June 4, 1973 Arna Wendell Bontemps, poet and noted member of the Harlem Renaissance, died. Bontemps was born October 13, 1902 in Alexandria, Louisiana. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College in 1923 and moved to New York City to teach. In 1943, after graduating from the University of Chicago with a Masters […]
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June 2nd in African American History – Cornel Ronald West
June 2, 1953 Cornel Ronald West, educator, author, and civil rights activist, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma but grew up in Sacramento, California. West earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization from Harvard College in 1973. He went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in 1975 and […]
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 19th in African American History – Cyril Lionel Robert James
May 19, 1989 Cyril Lionel Robert James, historian, journalist, and author, died. James was born January 4, 1901 in Trinidad and Tobago. He graduated from the Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain and initially worked as a school teacher. In 1932, he moved to England and began to campaign for the independence of the […]
May 5th in African American History – Josiah Henson
May 5, 1883 Josiah Henson, author, abolitionist, and minister, died. Henson was born enslaved on June 15, 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. In 1830, after trying to buy his freedom and being cheated out of his money, Henson escaped with his wife and children to Canada. After arriving in Ontario, he founded The Dawn Settlement […]