Little Known Black History Facts
The story of Recy Taylor might not have known to many, but her memory was honored emphatically after Oprah Winfrey‘s rousing Golden Globes speech Sunday night. Taylor was a victim of a horrific kidnapping and sexual assault by a group of six white men who escaped justice simply due to the color of the skin. […]
Floyd Norman was the first Black animator hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, a legacy that will remain cemented in time. He was featured in a documentary, “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life” in 2016. LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM Norman was born June 22, 1935 in Santa Barbara, Calif., a far cry […]
The 2016 motion picture Hidden Figures starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae zeroed in on the lives of three dynamic Black women and their contribution to the Space Race. The real-life hidden figures, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, are not only linked by their time at NASA, but also the […]
The 1921 destruction of Tulsa, Okla.’s “Black Wall Street” district, also known as the “Tulsa Race Riot,” remains one of the most explosive racial incidents of the early 20th Century. Angry white rioters destroyed Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, then considered the most affluent all-Black district in the nation. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER: LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. […]
Barbara Hillary, the first Black woman to stand on both the North and South Poles, passed away last month. The famed explorer, speaker, and climate change activist was born June 12, 1931 in New York. Dear friends, Barbara Hillary has died. She was 88 and had suffered significant health decline in recent months. She […]
Suburbicon, a Hollywood film starring Matt Damon and directed by George Clooney, was partly inspired by real life events of the late ’50’s. William and Daisy Myers, a Black couple, moved to the all-white town of Levittown, Pennsylvania in August 1957 and endured months of harassment and racism before the state moved in to protect […]
Although historical accounts clash, Sarah Rector is believed to be America’s second black millionaire after Madam C.J. Walker, achieving that distinction as a teenager. Born on March 3, 1902 in the small town of Twine, Okla., Rector’s family were descendants of slaves and Creek Indians. While living on Creek Indian land, Rector’s parents Joseph and […]
Before there was Venus and Serena Williams, there were other Black female tennis stars who shined on the national spotlight. Many people know of Althea Gibson’s success as the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam tennis championship. But there were others, like Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil, who achieved success at the highest […]
While NFL fans enjoy the exploits of dynamic Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the man who blazed a path for him and other Black quarterbacks has been largely forgotten. His name is Marlin Briscoe and he has been acknowledged by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the first Black quarterback to start a professional […]
Scholar and historian Charles Blockson has become one of the foremost experts on Black history, culture and the Underground Railroad. He was born in Norristown, Pa.. on December 16, 1933. Blockson, the oldest of eight, was raised in Norristown by his parents, Annie and Charles Blockson. He became interested in African history from an early […]
Larry Doby may be best known for being the second Black player in major league baseball, and the first to integrate the American League, but he achieved far more. The Camden, S.C. native was born December 13th 1923. Doby, a multi-sport high school athlete in Paterson, N.J., began his pro baseball career with the Negro […]
Willie Mae Thornton, better known as Big Mama Thornton, was a blues singer and songwriter who was the first to sing the hit track, “Hound Dog,” made famous by Elvis Presley in the ‘50s. She was born December 11, 1926, just outside of Montgomery, Ala. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER: Thornton’s singing career began in […]
