*James Barnor was born on this date in 1929. He is a Black African photographer. Frederick Seton James Barnor was born in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. At 17, Barnor was teaching basket weaving at a missionary school, and the headmaster gave him a camera “to play around with––it was a Kodak Brownie 127, made of plastic”. […]
learn more*The Black People’s Convention (BPC) was formed on this date in 1972. This group was a national coordinating body for the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa. With the influence of the growing South African Students’ Organization (SASO), Black Consciousness leaders called for forming a new Black Consciousness political organization to engage and mobilize a broader civil society outside […]
learn more*Winnie Kgware was born on this date in 1917. She was a Black African teacher and anti-Apartheid activist. Winnie Motlalepula was born in Thaba Nchu in the Orange Free State of South Africa. Growing up, she encouraged youth to be active in political structures. Following her call, the youth formed a South African Student Movement branch and […]
learn more*Lucila Reyes was born on this date in 1936. She was an Afro Peruvian singer and personality. Born to a poor family in the capital, Lima, Lucila J. Sarsines Reyes was one of sixteen children. Her father, Tobias Sarsines, died after she turned six months old. Reyes spent much of her childhood living away from her immediate […]
learn more*The 7th Louisiana Regiment Infantry (African Descent) was formed on this date in 1863. This regiment was in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was first organized and was on duty in New Orleans, Louisiana, until August 6, 1863. In December 1863, it was organized in Memphis, Tennessee, Holly Springs, Mississippi, and […]
learn more*The Brownies’ Book publication is celebrated on this date in 1919. This was the first magazine published for African American children and youth in the United States. Three people created the magazine. Its editor was W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the founders of the NAACP, and its business manager was Augustus Granville Dill. The magazine’s […]
learn more*Peter Mokaba was born on this date in 1959. He was a Black African politician and activist. Peter Ramoshoane Mokaba was born in Mankweng near Polokwane (then Pietersburg), South Africa, where he did his primary and secondary education. His mother is Priscilla Mokaba. In 1982, he was convicted for a number of his underground activities […]
learn more*Thomas Sankara was born on this date in 1949. He was a Black African military officer, Marxist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist. Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was born in Yako, French Upper Volta, Burkina Faso, the third of ten children to Joseph and Marguerite Sankara. His father, a gendarme, was Mossi–Fulani, while his mother, Marguerite Kinda, was of […]
learn more*The birth of Lloyd Gaines is celebrated on this date in 1911. He was a Black law student and racial segregation plaintiff. Born in Water Valley, Mississippi, Lloyd Lionel Gaines moved with his mother and siblings to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1926 after the death of their father. Part of the Great Migration from rural communities in […]
learn more*Lloyd McDermott was born on this date in 1939. Also known as Mullenjaiwakka, he was an Aboriginal Australian lawyer and rugby union player. Born in Eidsvold, Queensland, Lloyd Clive McDermott had links to the Mununjali clan and the Wakka Wakka people. Lloyd McDermott’s academic and sporting prowess, the son of a farm laborer, won him a scholarship […]
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