RAW: Celebrating Eddie Murphy’s 63rd Birthday With Our Favorite & Funniest Performances Of His Career

(1952) Charlotta Bass, “Acceptance Speech for Vice Presidential Candidate of the Progressive Party”

Los Angeles newspaper owner and political activist Charlotta Bass began her career as a conservative Republican. By the 1940s, however, she moved to the political left. In 1948 she supported Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace in his failed bid for the Presidency. Four years later she was

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Source: Black Past

(1893) Ida B. Wells, “Lynch Law In All Its Phases,”

Home

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Source: Black Past

Martin Lawrence

Martin Lawrence is an American actor and comedian who has starred in numerous Hollywood hits. He was born on April 16, 1965 to John and Chlora Lawrence. John Lawrence was enlisted in the U.S. military and serving in Frankfurt, Germany at the time so Martin was born there. He was named after the

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Source: Black History Resources

Apr

16

1965

Gadsden, James I. (1948- )

In 2002, Ambassador James Irvin Gadsden, career diplomat, and educator, was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as ambassador to Iceland. Gadsden was born on March 12, 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina, to James who worked as a janitor and Hazel Gaines Gadsden who was a housewife and

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Source: Black Past

Mar

12

1948

Bill Cosby

Born William Henry “Bill Cosby” Jr. on July 12, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he describes himself mostly as a “class clown” during his school years. He was class president as well as captain of the basketball team at school. He acted in a number of school plays and in

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

12

1937

(1976) Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, “Who, Then, Will Speak for the Common Good?”

In 1972 Barbara Charline Jordan became the first black member of Congress elected from Texas. Two years later this freshman Representative became a national figure because of her prominent role as a member of the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment hearings of President Richard

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Source: Black Past

Missy Elliott

Missy Elliott is a multiple Grammy Award winning musician who is also known for her keen business acumen. She was born on July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia as Melissa Arnette Elliott. She had a very difficult childhood; her family was extremely poor, and her father Ronnie regularly abused her

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Source: Black History Resources

Jul

1

1971

Cosby, Bill (1937-- )

William Henry Cosby, Jr., one of Americas most influentialand successful entertainers, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on July 12,1937 to William Henry, a US Navy cook, and Anna Pearl Cosby, a maid. The family struggled financially, and a moveinto Philadelphias crime-ridden Richard Allen

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Source: Black Past

Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris born

Actor/Comedian Garrett Morris, formerly of Saturday Night Live, born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

1

1937

James Baldwin

James Baldwin established his reputation with his first novel, Go Tell It On The Mountain (1953), an autobiographical tale of growing up in Harlem. He became one of the leading African-American authors of his generation, known for novels and essays that tackled black-white and hetero-homosexual

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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

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

Iceberg Slim

Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins, Jr.;[1] August 4, 1918 – April 28, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was an American pimp who subsequently became an influential author among a primarily African-American readership. Becks novels were adapted into movies, and the imagery and

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Source: Black Past

Aug

4

1918

Cook, Suzan Denise Johnson (1957– )

Suzan Johnson Cook is a religious leader, pastor, motivational speaker, and diplomat who was born on January 28, 1957, in Harlem, New York. Her father, Wilbert Johnson, was a trolley driver and later founder of a successful security company, and her mother Dorothy Johnson, was a public school

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Source: Black Past

May

16

2011

The Bernie Mac Show

The Bernie Mac Show (often shortened to Bernie Mac in syndication) is an American sitcom that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001, to April 14, 2006. The series featured comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sisters three kids: Jordan, Vanessa, and

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Source: BlackHistory.com

James, Makila (1957- )

Makila James is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland. James was nominated by President Barack Obama early in 2012. Following confirmation by the U.S. Senate on July 31, 2012, James arrived in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland and presented her credentials to the King of Swaziland

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Source: Black Past

Roy Wilkins

Born: 8/30/1901 St. Louis, MissouriDied: 9/8/1981 New York City, New YorkRoy Wilkins was a prominent civil rights activist in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins most notable role was in his leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.Business

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Kathleen Battle, operatic soprano

1948 : Kathleen Battle, operatic soprano, winner of Grammy awards in 1987 and 1988, born

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Aug

13

1948

Phi Beta Sigma

FoundedJanuary 9, 1914; 103 years ago

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Source: BlackHistory.com

Martin Lawrence

Martin Lawrence took his stand-up comedy act and turned it into the hit TV show Martin from 1992-1997. In addition to the title role, Lawrence portrayed several different characters. The success of the series helped launch Lawrence on a career that has included comedy albums and several

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Ida B. Wells

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931), more commonly known as Ida B. Wells, was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, feminist,[1] Georgist,[2] and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of the founders of the National

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Source: BlackHistory.com

Carter, Nell Hardy (1948-2003)

Nell Hardy Carter was an American actress and vocalist who enjoyed a twenty-five year career in film, stage, television, and the recording industry. Born as Nell Ruth Hardy on September 13, 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama, she and her eight siblings were raised a low-income neighborhood by their

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Source: Black Past

Bernicat, Marcia Stephens Bloom (1957- )

Born in Tinton Falls, New Jersey in 1957, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat earned a Bachelor’s Degree in history from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1975. Thinking she might teach overseas, Bernicat earned a teaching credential in social sciences at the secondary level. Rather than

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Source: Black Past

Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers is an American actor and former professional football player. He was born on January 14, 1948 in New Orleans and graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1966. He registered at Long Beach City College but could not play football there due to an ankle injury. He then

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Source: Black History Resources

Jan

14

1948

The Slaughter House Cases (1873)

? SLAUGHTER-HOUSE CASES.; THE BUTCHERS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF NEW ORLEANS v. THE CRESCENT CITY LIVE-STOCK LANDING AND SLAUGHTER-HOUSE COMPANY.; PAUL ESTEBEN, L. RUCH, J. P. ROUEDE, W. MAYLIE, S. FIRMBERG, B. BEAUBAY, WILLIAM FAGAN, J. D. BRODERICK, N. SEIBEL, M. LANNES, J. GITZINGER, J. P. A

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Source: Black Past

Apr

14

1873

Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill is a singer, songwriter and actress who shot to fame in the 1990s with her R&B band “The Fugees” and later as a solo performer. She was born on May 26, 1975 in New Jersey to Valerie and Mal Hill. Her mother was an English teacher and her father was a management

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Source: Black History Resources

May

26

1975

Chris Rock

Chris Rocks no-holds-barred approach to comedy -- and his extraordinary work ethic -- have earned him comparisons to Richard Pryor and George Carlin and made him one of the most successful stand-up acts in the world. Brooklyn-raised Chris Rock got his start in New York nightclubs in the late

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Johnson, Hazel W. (1927-2011 )

Hazel Johnson was the first African American woman to become a general in the U.S. Army. She was appointed the Chief of the Army Nurse Corps in 1979. Johnson held a doctorate in education administration from Catholic University (1978) and had honorary degrees from Morgan State University, Villanova

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Source: Black Past

Aug

5

2011

African Americans win eight Grammys

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

20

1991

Skinner, Elliot Percival (1924-2007)

Elliott Percival Skinner, a leading late 20th Century anthropologist, also served as the United States ambassador to the Republic of Upper Volta (the West African country renamed itself Burkina Faso in 1984). Skinner was born on June 20, 1924 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. During World War II, he

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Source: Black Past

Apr

1

2007

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RAW: Celebrating Eddie Murphy’s 63rd Birthday With Our Favorite & Funniest Performances Of His Career

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