*Dolly Rathebe was born on this date in 1928. She was a Black South African musician, columnist, and actress. Dolly Rathebe was born in Randfontein, South Africa but grew up in Sophiatown, which she describes as having been “a wonderful place”. She was discovered around 1948 after singing at a picnic in Johannesburg. A talent […]
learn more*Jürgen Schadeberg was born on this date in 1931. He was a white German-born South African photographer and artist. Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1931 where he grew up during the Nazi regime and World War II. In the aftermath of the war, his mother began a relationship with a British officer in the […]
learn more*William Greaves was born on this date in 1926. He was a Black documentary filmmaker and a pioneer of African American filmmaking. William Greaves was born in Harlem in New York City. He was one of seven children of a taxi driver and minister Garfield Greaves and the former Emily Muir. After graduating from the […]
learn more*Antoine Fuqua was born on this date in 1966. He is a Black Filmmaker. A native of Pittsburgh, Fuqua studied engineering at West Virginia University before moving to New York in 1987 to direct music videos. After forming his own production company, Reel Power, he directed his debut short film ‘Exit.’ Fuqua’s debut feature film, […]
learn more*Tonya Williams was born on this date in 1958. She is a Black Canadian actress, producer, director, and media activist. Williams was born in London, England to Jamaican parents. She lived in London and Kingston, Jamaica as a young child. At age five, she contracted rheumatic fever; she and her mother then moved to Birmingham, […]
learn more*Ben Vereen was born on this date in 1946. He is a Black actor, dancer, and singer. Vereen was born Benjamin Augustus Middleton in Laurinburg, North Carolina. While still an infant, Vereen and his family relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. He was adopted by James Vereen, a paint factory worker, […]
learn more*Sylvia Robinson was born on this date in 1935. She was a Black singer and music producer. Born Sylvia Vanderpool in New York City, she made her first record when she was 14, backed by the veteran jazz trumpeter “Hot Lips” Page. By the time she enrolled at Washington Irving High School she was already […]
learn more*Amie Bramme Sey was born on this date in 1987. She is an Afro Swedish multi-media host and programmer. Ami-Miriam “Amie” Bramme Sey was born in Stockholm and grew up on Södermalm as the daughter of Maudo Sey and sister of the singers Seinabo Sey (half-sister) and Fatima Bramme Sey. She has studied at Södertörn […]
learn more*Nicki Minaj was born on this date in 1982. She is an Afro Caribbean rapper, singer-songwriter, and actress. Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty was born in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago and raised in Queens of New York City, she gained public recognition after releasing the mixtapes Playtime Is Over (2007), Sucka Free (2008), and Beam Me Up […]
learn more*Paul Mooney was born on this date in 1941. He was a Black comedian, writer, social critic, and actor. Born Paul Gladney in Shreveport, Louisiana, and moved to Oakland, California when he was seven years old. His parents were George Gladney and LaVoya Ealy. Mooney was raised by his grandmother Aimay Ealy, known among the […]
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