April 24, 2001 Leon Howard Sullivan, minister, civil rights leader, and activist, died. Sullivan was born October 16, 1922 in Charleston, West Virginia. He was ordained a Baptist minister at the age of 18. Sullivan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia State University in 1943 and a Master of Arts degree in […]
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April 23rd in African American History – Narada Michael Walden
April 23, 1952 Narada Michael Walden, drummer, vocalist, songwriter and producer, was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from college, in 1976 Walden released his debut album, “Garden of Love Light” and in 1979 he released his breakthrough album, “The Awakening.” Other albums from Walden include “Confidence” (1982), “The Nature of Things” (1985), and “Sending […]
April 23rd in African American History – Melba Doretta Liston
April 23, 1999 Melba Doretta Liston, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, died. Liston was born January 13, 1926 in Kansas City, Missouri but raised in Los Angeles, California. In 1943, she joined the big band led by Gerald Wilson and during the 1940s she played with Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, and Billie Holliday. […]
April 22nd in African American History – Spencer Haywood
April 22, 1949 Spencer Haywood, retired basketball player, was born in Silver City, Mississippi. Haywood moved to Detroit, Michigan and in 1967 led Pershing High School to the Michigan State Basketball Championship. In 1968, Haywood was the leading scorer on the United States’ Gold Medal winning Olympic team in Mexico City. Later that year, he […]
April 22nd in African American History – Earl Kenneth “Fatha” Hines
April 22, 1983 Earl Kenneth “Fatha” Hines, jazz pianist, died. Hines was born December 28, 1903 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania. As a youth, he took classical piano lessons and played the organ at the local Baptist church. At the age of 17, he left home to take a job playing in a Pittsburgh nightclub. In 1923, […]
April 21st in African American History – Robert Blackburn
April 21, 2003 Robert Blackburn, artist, printmaker and educator, died. Blackburn was born December 19, 1920 in Summit, New Jersey. As a teenager, he was mentored by several Harlem Renaissance artists, including Charles “Spanky” Alston and Augusta Savage. Blackburn studied lithography, etching, woodblock, and silk-screening at the WPA Harlem Community Art Center.
April 21st in African American History – Nina Simone
April 21, 2003 Nina Simone, singer, songwriter and civil rights activist, died. Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on February 21, 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina. She began playing the piano at the age of three and made her debut as a classical pianist at 12. In 1958, she released her debut album, “Little Girl […]