January 10, 2005 James Forman, civil rights leader, died. Foreman was born October 4, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the United States Air Force in Okinawa during the Korean War and was discharged in 1952. Forman earned his undergraduate degree from Roosevelt University in 1957 and spent most of the late 1950s working […]
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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 […]
January 3rd in African American History – Samuel Leamon Younge, Jr.
January 3, 1966 Samuel Leamon Younge, Jr. was shot to death after he tried to use the “Whites only” restroom at a Standard Oil gas station in Macon County, Alabama. This senseless death became the first black college student killed as a result of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Younge was born November […]
December 31st in African American History – Odetta Holmes
December 31, 1930 Odetta Holmes, singer, actress, songwriter, and human rights activist, was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Odetta’s first professional experience was in musical theater in 1944 and in 1949 she joined the “Finian’s Rainbow” touring company. She began her solo career in 1956 with “Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues” and followed with “At the […]
December 30th in African American History – Samuel Milton Nabrit
December 30, 2003 Samuel Milton Nabrit, biologist, educator, and college president, died. Nabrit was born February 21, 1905 in Macon, Georgia. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Morehouse College in 1925 and his Master of Science degree and Ph. D. from Brown University in 1928 and 1932, respectively. He was the […]
December 27th in African American History – James Madison Nabrit, Jr.
December 27, 1997 James Madison Nabrit, Jr., civil rights lawyer, college president and deputy ambassador, died. Nabrit was born September 7, 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1923 from Morehouse College and his Doctor of Laws degree from Northwestern University in 1927. In 1936, Nabrit joined the faculty of Howard University […]
December 18th in African American History – Stephen Bantu Biko
December 18, 1946 Stephen Bantu Biko, anti-apartheid activist, was born in King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. In 1968, Biko helped found the South African Students’ Organization, which evolved into the Black Consciousness Movement, and was elected its first president. In March, 1973, he was banned by the government which […]