.A. Sparks star Lisa Leslie or former WNBA star and University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley. But Lusia Harris helped paved the way for them and for the WNBA, which just recently signed a new collective […]
Racing champion Willy T. Ribbs is a rarity in the world of auto racing as very few African-Americans have been embraced as race car drivers. Despite the odds, Ribbs made history not once, but twice, on the race track. On May 19, 1991, Ribbs became the first Black race car driver to qualify for Indianapolis […]
Langston Hughes was a literary giant who found fame during the rise of Black art and culture known widely as the Harlem Renaissance. As a leader of that movement, Hughes’ legacy is set, but his work transcends the period. The legendary poet’s 118th birthday just passed. Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, […]
The so-called “Fayetteville Murders” that occurred near Fort Bragg in North Carolina exposed an ugly undercurrent of racism in the nation’s military. Michael James and Jackie Burden were senselessly gunned down by a trio of white soldiers as they walked down a dirt road in Fayetteville. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER: The incident took place […]
The presence of interracial romantic relationships on television today have happened frequently enough that they’re no longer hot topics. For “Star Trek,” however, the cult classic sci-fi show featured American television’s first interracial kiss in 1968, which was a racially turbulent time for the country. The NBC series aired the “Plato’s Stepchildren” episode on November […]
Dr. Angela Davis remains one of the historic figures of the Black Power and civil rights movements. Although Dr. Davis transitioned from a revolutionary figure to an academic, she has remained true to her politics and aims for social justice. Davis was born January 26th, 1944 in Birmingham, Ala. Raised in the deep South, Davis […]
Shaw University is the first college for African-Americans established in the Southern United States, and the oldest HBCU in the region. It is also one of the nation’s oldest learning institutions. Shaw, which is located in Raleigh, N.C. was founded by Baptist minister Henry Martin Tupper, who worked with the American Baptist Home Mission Society. […]
Jeremiah G. Hamilton, the so-called “Prince of Darkness,” was a powerful Wall Street broker and considered its first Black millionaire. Hamilton used questionable tactics to amass his considerable wealth and was reportedly despised by both Black and White businessmen. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER: Hamilton was born either in the Caribbean Islands or Richmond, Va. […]
Cheryl Mills made headlines this week in 1999 when she addressed the U.S. Senate during President Bill Clinton’s explosive impeachment trial. Mills, a young attorney at the time, also made history by becoming the first Black person to address the Senate during an impeachment hearing. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER: Mills, born in 1965, was […]
