*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 […]
learn more*Tim Reid was born on this date in 1944. He is a Black actor, film director, and media philanthropist. Timothy Lee Reid was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in the Crestwood area of Chesapeake, Virginia, formerly Norfolk County, Virginia. He is the son of William Lee and Augustine (née Wilkins) Reid. He earned his […]
learn more*John Witherspoon was born on this date in 1942. He was a Black actor and comedian. Born John Weatherspoon in Detroit, Michigan, he later changed his last name from Weatherspoon to Witherspoon. Witherspoon was one of 11 siblings; he had a passion for music and learned to play the trumpet and French horn. His elder […]
learn more*Marsha Warfield was born on born on this date in 1954. She is a Black Lesbian actress and comedian. Marsha Francine Warfield grew up on Chicago’s South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She received her big comic career break as a member of Richard Pryor’s TV sketch program in 1977. Warfield has appeared in feature films […]
learn more*Delroy Lindo was born on this date in 1952. He is a Black British-American actor. Delroy George Lindo was born in Lewisham, southeast London, the son of Jamaican parents who had immigrated to the United Kingdom. Lindo grew up in nearby Eltham and became interested in acting like a child when he appeared in a […]
learn more*Sheila Johnson was born on this date in 1949. She is a Black businesswoman and philanthropist. Johnson was born Sheila Crump in Chicago, Illinois, a suburb of Maywood. Her father was a neurosurgeon. Johnson attended Irving School in Maywood and graduated from Proviso High School in 1966. Though she was a member of the cheerleading […]
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