Little Known Black History Facts
HBO’s Boardwalk Empire has been a smash hit for the network, praised for its dramatic portrayal of Atlantic City in the Prohibition Era. In the program, Black characters play a prominent role in the intricate plot and are based on actual historical figures. Actor Michael K. Williams, known for his role on The Wire plays […]
The City of Philadelphia’s name roughly translates to “brotherly love” from Greek, giving way to its long-standing motto. Thanks to the efforts of pioneering broadcaster and host of Oldschool 100.3’s Dyana Williams, Philly is now known as “The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.” The roots of the expanded motto are hard to trace, […]
Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson was a dynamic figure in Baltimore, leading a charge in the city for equal rights for its Black citizens. Known to some as the “Mother of Freedom,” Mrs. Jackson’s fight against racism led the way for her descendants to add to her impressive legacy. Born on May 25, 1889 in Charm […]
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was a pioneering poet who captured the joys and pains of the African-American experience in her work. Ms. Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950, the first Black person to do so. Born June 7, 1917 in Topeka, Kan., Brooks and her family relocated to Chicago early on. Her mother […]
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was a standout tap dancer, actor and performer, and the best-known and highest-paid Black entertainer for much of the early half of the 20th Century. Mr. Robinson’s iconic legacy has remained intact, and this native son of Richmond, Va. has gone on to inspire other greats over the years. Born May 25, […]
Jeh Johnson is another of President Barack Obama’s high-profile African-American picks appointed to top positions in the presidential Cabinet. Johnson, who served as general counsel for former President Bill Clinton, was sworn in as the Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security in December 2013. He is the first Black person to assume the role. […]
Ursula M. Burns’ rise to as the first African-American woman to head a Fortune 500 company is inspiring. Though Burns was raised in a New York housing project, she made her way to the top of the business world and past the lowered expectations placed upon her. Burns was born September 20, 1958 to Panamanian […]
Clara Stanton Jones and her career as a top librarian was born early on when she was a young girl in her native St. Louis. Inspired by a love of reading and education, Jones was inspired by her family and a legendary civil rights pioneer on her way to become the first Black person to […]
Lynching, like many other instances of disparity before the turn of the 20th Century, affected Blacks far more than Whites. It was used to terrorize African-Americans accused of crimes, perceived slights or who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The National Afro-American Council, formed in 1898, was an organization devoted to […]
Sarah Louise “Sadie” Delany, and her sister Annie Elizabeth “Bessie” Delany, became internationally known after the Guinness Book of World Records recognized the sisters as the world’s oldest authors. The Delany Sisters were children of a former slave and used his example to forge careers in education and dentistry respectively. Sadie Delany, the oldest of […]
The “Little Rock Nine,” nine Black students who successfully integrated the all-White Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., remain a stellar example of the importance of standing up for what’s right. It took the determined efforts of this pioneering group and a presidential order to defy a sitting governor who refused to obey the […]
Michael B. Coleman achieved a major milestone this year. As the mayor of Columbus, Ohio in his 15th year, Coleman is the city’s longest-serving mayor and the longest-serving Black mayor in the country. Coleman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana but moved to the town of Toledo as a young boy. A graduate of both the […]
