*The African Jazz-Art Society & Studio (AJASS) was formed on this date in 1956. It was initially called the Jazz-Art Society and later remained the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios. The organizers were young African American artists, designers, musicians, hairdressers, writers, and jazz enthusiasts. Elombe Brath, Kwame Brathwaite, Robert Gumbs, Afrank Adu, Chris Acemandese Hall, […]
learn more*Chi-Chi Nwanoku was born on this date in 1956. She is a Black British double bassist and Historical Double Bass Studies professor. Chinyere Adah “Chi-Chi” Nwanoku was born in Fulham, London, and is of Nigerian and Irish descent. She is the oldest of her parents’ five children, Dr. Michael Nwanoku and his wife Margaret (née […]
learn more*Lottie Gee was born on this date in 1886. She was a Black dancer and singer who performed in shows and musicals during the Harlem Renaissance. Charlotte O. ‘Lottie’ Gee was born in Millboro, Virginia. Initially a dancer in Aida Overton Walker’s shows, she appeared in The Red Moon in 1904 and later toured the […]
learn more*Ford Dabney was born on March 15, 1883. He was a Black ragtime pianist, composer, songwriter, and band director. Ford Thompson Dabney was from Washington, D.C., and was the son of John Wendell Dabney. He attended the business education division of M Street High School and Dunbar High School) grades nine through eleven. Dabney then […]
learn more*G. Caliman Coxe was born on May 7,1907. He was a Black artist and educator. Gloucester Caliman Coxe was a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and moved to Louisville, KY. in 1924. In his 40s, he entered the University of Louisville to study art. He was the first African American to receive a Hite art scholarship […]
learn more*Elvera “Baby” Sanchez Davis was born on September 1, 1905. She was an Afro Cuban American dancer. Elvera Sanchez was born in New York City to Afro Cuban immigrants Luisa Valentina and Marco Sánchez, a cigar maker. She began her career as a chorus-line dancer at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem in 1921. She became […]
learn more*Will Mastin was born on this date in 1878. He was a Black dancer and singer. According to the 1880 Federal Census of Enumeration and the California Death Index, Mastin was born in Madison, Alabama, to a single mother named Sally Mastin. As a vaudeville and television act, Mastin led the Will Mastin Trio. The […]
learn more*Jerry Pinkney was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black artist, illustrator, writer, and teacher of children’s literature. Jerry Pinkney was born in Philadelphia, PA. His parents were Williemae and James Pinkney; he was the middle child of five siblings. Pinkney struggled in school due to dyslexia but excelled at drawing, even […]
learn more*Samuel Davis Sr., born on this date in 1900, was a Black dancer. Samuel George Davis Sr. was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Rosa B. Taylor and Robert Davis. He and his former wife, Elvera Sanchez, danced in a vaudeville troupe. The couple separated when their son Sammy Jr. was three. Davis took custody […]
learn moreSean Garrison is an artist. In this segment, he shares two areas he feels the African American community should focus more on.
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