*Hallie Almena Lomax was born on July 23, 1915. She was a Black journalist and activist. Hallie Almena Davis was born in Galveston, Texas. Her parents, Clifford and Geneva Davis, moved the family to Chicago and Los Angeles, where she graduated from Jordan High School in the Watts neighborhood. She briefly studied journalism at Los […]
learn more*On February 13, 1941, the first issue of the Los Angeles Tribune was published. Almena Lomax, a civil rights activist, published this newspaper between 1941 and 1960, principally for the African American residents of Los Angeles. The paper was known for its “fearless reporting,” including articles about racism in the Los Angeles Police Department. Erna […]
learn more*Erna P. Harris was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black journalist, businesswoman, and activist. Erna Prather Harris was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, to Frances A. “Frankie” and James E. Harris. Her father was a postman. As an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, he influenced his daughter’s later activism. Unlike most men in […]
learn more*Mary Hayes Allen was born on this date in 1875. She was a Black educator, administrator, and activist. Mary Magdalene Rice was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She was the illegitimate daughter of former slave Malinda Rice and a white former Confederate general, John R. Jones. She attended Hartshorn Memorial College. In 1895, she married educator […]
learn more*Gregory W. Hayes was born on this date in 1865. He was a Black education administrator and activist. Gregory Willis Hayes was born in Alameda County, Virginia, and graduated from Oberlin College. In 1891, he became the second president of the Virginia Seminary, which he led until he died. His wife, Mary Rice Hayes Allen, […]
learn more*Melanie Lomax was born on this date in 1950. She was a Black civil rights lawyer and former head of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Melanie Elizabeth Lomax was the daughter of Lucius W. Lomax, Jr., an attorney, and Hallie Almena Davis Lomax, a civil rights activist and editor of the Los Angeles […]
learn more*The birth of Fani Willis is celebrated on March 1, 1971. She is a Black attorney, judge, and prosecutor. Fani Taifa Willis was born in Inglewood, California. Her father was a member of the Black Panthers and a criminal defense attorney. When Willis was in the first grade, her family moved to Washington, D.C. Her parents divorced, […]
learn more*Clara Stanton Jones was born on this date in 1913. She was a Black librarian and administrator. Clara Stanton was born to a close-knit Catholic family in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Etta J. Stanton, worked as a schoolteacher. Her father, Ralph Herbert Stanton, was a Standard Life Insurance and the Atlanta Life Insurance Company […]
learn more*Florence Read was born on this date in 1885. She was a white-American college president. From Delevan, New York, Florence Matilda Read was the daughter of William Ervin Read and Cornelia Minerva Waldo; she had a brother Harry. Read received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1909 and served as alumnae secretary. In 1911, […]
learn more*On this date in 2023, Super Bowl LVII marked the first time both teams started Black quarterbacks. Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles played against Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. In 1988, Washington’s Doug Williams became the first Black quarterback to start — and win — a Super Bowl. Williams was the MVP of the game after […]
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