August 2, 1997 Fela Anikulapo Kuti, multi-instrumentalist, composer and human rights activist, died. Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti on October 15, 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria. In 1958, Fela was sent to London to study medicine, but decided to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. In 1963, he moved back to […]
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August 1st in African American History – Ronald Harmon Brown
August 1, 1941 Ronald Harmon Brown, the first and only African American to serve as United States Secretary of Commerce, was born in Washington, D.C. Brown earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College in 1962. He served in the United States Army from 1963 to 1967 rising to the rank of captain, and […]
August 1st in African American History – Barbara Ross-Lee
August 1, 1993 Barbara Ross-Lee became the first African American woman to head a medical school in the United States when she was appointed dean of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Ross-Lee was born in 1942 in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry […]
July 31st in African American History – Arnette R. Hubbard
July 31, 1981 Arnette R. Hubbard was installed as the first woman and 39th President of the National Bar Association in Detroit, Michigan. A native of Stephens, Arkansas, Hubbard earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and her Juris Doctor degree from John Marshall Law School in 1969. She began her career […]
July 31st in African American History – Theodore Shaw “Teddy” Wilson
July 31, 1986 Theodore Shaw “Teddy” Wilson, jazz pianist, died. Wilson was born November 24, 1912 in Austin, Texas. He studied piano and violin at Tuskegee Institute. In 1935, Wilson joined the Benny Goodman Trio, becoming the first black musician to perform in public with a previously all-white group.
July 30th in African American History – Louis E. Lomax
July 30, 1970 Louis E. Lomax, author and the first African American television journalist, died in a car accident when the brakes failed on his car near Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Lomax was born August 16, 1922 in Valdosta, Georgia. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Paine College in 1942, his Master of Arts degree […]
July 30th in African American History – John Garang de Mabior
July 30, 2005 John Garang de Mabior, Sudanese politician and rebel leader, died in a helicopter crash. Garang was born June 23, 1945 in Bor, Sudan. In 1962, he joined the first Sudanese civil war, but, because he was so young, the leaders encouraged him to pursue an education. He went on to earn his […]