People, Locations, Episodes

Carl Braden, Trade Unionist, and Activist

*Carl Braden was born on this date in 1914. He was a white-American trade unionist, journalist, and activist. He was born in New Albany, Indiana. He worked for several newspapers in Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. His parents were Catholics, but his father had lost his faith and became an agnostic socialist. Carl’s father was […]

The Spingarn Medal Award is Established

The the Spingarn Medal was established on this day in 1914, one of the most prestigious annual awards given in African America.

Viola Desmond, Businesswoman born

*Viola Desmond was born on this date in 1914.  She was a Black Canadian businesswoman and activist. Viola Desmond (née Davis) was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the tenth child of James Albert and Gwendoline Irene (née Johnson) Davis. Her parents were active in the black community in Halifax. As a teenager, Desmond noted the absence […]

The UNIA-ACL is Formed

*On this date in 1914, The Universal Negro Improvement Association was formed, and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL).  This is an African American nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Mosiah Garvey.   The organization was founded to advance people of African ancestry around the world. Its motto is “One God! One Aim! One Destiny!” Its slogan was “Africa for the Africans, at home […]

Mary Fair Burks, Scholar, and Activist born

*Mary Fair Burks was born on this date in 1914. She was a Black educator, scholar, and activist. She was the daughter of Gustavus “Gus” Samuel and Ollie (née Williams) Fair. She attended Alabama State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English literature in 1933, and Michigan State University, where she earned a Master […]

James Jackson Jr., Teacher, and Unionist born

*James Jackson Jr. was born on this date in 1914.  He was a Black union leader, activist, tactician, teacher, writer, and humanist.    James Jackson Jr. was born in Richmond, Va. The son of James Jackson Sr. and Clara Kersey.  He was the middle child of two sisters, and two other siblings died in infancy.  […]

Cleveland Robinson, Union Activist born

*Cleveland Robinson was born on this date in 1914. He was a Black labor organizer and civil rights activist. Cleveland Lowellyn “Cleve” Robinson was born in Swabys Hope in Manchester, Jamaica. After serving as a local constable and an elementary school teacher, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1944. Robinson worked in a Manhattan dry goods […]

C. L. Franklin, Minister born

*C. L. Franklin was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black Baptist minister and civil rights activist. He was born Clarence LaVaughn Walker in Bolivar County, Mississippi, to sharecroppers Willie and Rachel (née Pittman) Walker. C.L. Franklin would recall that the only thing his father did for him was to teach him to salute […]

Claude Cargill, Community Activist born

*Claude Cargill was born on this date in 1915. He was a Black policeman and community activist. He was born in Harlem, New York City, the last of eight children. His lifelong love of young people came from one of the earliest Black New York City policemen. He organized and coached Police Athletic League basketball […]

William White III, Composer, and Activist born

*Bill White, III was born on this date in 1915. He was an African Canadian composer and social justice activist.

William Andrew (Bill) White, III., O.C. was the son of a Baptist minister, the brother of famed Canadian concert singer Portia White, labor union leader Jack White, and television performer Lorne White. He was the father of software designer W. Romney White, folk musician Chris White, Toronto physician Laurie White, social activist and politician Sheila White and professional musician Tim White.

Claudia Jones, Pan-African Nationalist born

*Claudia Jones was born on this date in 1915. She was a Black Caribbean journalist and activist. Born Claudia Vera Cumberbatch, she was from Trinidad.   When she was nine, her family emigrated to New York City following the post-war cocoa price crash in Trinidad. Her mother died five years later, and her father eventually […]

Grace Lee Boggs born

*Grace Lee Boggs was born on this date in 1915. She was an Asian-American author, radical justice and social activist, philosopher, and feminist. Boggs was born in Providence, Rhode Island, above her father’s restaurant. Her Chinese given name was Yu Ping, meaning “Jade Peace.” She was the daughter of Chin Lee, originally from Toishan in […]

Hallie Almena Lomax, Journalist and Activist born.

*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 […]

Lee Lorch, Math Professor, and Activist born

*Lee Lorch was born on this date in 1915.  He was a white Jewish-American mathematician, American Civil Rights activist, professor, and communist.  Lee Alexander Lorch was born in New York City to Adolph Lorch and Florence Mayer Lorch. He graduated from Cornell University in 1935 and obtained his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Cincinnati […]

A. P. Mda, Lawyer and Activist born.

*Ashby Solomzi Peter Mda was born on this date in 1916. He was a Black African teacher, lawyer, and political activist. Also known as A. P. Mda, Peter Mda was born in the Herschel District of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. He was given the name “Ashby” as he was born on Ash Wednesday. He […]