*Simeon Booker was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black journalist. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the second of four children born to Simeon Saunders Booker, Sr., and his wife, Roberta. When he was five years old, he moved with his family to Youngstown, Ohio, where his father opened a YMCA […]
learn more*On this date in 1919, The Chicago Race Riot occurred. This was a week-long violent American racial conflict provoked by whites against blacks. It began on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, until August 3, 1919. During the riot, thirty-eight people died (23 black and 15 white). Over the week, injuries attributed to the episodic confrontations stood at 537, with two-thirds of the injured […]
learn more*Norman Lear was born on this date in 1922. He was a white Jewish-American screenwriter, producer, and progressive activist. Norman Milton Lear was from New Haven, Connecticut; his parents were Jeanette (née Seicol) and Hyman “Herman” Lear, a traveling salesman. He had a younger sister, Claire Lear Brown. Both parents were of Russian-Jewish descent. When Lear […]
learn more*”Kippie” Moeketsi was born on this date in 1925. He was a South African jazz musician, notable as an alto saxophonist. Born into a musical Johannesburg family, Jeremiah Morolong Moeketsi was the youngest of 11 brothers, and one sister who was a nurse, all but four of whom played an instrument. Growing up in George […]
learn more*John Seigenthaler was born on this date in 1927. He was a White American journalist and civil rights activist.
learn more*Harvey Fuqua was born on this date in 1929. He was a Black singer and composer. Born in Louisville, KY, Harvey Fuqua (the nephew of Charlie Fuqua of the Ink Spots) started the Moonglows with lead singer and fellow Louisville native Bobby Lester, Alexander Graves, and Prentiss Barnes. They were mentored by rock & roll […]
learn moreOn this date, we explore African American women and professional basketball. The game of basketball had been created in 1891 and Black men entered the ranks of professional players (the NBA) in the 1950s.
learn more*Maya Rudolph was born on this date in 1972. She is a Black actress, comedian, and singer. Maya Khabira Rudolph was born in Gainesville, Florida, to singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph. Her mother was black, and her father is white-Ashkenazi Jewish. Her paternal grandfather was Sidney Rudolph, a philanthropist who once owned all […]
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