It has only been a mere 15 years since Phylicia Rashad made Tony Awards history. On June 6, 2004, she became the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her role in A Raisin In The Sun. Rashad, a native of Houston, Texas and a graduate […]
Playwright Abram Hill and actor Frederick O’Neal founded the American Negro Theater (ANT) on June 5, 1940, in Harlem. Originally a community theater group, the ANT trained a number of actors, including Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier, among others. Hill and O’Neal created the ANT with the help of other actors and colleagues from the […]
Roland G. Fryer became the youngest tenured African-American Harvard University professor at the age of 30 in 2007. The Lewisville, Texas native was born June 4, 1977 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Fryer was raised primarily in Lewisville and was a star athlete at Lewisville High School. Fryer gained an athletic scholarship to the University of […]
Jim Burch etched his name in the history books when he became the first Black referee to officiate a men’s basketball game in the Atlantic Coast Conference, best known as the ACC. The North Carolina native passed away last weekend and we look back at his six-decade career. Burch, who grew up for a time […]
Over the course of his career, the late Paul Winfield was a critically acclaimed actor who was just the third Black person nominated for an acting Oscar. The Los Angeles native was born on May 22, 1939. Winfield spent a portion of his youth in Portland, Oregon before returning to his hometown to complete high […]
Loretta Lynch made history in April 2015 when she was sworn in as the United States Attorney General, becoming the first Black woman to do so. The North Carolina native was born May 21, 1959. Lynch was born in the city of Greensboro, entering Harvard University after high school and earning a bachelor’s degree in […]
Harold Ford Sr. owns the distinction of being the first Black politician to represent the state of Tennessee for the U.S. Congress. The Memphis native was born May 20th, 1945. Ford was raised in the West Junction neighborhood in South Memphis. He followed in the footsteps of his undertaker father by joining the family business […]
Henry Saint Clair Fredricks, better known to the world as blues musician Taj Mahal, celebrates a birthday today. The Grammy Award-winning artist is primarily known for his work in the blues, but has also incorporated various elements of world music into his tunes. Fredricks was born in 1942 in Harlem, N.Y., and raised in Springfield, […]
The R&B world is in mourning after news that Chuck Barksdale, a founding member of The Dells, has died. The Dells dropped several hits with their smooth doo-wop vocals throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s. Barksdale was born January 11, 1935 in Chicago, Ill, and met the four other founding members of the group, Marvin Junior, […]
Mother’s Day is fast approaching this coming Sunday and families around the nation will honor the mothers in their lives with gifts and lots of love. A ‘70’s soul classic, “I’ll Always Love My Mama” from The Intruders embodies the admiration we have for our hard-working mothers. Philadelphia soul group The Intruders released “I’ll Always […]
Mary Lou Williams was a jazz pianist who performed with and arranged songs for several jazz legends in her time. The Atlanta-born, Pittsburgh-raised musician was born May 8, 1910. Mary Elfrieda Scruggs was known in her Pittsburgh neighborhood as a child prodigy, earning the nickname “The Little Piano Girl” while playing for some of the […]
Mary Mahoney made history by becoming the first Black woman to complete nursing training in America in 1879. The Boston, Mass. native was born May 7, 1845, although some sources state April 16 as her birthday. Mary Eliza Mahoney worked as a private-duty nurse at Boston’s New England Hospital for Women and Children for many […]
