Little Known Black History Facts
Clarence E. Huntley Jr. & Joseph Shambrey, who both served as part of the elite all-Black Tuskegee Airmen force, died this past Sunday at their Los Angeles homes. Lifelong friends who enlisted into the Army Air Force together, Huntley (pictured) and Shambrey were both 91. Huntley and Shambrey were both air mechanics for the […]
Madeline Manning-Mims made waves as a standout Track and Field athlete at Tennessee State University and at the three Summer Olympic games. However, her post Olympic career as a sports chaplain has combined her love of God and sports while empowering athletes on their walks of faith. Manning-Mims was born January 11, 1948 and […]
Earl G. Graves, Sr., the founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, celebrates his 80th birthday today. With the success of his magazine and other business endeavors, Graves will go down in history as one of the most savvy executives of all time. Born in Brooklyn and raised in the borough’s Bed-Stuy section in 1935, […]
Darnell Martin is the first African-American woman to direct a film backed by a major studio. While Ms. Martin has downplayed the distinction in the past, she has gone on to an active career on the small screen while scoring some big screen projects as well. Martin was born January 7, 1964 in the […]
Charlayne Hunter-Gualt and Hamilton E. Holmes were civil right trailblazers who were at the center of integrating the University of Georgia. The pair were the first Black students admitted at the school on this day in 1961, after launching a lawsuit with the assistance of the NAACP. Hunter and Holmes were top students at […]
On New Year’s Eve in 1922, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Gainesville Florida, not far from the small, mostly Black town of Rosewood. That year, a white schoolteacher in a nearby town was murdered, allegedly by a Black man. The event simmered in the mind of white citizens who lived near […]
DeBoraha Akin-Townson is carrying on the tradition of the rodeo, which has deep roots among many Black and Native American people in the Midwest and South. Ms. Akin-Townson made history in 1990 by becoming the first Black cowgirl to compete in the International Professional Rodeo Finals in 1990. Akin-Townson, 56, is a native of […]
Beverly Loraine Greene is thought to be by most historical accounts as the first African-American woman to be registered as an architect in the United States. Greene’s designs have been used to erect buildings at New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the UNESCO United Nations headquarters in Paris, France. Greene was born October […]
The celebration of Kwanzaa has been a practice in African-American households since the ’60’s, building a bridge of connection between Black Americans and the homeland of Africa. Created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1965, the week-long celebration begins on this day and promotes a daily principle as part of the practice. Dr. Karenga says […]
Christmas-themed Hip-Hop songs have been around since the late ’70’s when Kurtis Blow dropped his “Christmas Rappin'” single in 1979. That paved the way for other songs of the same ilk, including Run-D.M.C.’s classic “Christmas In Hollis” track. Blow released his holiday single ahead of getting signed to Mercury Records. The Harlem rapper was […]
Philadelphia woman Marion Stokes had what friends thought was an eccentric hobby of videotaping local and cable news programs. Thanks to her dedication to taping, future generations will now be able to see news broadcasts that might have been lost forever. Stokes, a former librarian, began taping the news in 1977 and continued this […]
Olympic high jumper and track and field legend Charles Austin celebrates a birthday today. Austin is the current American and Olympic record holder in the high jump category and a two-time world champion. Born in 1967 in Bay City, Texas, Austin was raised in the town of Van Vleck as the youngest of 10 […]
