Jesse Collins Named First Black Executive Producer Of Super Bowl Halftime Show

BET Holdings, Inc. the parent company of Black Entertainment Television sells 4.

BET Holdings, Inc. the parent company of Black Entertainment Television sells 4.2 million shares of stock in an initial public offering on the NYSE, BET is the first African American company listed on the Big Board.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Oct

30

1991

Herman Cain

Herman Cain is the retired businessman and lobbyist from Georgia who in 2011 ran for the Republican nomination for president. Herman Cain came to politics late in life, rising to prominence after a public debate in 1994 with President Bill Clinton over the presidents plan to reform health care. At

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

OJ Simpson sets NFL Record for Rushing Yards

O.J. Simpson set an NFL record of 2003 rushing yards in one season.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

16

1973

Akon

Akon is an American Hip Hop artist who has produced several platinum albums, appeared in television and film roles, received several Grammy nominations and owns two record labels. He was born Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam in St. Louis, Missouri on April

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Source: Black History Resources

Apr

16

1973

Donald, Arnold (1954- )

Arnold Donald is an American businessman and CEO of Carnival Corporation headquartered in Miami, Florida. He has held the position since 2013. Prior to this position, he was a senior executive at Monsanto in

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Source: Black Past

Lester Young

Lester Willis Young was a famous jazz saxophonist born in Woodville, Mississippi on August 27, 1909. He belonged to a musically accomplished family. His father was a teacher who taught Young to play the trumpet, violin, drums and the saxophone, and his brother was a drummer. The family relocated to

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Source: Black History Resources

Dec

13

1940

Michael Vick

Vick wears uniform number 7… He throws left-handed, but is otherwise right-handed… A 2005 lawsuit was filed against Vick by a woman who alleged he had given her a sexually transmitted disease in 2003. The case was settled out of court a year later. In papers filed with the court, the woman claimed

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Oscar Peterson

Best Known

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Shirley, George Irving (1934- )

George Shirley is an educator, lecturer, and internationally acclaimed tenor whose leading roles in 28 operas with the Metropolitan Opera (“Met”) for 11 seasons helped push open doors on operatic stages for many African American tenors. In 1956 Shirley became the first African American

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Source: Black Past

Jun

24

1956

Robert Guillaume wins an Emmy for best actor in a comedy series for Soap

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Sep

9

1979

WGPR-TV (1975–1995)

WGPR-TV (Where God’s Presence Radiates) was the first television station in the United States owned and operated by African Americans. The station, located in Detroit, Michigan, was founded by William Venoid Banks. WGPR-TV marketed toward the urban audience in Detroit, Michigan, which in that

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Source: Black Past

Cosby, Bill

Cosby, Bill (William Henry Cosby, Jr.) kŏz´bē [key], 1937–, American actor and comedian, b. Philadelphia. He became known as a comedian and was subsequently the first African-American actor to star in a dramatic series on television ( I Spy, 1965–68). He has since starred in several television

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Rhodes, J. Steven (1951- )

J. Steven Rhodes, U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 29, 1951. After graduating from high school he attended Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California where he was a member of the LMU 1969 Hall of Fame football

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Source: Black Past

Derek Jeter

Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball star who plays for the Yankees. He was born on June 26, 1974, in Pequannok, New Jersey to mixed race parents. His father is African American and worked as a drug abuse counselor whereas his mother is of German and Irish descent. His parents gave him

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Source: Black History Resources

Jun

26

1974

1907 Civil rights activist and politician Grace Towns Hamilton was born inAt

1907 Civil rights activist and politician Grace Towns Hamilton was born in

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

10

1907

Elba, Idrissa Akuna “Idris” (1972– )

Idrissa Akuna “Idris” Elba is a British actor best known for his roles in The Wire and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. He has been nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in miniseries or Television Film which he won one and was nominated five times for a Primetime

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Source: Black Past

Sep

6

1972

Battle, Kathleen (1948- )

