May 24, 1963 Joe Dumars III, hall of fame basketball player and basketball executive, was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dumars played college basketball at McNeese State University and was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 1985 NBA Draft. Dumars played his entire 14-season professional career with the Pistons and was a six-time All-Star and […]
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May 24th in African American History – Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
May 24, 1974 Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, composer, pianist, and big band leader, died. Ellington was born April 29, 1899 in Washington, D. C. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 7 and at 14 wrote his first composition, “Soda Fountain Rag.” At the age of 18, he formed his first group, The […]
May 23rd in African American History – Jerome Heartwell “Brud” Holland
May 23, 1985 Jerome Heartwell “Brud” Holland, education administrator and diplomat, posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan. Holland was born January 9, 1916 in Auburn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University, where he was the first African American to play on the football team and an All-American in 1937 […]
May 23rd in African American History – Vernon D. Jarrett
May 23, 2004 Vernon D. Jarrett, newspaper, television, and radio journalist, died. Jarrett was born June 19, 1921 in Paris, Tennessee. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Knoxville College in 1941. In 1946, he moved to Chicago and began his career at the Chicago Defender. For three years beginning in 1948, he co-produced […]
May 22nd in African American History – Claude McKay
May 22, 1948 Claude McKay, writer and poet, died. McKay was born September 15, 1889 in James Hill, Clarendon, Jamaica. He started writing poetry at the age of ten. McKay published his first book of poems, “Songs of Jamaica,” in 1912. McKay emerged as one of the first and most militant voices of the Harlem […]
May 22nd in African American History – James Mercer Langston Hughes
May 22, 1967 James Mercer Langston Hughes, poet, novelist, and playwright, died. Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He began writing in high school where he wrote for the school newspaper, edited the yearbook, and wrote short stories, poetry, and dramatic plays. Hughes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Langston University […]
May 21st in African American History – Clarence Edward “Big House” Gaines, Sr.
May 21, 1923 Clarence Edward “Big House” Gaines, Sr., hall of fame college basketball coach, was born in Paducah, Kentucky. Gaines attended Lincoln High School where he excelled academically and athletically, graduating as class salutatorian in 1941. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Morgan State College in 1945 and in 1950 […]