People, Locations, Episodes

Mickey Leland, Politician born

“Mickey” Leland was born this date in 1944. He was an African American politician and activist.

Born in Lubbock, Texas, George Thomas “Mickey” Leland grew up in Houston. In 1970, he received a B.S. in pharmacy from Texas Southern University and was an instructor of clinical pharmacy at the same school. He also was involved in the civil rights movement while he was a student.

Harold Ford Sr., Politician born

*Harold Ford Sr. was born on this date in 1945. He is a Black politician and lobbyist. Harold Eugene Ford Sr. grew up on Horn Lake Road in the West Junction neighborhood of South Memphis. He is the eighth of fifteen children born to Newton, Jackson Ford, and Vera (Davis) Ford, prominent African American community […]

Graça Machel, Policy Humanitarian born.

*Graça Machel was born on this date in 1945. She is a Black Mozambican politician and humanitarian. Graça Sembène was born 17 days after her father’s death, the youngest of six children, in rural Incadine, Gaza Province (modern-day Mozambique). She attended Methodist mission schools before gaining a scholarship to the University of Lisbon in Portugal, […]

Bobby Rush, Politician born

*Bobby Rush was born on this date in 1946. He is a Black politician, activist, and pastor. Bobby Lee Rush was born in Albany, Georgia. When He was seven years old, his parents separated, and his mother took him and his siblings to Chicago, Illinois. In 1963, Rush dropped out of high school and joined […]

Jerry Rawlings, Soldier and Politician born.

*Jerry Rawlings was born on this date in 1947. He was a Black Ghanaian military officer, aviator, and politician. Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra, Ghana, to Victoria Agbotui, an Anlo Ewe from Dzelukope, Keta, and James Ramsey John, a British chemist from Scotland. His father never lived with him and his mother and […]

Alexis Herman, Politician and Administrator born

*Alexis Herman was born this date in 1947. She is an African American administrator, and politician.

The United Gold Coast Convention is Formed

*The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was formed on this date in 1947. The UGCC was a political party that aimed to bring about Ghanaian independence from its British colonizers after the Second World War. In the 1940s, African merchants, like George Alfred Grant and Joseph Danquah, wanted to finance a political movement to ensure their […]

Carole Moseley Braun, Politician born

*Carol Moseley Braun was born on this date in 1947. She is a Black diplomat, politician, and lawyer.  Carol Elizabeth Moseley was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Joseph J. Moseley, was a Chicago police officer and jail guard; her mother, Edna A. (Davie), was a medical technician in a hospital. Both her parents were […]

Mamphela Ramphele, Academic, and Activist born

*Mamphela Ramphele was born on this date in 1947. She is a Black South African activist, doctor, academic, and businesswoman. Mamphela Aletta Ramphele was born in the Bochum District in Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo, South Africa. Her mother, Rangoato Rahab, and her father, Pitsi Eliphaz Ramphele, were primary school teachers. In 1955, Ramphele witnessed a conflict […]

Bennie Thompson, Politician born

*Bennie Thompson was born on this date in 1948. He is a Black politician serving as the U.S. representative for Mississippi. His district includes most of Jackson and is the only majority-black district in the state. It is about 275 miles long and 180 miles wide, bordering the Mississippi River. The Mississippi Delta comprises most […]

Kweisi Mfume, Policy Advocate born

*Kweisi Mfume was born on this date in 1948. He is a former African American politician and current administrator, and activist.

William Dawson is Elected as America’s First Black Standing Committee Chairman

On this date in 1949, Rep. William L. Dawson of Illinois was elected chairman of House Expenditures Committee in Congress.

He was the first African American chairman of a standing congressional committee in the United States.

Sahle-Work Zewde, Diplomat born

*Sahle-Work Zewde was born on this date in 1950. She is an Ethiopian politician and diplomat.  Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sahle-Work attended elementary and secondary school at Lycée Guebre-Mariam, after which she studied natural science at the University of Montpellier, France. She is fluent in Amharic, French, and English. A veteran in the Ethiopian foreign […]

Melanie Lomax, Lawyer and Activist born.

*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 […]

David Duke, White Supremacist born.

*David Duke was born on this date in 1950. He is a white-American politician, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. David Ernest Duke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Maxine (née Crick) and David Hedger Duke, the younger of two children. As the son of an engineer for Shell Oil Company, Duke frequently moved with his family […]