*Ytasha L. Womack’s birth is celebrated on January 22, 1965. She is a Black writer, filmmaker, and cultural critic. Womack was born and raised in Chicago. After graduating from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Womack attended Clark Atlanta University, where she received a bachelor’s in mass media arts. Womack continued her education at Columbia […]
learn more*Ebrahim Rasool was born on July 15, 1962. He is a Coloured South African politician and diplomat. Ebrahim Rasool was born in District Six, Cape Town, to a Muslim family of mixed English-Javanese-Dutch-Indian heritage. Since he was classified as Coloured by the apartheid system at nine years old, he and his family were forcefully evicted […]
learn more*Alondra Nelson was born on this date in 1968. She is a Black academic, policy advisor, nonprofit administrator, and writer. Raised in Southern California in 1994, Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science in anthropology from the University of California, San Diego. While there, she was an early leader in dialogue on Afrofuturism, was elected to […]
learn more*David Murray was born on February 19, 1955. He is a Black jazz saxophonist and composer. Since the mid-1970s, he has recorded prolifically for many record labels. David Keith Murray was born in Oakland, California, United States. He attended Pomona College for two years as a member of the class of 1977 and received an […]
learn more*Black history and Afrofuturism are affirmed on this date in 1993. Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. Through techno culture and hypothetical fiction, it includes a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning Black […]
learn more*Cheryl White was born on this date in 1953. She was a Black horse jockey and trainer. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, White grew up around the horse industry. Her mother, Doris, owned horses, and her father, Raymond, was a successful owner and trainer. As a jockey, White won five early races aboard horses owned by […]
learn more*Lorraine O’Grady was born on this date in 1934. She is a Black artist, writer, translator, and critic. Life and work O’Grady was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Jamaican parents Edwin and Lena O’Grady, who helped establish St. Cyprian’s, the first West Indian Episcopal church in Boston. Attracted to the form and aesthetics of the […]
learn more*On this date in 1910, ‘The Revolt of the Lash’ occurred. This was a naval mutiny in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the beginning of the 20th century, Brazil attempted to transform its country into an international power by modernizing the Brazilian Navy. Social conditions gave Elite white officers oversight, primarily Black and mixed-race crew members. […]
learn more*Ruy Barbosa, also known as Rui Barbosa, was born on this date in 1849. He was a Brazilian diplomat, writer, jurist, and politician. Rui Barbosa de Oliveira de Oliveira was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He gave his first public speech for the abolition of slavery when he was 19. For the rest of his life, he […]
learn more*Fanny Ellison was born on this date in 1911. She was a Black editor, writer, and literary activist. Born Fannie Mae McConnell in Louisville, Kentucky, she was the daughter of Ulysses McConnell and Willie Mae Brock. Her parents divorced when she was a year old, and her mother took her to Pueblo and Denver, Colorado. […]
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