People, Locations, Episodes

Alan Keyes, Political Activist born

*Alan Keyes was born on this date in 1950. He is an African American politician and diplomat from the state of Maryland.

The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) is Formed

*On this date in 1950, the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was formed. This unit was a Ranger light infantry company of the United States Army active during the Korean War. As a small special operations unit, it specialized in irregular warfare. It was a segregated unit; all its personnel, including its officers, were black.   The U.S. Army, which […]

Elijah Cummings, Baltimore Politician born

*Elijah Cummings was born on this date in 1951. He was a Black politician. Elijah Eugene Cummings was from Baltimore and was the son of Ruth Elma (née Cochran) and Robert Cummings. His parents were sharecroppers; he was the third of seven children. Cummings graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College High School in 1969. He later attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where […]

Sharon Sayles Belton, Administrator born

Sharon Sayles-Belton was born on this date in 1951. She is an African American administrator, activist, and politician.

She was born in Minneapolis, one of four girls from the family of Bill and Ethel Sayles. She graduated from Central High School and from Macalester College in St. Paul in 1973. She then worked as a civil rights activist in Jackson, MS, returned to Minnesota, began working as a parole officer, and later served as the assistant director of the Minnesota Program for Victims of Sexual Assault. She also co-founded the Harriet Tubman Shelter for Battered Women.

Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian Politician born.

*Jean-Claude Duvalier was born on this date in 1951. Nicknamed ‘Baby Doc,’ he was a Black Haitian president. The son of Simone Ovide, a Mulatto-Haitian woman, and François Duvalier, a Black Nationalist anti-mulatto leader who became dictator of Haiti, Duvalier was born in Port-au-Prince and was brought up in an isolated environment. He attended Nouveau […]

James Perkins Jr., Politician born

*James Perkins Jr. is celebrated on this date in 1952.  He is a Black businessman, teacher, and politician.  James Perkins Jr. grew up in Selma, where his parents were elementary school principals and nurses.  He graduated in 1971 in the first racially integrated class at Selma High School; he organized an unsuccessful effort to use […]

Pamela Alexander, Lawyer, and Judge born

*Pamela G. Alexander was born on this date in 1952. She is an African American Judge, lawyer, administrator and community activist.

From Minneapolis, she is one of 5 children born to Robert and Francis Alexander. She has said that at the age of 12, her courtroom testimony in the rape of a friend was instrumental in her law career pursuit. After graduating from Minneapolis Central High School, she received her BA from Augsburg College in 1974. That same year she became a Law Clerk at the Neighborhood Justice Center and the Legal Rights Center.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Diplomat born

*Linda Thomas-Greenfield was born on this date in 1952. She is a Black educator, administrator, and diplomat. Thomas-Greenfield was born in Baker, Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in 1974 and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1975. Thomas-Greenfield taught political science at Bucknell […]

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Politician born

*Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born on this date in 1953. He is a former Black priest and politician.  Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born into poverty in Port-Salut, Sud, Haiti. His father died three months after he was born, and he later moved to Port-au-Prince with his mother. At the age of five, Aristide began school with priests […]

The Central African Federation is Established

*On this date in 1953, the Central African Federation, CAF, was established. This was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. For ten years, the Federation was established with a Governor-General as the British Queen’s representative […]

Karen Bass, Politician born

*Karen Bass was born on this date in 1953. She is a Black politician and social worker. Karen Ruth Bass was born in Los Angeles, California, and is the daughter of Wilhelmina and DeWitt Talmadge Bass. Her father was a postal letter carrier, and her mother was a homemaker. She was raised in the Venice […]

Mike Espy, Lawyer, and Administrator born

*Michael Espy was born on this date in 1953.  He is a Black lawyer and politician.    Alphonso Michael Espy was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi.  He is the grandson of Thomas J. Huddleston Sr., founder of the Afro-American Sons and Daughters. This fraternal society operated the Afro-American Hospital, a leading healthcare provider for Blacks […]

The First Major American City Office is Held by a Black Man

On this date in 1953, one of the first African American to hold a major city elective post was sworn in.

Hulan Jack was voted in as Manhattan Borough president.

David Paterson, Politician born

*David Paterson was born on this date in 1954. He is an African American politician. David Alexander Paterson was born in Brooklyn, NY to Portia and Basil Paterson.

Patrice Johnson, Policy Activist born

*Patrice Johnson was born on this date in 1954. She was an African American Lawyer, Political Chief of Staff and community activist.