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Johnson, Robert Louis (1946 - )
Robert Louis Johnson, founder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Black Entertainment Television (BET), is also the majority owner of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the first African American billionaire. He was born in
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Source: Black Past
Lewis Latimer
Lewis Latimer is considered one of the 10 most important Black inventors of all time, not only for the sheer number of inventions created and patents secured but also for the magnitude of importance for his most famous discovery. Latimer was born on September 4, 1848 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His
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Source: Black History Resources
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a well known talk show host and media personality. He was born on September 13, 1964 in Gulfport, Mississippi to a single teenaged mother named Joyce Marie Roberts. Joyce married a US Air Force Officer named Emory Garnell Smiley, and Tavis was named after his stepfather. He did not
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Source: Black History Resources
Sep
13
1964
1st Black Pro basketball team -- "The Renaissance"
The first Black professional basketball team The Renaissance organized.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
13
1923
Jason Kidd
Jason Kidd is a retired NBA basketball professional, who is widely considered as one of the most talented players in the history of the game. He was born on March 23, 1973 to Steve and Anne Kidd. He was the oldest of six children and was a talented sportsman from an early age, being sought by AAU
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
23
1973
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain (born Wilton Norman Chamberlain) was an American basketball star who played for several NBA teams. Chamberlain  was born on August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied at Overbrook High School where he played on his school’s team for three years, scoring more than
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by New York University
Aug
21
1936
The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed | An Online Reference Guide to African American History by Professor Quintard Taylor, University of Washington
Home
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Source: Black Past
“The Yellow Rose of Texas”: The Ironic Origins of a Popular Song
While many Americans are familiar with the song, The Yellow Rose of Texas, few know the story of Emily West, the African American woman who was the inspiration for its creation.  In the excerpt below from a longer article that first appeared in 1996, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Libya
Anti-government demonstrations gripped several countries in the Middle East in early 2011, and protests in Libya followed those in Egypt, Tunisia, and Bahrain. The crackdown by the government in Libya, however, was the most vicious. The protesters took to the streets on Feb. 16 in Benghazi, the
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Tony Gwynn
Anthony Keith Gwynn, Sr., better known as Tony Gwynn, was a baseball pro who played for the San Diego Padres. He was born on May 9, 1960 in Los Angeles, California to Charles and Vendella Gwynn. The family moved to Long Beach, California when he 9 years old. He had two brothers, an elder brother
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jun
16
2014
(1965) Lyndon B. Johnson, "The Voting Rights Act"
In early March 1965 much of the nations attention was focused on civil rights marches in and around Selma, Alabama. Activists led by Dr. Martin Luther King used these demonstrations to urge the federal government to act to end the denial of voting rights to tens of thousands of African Americans
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Source: Black Past
Johnson, Magic
Johnson, Magic (Earvin Johnson, Jr.), 1959–, African-American basketball player, b. Lansing, Mich. After winning the national championship with Michigan State Univ. (1979), he joined the Los Angeles Lakers and with them won five National Basketball Association championships
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Billiam "Bill" Felton Russell born
Birthday of William Felton Russell, better known as Bill Russel, he was player-coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team in 1968 and 1969. Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
12
1934
Barrow, Adama (1965- )
Adama Barrow is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who is the third and current president of Gambia. Barrow defeated Yahya Jammeh in the 2016 Gambian presidential election, but because the incumbent president initially refused to recognize the victory, Barrow was inaugurated at the
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Source: Black Past
Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis is a retired American track and field athlete who is famous for his exceptional Olympic record. Lewis is also the current indoor long jump world record holder; a record which he has held since
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Source: Black History Resources
Jul
1
1961
Brueggergosman, Measha (1977- )
Measha Brueggergosman, Canada’s most recognizable young opera star, is working hard to bring classical music to a popular audience.  The Canadian soprano has emerged as one of the most magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day. She is critically acclaimed by the international
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Source: Black Past
Jun
28
1977
black basketball team captian
The University of Vermont was the first school to have a black basketball team captian.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1908
Mike Jones
Michael Jones, or simply known as Mike Jones, is an American rapper, born in January 6, 1981, in Houston, Texas. He also pursues an acting career on an occasional basis. Jones initially wanted to pursue a different career than that in music, given his extraordinary craze for basketball. He
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Jan
6
1981
Travis, Joe (1815- ?)
Joseph, an enslaved person, was one of a handful of survivors at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.  He was born around 1815. Known simply as Joe, he was sold four times in his life, most notably to his third master, Colonel William Barret Travis. His mother, Elizabeth, four
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Mar
6
1836
Portrait of Black Chicago
The captions are John Whites own, written some time after he took his photographs. In some cases White used virtually the same caption for several
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Source: Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)
(1987) Clarence Thomas, “Why Black Americans Should Look to Conservative Politics”
Much has been said about blacks and conservatism. Those on the Left smugly assume blacks are monolithic and will by force of circumstances always huddle to the left of the political spectrum. The political Right watches this herd mentality in action, concedes that blacks are monolithic, picks up
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Source: Black Past
Libya
Libya stretches along the northeast coast of Africa between Tunisia and Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east; to the south are the Sudan, Chad, and Niger. It is one-sixth larger than Alaska. Much of the country lies within the Sahara. Along the Mediterranean coast and farther inland is arable
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
(1974) Congresswoman Barbara Jordan's Statement: The Richard Nixon Impeachment Hearings
Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was selected to give the Opening Statement to the House Judiciary Committee on July 25, 1974, as it began its momentous proceedings on the Impeachment of President Richard Nixon. Her statement appears
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by BARBinc
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (1969- )
The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI) is Seattles longest-lived performing arts venue for programming primarily by and about people of African descent. It is located at 104 17th Avenue South in the Central Area, the traditional heart of the African American and Diaspora
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by BARBinc
(2008) President-Elect Barack Obama's Election Night Victory Speech, Nov. 4th, 2008
On November 4, 2008, Illinois Senator Barack Obama defeated Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.  On the night of his historic victory, Senator Obama addressed an audience of 250,000 at Grant Park in Chicago.  The text of his speech appears
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Source: Black Past
Nov
4
2008
(1905) Theodore Roosevelt, “Lincoln and the Race Problem”
On February 13, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech at the New York City Republican Club as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln.  The speech, which also allowed Roosevelt to expound on his contemporary views of race in the United States, appears
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Feb
13
1905
Ellis, William Henry (1864-1923)
William Henry Ellis, an African American businessman who challenged racial constructs in the United States by “passing” as Hispanic, was born a slave to Charles and Margaret Ellis on June 15, 1864. His parents had been brought by Joseph Weisiger from Kentucky to Texas in 1853. In 1870
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Sep
24
1923
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey was a prominent figure in the political history of Africans. Besides, he was a journalist, entrepreneur, orator and publisher. Being a strong proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African
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Source: Black History Resources
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is a Grammy nominated singer, former beauty queen and television and film actress. She was born on March 18, 1963 in Bronx, New York but soon moved to a more fashionable neighborhood. Her parents, Milton and Helen Williams, both worked as music teachers and so Williams and her
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
18
1963
(1896) Hugh M. Browne, “The Higher Education of the Colored People of the South”
Hugh M. Browne, educator, Presbyterian minister, and college professor in Liberia, positioned himself between the advocates of industrial and higher education for African Americans.  In the speech below he describes his educational philosophy and the forces and experiences that shaped
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Source: Black Past
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