January 9, 1946 Countee Cullen, Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist, died. Cullen was born Countee LeRoy Porter on March 30, 1903 in Louisville, Kentucky. At a very young age, he won many poetry contests and often had his winning works published. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925 from New York University and […]
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January 6th in African American History – Louis Emanuel Martin, Jr.
January 6, 1997 Louis Emanuel Martin, Jr., journalist, publisher, and civil rights activist, died. Martin was born November 18, 1912 in Shelbyville, Tennessee, but grew up in Savannah, Georgia. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Michigan in 1934 and in 1936 was hired as a reporter for the […]
December 20th in African American History – Leopold Sedar Senghor
December 20, 2001 Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet and the first President of Senegal, died. Senghor was born October 9, 1906 in Joal, Senegal. His father was a successful businessman and this allowed him to attend the best schools in Senegal and earn a scholarship to study in France where he graduated from the University of […]
December 14th in African American History – Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr.
December 14, 1998 Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., civil rights advocate, author and federal judge, died. Higginbotham was born February 25, 1928 in Ewing, New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949 from Antioch College and his Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale University in 1952. From 1954 to 1962, he worked in […]
December 13th in African American History – Dale Raymond Wright
December 13, 2009 Dale Raymond Wright, award-winning and barrier-breaking journalist, died. Wright was born July 19, 1923 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. He was among the first group of African Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and attained the rank of staff sergeant. After the war, he earned his undergraduate […]
December 9th in African American History – Toni Cade Bambara
December 9, 1995 Toni Cade Bambara, author, social activist and college professor, died. Bambara was born Miltona Mirkin Cade on March 25, 1939 in New York City. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and theater at Queens College in 1959 and her Master of Arts degree in African fiction at City College […]
December 6th in African American History – Frantz Fanon
December 6, 1961 Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist, revolutionary, and author, died. Fanon was born July 20, 1925 on the Caribbean island of Martinique. He served in the French army during World War II. Fanon’s service in the French army and his experiences in Martinique fueled his first book, “Black Skin, White Masks,” (1952) which analyzed the […]