*Dave Chappelle was born on this date in 1973. He is a Black stand-up comedian and actor. David Khari Webber Chappelle was born in Washington, D.C. His father, William David Chappelle III, was a professor of vocal performance and the dean of students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. His mother, Yvonne Seon, worked […]
learn more*Orson Welles was born on this date in 1915. He was a white-American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. George Orson Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was the son of Richard Head Welles and Beatrice Ives Welles. His parents separated and moved to Chicago in 1919. His father, who made a fortune as an […]
learn more*Louis Gossett was born on this date in 1936. He is a Black actor. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. was born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, to Hellen Rebecca Wray, a nurse, and Louis Gossett Sr., a Pulman porter. He is an alumnus of Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 and Abraham Lincoln High School. […]
learn more*Richard E. Norman was born on this date in 1891. He was a white-American filmmaker. From Middleburg, Florida, he was the son of Ricard and Katheryn Bruce Norman. Richard Edward Norman started his film career in the Midwest, making movies for white audiences in the 1910s. His early work was a series of “home talent” […]
learn more*Trevor Noah was born on this date in 1984. He is a Black South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Trevor Noah was born in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. His father, Robert, is of Swiss-German ancestry, and his mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is a Black Xhosa woman. Under apartheid legislation, Noah […]
learn more*Fred Hickman was born on this date in 1956. He was a Black sports broadcaster, anchor, and managing editor for the evening newscast. Frederick Hickman was born in Springfield, Illinois, to George Henry and Louise Winifred Hickman. He graduated from Springfield Southeast High School in 1974, then earned a B.S. in sociology at Coe College […]
learn more*Suzanne De Passe was born on this date in 1946. She is a Black media entrepreneur. De Passe was born in New York City to a Harlem-born mother of Jamaican descent and a father of Haitian and French descent. Raised in Harlem, she attended Manhattan High School and later Syracuse University. De Passe began her […]
learn more*Blackface in America is affirmed on this date in 1441. Blackface is a form of theatrical or media makeup. It is used mainly by white performers to portray a caricature of a black person of African descent. There is no agreement about a single moment that constitutes the origin of blackface. The journalist and cultural […]
learn more*The Hollywood Victory Committee Negro Division was created on this date in 1941. Chaired by Hattie McDaniel, this was a Black subcommittee of the white Hollywood Victory Committee. Both committees were associated with the Screen Actors Guild to support American troops during World War II. It provided a means for stage, screen, television, and radio performers […]
learn more*Robert E. Jones was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black actor and professional boxer. Robert Earl Jones was born in n Senatobia, or Coldwater, Mississippi, the son of Robert and Elnora Jones. He left school early to work as a sharecropper to help his family. Jones later became a prizefighter. Under the name […]
learn more