American soprano Kathleen Battle was born on August 13, 1948 in Portsmouth, Ohio. Battle’s father was a steelworker and her mother was an active participant in the gospel choir at the family’s local African Methodist Episcopal Church. Battle attended Portsmouth High School and upon graduation was

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Source: Black Past

Aug

13

1948

Andey Rooney suspended for racist comments

Andy Rooney, a CBS 60 Minutes commentator, received a 90-day suspension from work because of racist remarks about African Americans attributed to him by Chris Bull, a New York-based reporter for The Advocate, a bi-weekly national gay & lesbian newsmagazine published in Los Angeles. Bull quoted

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

8

1990

Andrew Young

Andrew Young (born on the 12th of March, 1932) is an American activist, former pastor and diplomat from Georgia. Andrew Young served as Mayor of Atlanta, the US ambassador to the UN and as a congressman from the 5th congressional district from Georgia. Young was also a member of the Southern

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Source: Black History Resources

Jones, Bill T. (1952- )

Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Dancer/Choreographer of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was born on February 15, 1952 in Bunnell, Florida. Jones’ prolific career as a choreographer has brought him international acclaim. Awards include: 2007 Tony Award for his choreography in

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Source: Black Past

Feb

15

1952

First Black Major League Umpire

Emmett Ashford became the first Black major league umpire.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

11

1966

I Believe I Can Fly

R. Kellys hit single I Believe I Can Fly win Best Male R&B Vocal, Best Song Written for TV or a Movie and Best R&B Song Grammy Awards.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

25

1998

Beyoncé

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles Carter is a hip hop and R&B singer, songwriter and actress who is currently one of the most successful recording artists in the music industry. She was born in Houston, Texas to Tina and Mathew Knowles on September 4, 1981. She was interested in music from a very young

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Source: Black History Resources

Sep

4

1981

Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin was an important figure in the civil rights movement. She was born on September 5, 1939. At birth, she was adopted by C. P. Colvin and Mary Anne Colvin, who lived in a poor neighborhood in Montgomery, Alabama. This was a time of intense racial divide, and Colvin was a victim of it

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Source: Black History Resources

Mar

2

1955

Diana Ross

Born: 3/26/1944 Detroit, MichiganAs an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Born and raised in Detroit, she rose to fame as a founding member and lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, which, during the 1960s, became Motowns most successful act and is to this day Americas

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Top 10 Most Famous Black Actors of All Time

Hollywood is a giant industry which provides work to hundreds of actors. At the advent of this industry only white actors ruled the silver screen and the blacks were given only minor roles. As the time progressed, blacks were given the voice in the society and eventually allowed white collar

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Source: Black History Resources

Baca, Susana (1944- )

Susana Baca, recording artist and the first Afro-Peruvian to sit as a Cabinet Minister, was born in 1944 in Chorrillos, a seaside district of Lima, Peru, to a working class family. Her father was a chauffeur and her mother worked as cook and laundress for upper class families. Baca began singing at

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Source: Black Past

The Blood of Entertainers: The Life and Times of Jimi Hendrix's Paternal Grandparents

In the following article, Janie L. Hendrix, President and CEO of Experience Hendrix and the younger sister of music legend Jimi Hendrix, reflects on the lives of their grandparents, Bertram Philander Ross Hendrix and Zenora Moore. Her article reminds us of the rich entertainment heritage dating

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Source: Black Past

Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He was born on July 30, 1961 in Augusta, Georgia to Hattie Bell and Laurence John Fishburne, Jr. His parents divorced when he was very young and he moved to Brooklyn, New York with his mother while visiting his father once

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

30

1961

Dinah Washington

Dinah Washington was a popular singer from the 1950s who sang jazz, blues, R&B and pop. Her birth name was Ruth Lee Jones. She was born on August 29, 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and moved to Chicago at a very young age. Her first exposure to music stemmed from the church, where she learned to

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Source: Black History Resources

Aug

29

1924

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