*Samuel Jackson was born on this date in 1948. He is an African American actor and film producer. Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Elizabeth Harriett Montgomery and Roy Henry Jackson. He grew up as an only child in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His father lived away from the family in Kansas City, Missouri, and later died from alcoholism. Jackson […]
learn more*Donald Glover was born on this date in 1983. He is an African American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, musician, and DJ. He performs music under the stage name Childish Gambino and as a DJ under the name mcDJ. Donald McKinley Glover Jr. was born at Edwards Air Force Base, California and was raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia. His mother, Beverly Smith, […]
learn more*On this date in 1937, Robert Hooks was born. He is an African American actor, producer, and activist. The youngest of five children, Hooks was born in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C. His mother was Mae Bertha (Ward), a seamstress, and Edward Hooks who had moved from Rocky Mount, North Carolina with their four other children, Bernice, Caroleigh, Charles Edward “Charlie”, and James Walter “Jimmy”. […]
learn more*Reginald Cathey was born on this date in 1958. He was an African American actor. Reginald Eurias Cathey was born in Huntsville, Alabama, to Red Cathey, an Army colonel and his wife, who was a Department of Defense worker and an educator. He had a sister, Donza and he spent his childhood with his family on a rural farm in West Germany before returning to Alabama […]
learn more*On this date in 1903, Walter Roland was born. He was an African American blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, guitarist and singer. Roland was born in Ralph, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He started playing on the Birmingham blues circuit in the 1920s. A competent and versatile pianist, his range covered slow blues to upbeat, jaunty boogie-woogie numbers. He was also skilled as a guitar player and had a forceful singing […]
learn more*On this date in 1903, Tampa Red was born. He was an African American Chicago blues musician. Tampa Red was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia. His parents died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, Eddie, […]
learn moreActress, Author, Animal Advocate Pam Grier shares one of her favorite books and a second career
learn more*John Singleton was born on this date in 1968. He was an African American Film director. John Daniel Singleton was born in Los Angeles, the son of Sheila Ward-Johnson, a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and Danny Singleton, a real estate agent, mortgage broker, and financial planner. He attended Blair High School, Pasadena City College and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He […]
learn more*Evaristo Márquez was born on this date in 1939. He was an Afro-Colombian actor and herdsman. He was born in San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, the first free African village in the Americas by decree from the King of Spain in 1731. Before his involvement films he was a herdsman and illiterate. He is best known for his role as José Dolores in the […]
learn more*Willie Best was born on this date in 1916. sometimes known as Sleep n’ Eat, he was an African American television and film actor. A native of Sunflower, Mississippi, William “Willie” Bestcame to Hollywood, California as a chauffeur for a vacationing white couple. He decided to stay in the region and began his performing career with a traveling show in southern California. He was regularly employed […]
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