December 16, 1938 Jimmie Lee Jackson, Civil Rights protester, was born in Marion, Alabama. Jackson was a deacon in his church who had unsuccessfully tried to register to vote for four years. On February 18, 1965, around 500 people attempted a peaceful walk to the Perry County jail where a young Civil Rights worker was […]
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December 16th in African American History – Minnie Evans
December 16, 1987 Minnie Evans, folk artist, died. Evans was born December 12, 1892 in Pender County, North Carolina but raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. She began drawing on Good Friday, 1935 after she heard a voice that said to her “why don’t you draw or die?” Evans had her first formal exhibition of drawings […]
December 15th in African American History – Maggie Lena Walker
December 15, 1934 Maggie Lena Walker, teacher, businesswoman and the first African American bank president, died. Walker was born July 15, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. She attended the Colored Normal School to be trained as a teacher and received her diploma with honors in 1883. After graduation, she taught for three years. In 1899, Walker […]
December 15th in African American History – Septima Poinsette Clark
December 15, 1987 Septima Poinsette Clark, “grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement,” died. Clark was born May 3, 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated from high school in 1916, but could not afford to attend college. As an African American, she was barred from teaching in the Charleston public schools therefore she began teaching […]
December 14th in African American History – Johnny D. Bright
December 14, 1983 Johnny D. Bright, hall of fame Canadian Football League player, died. Bright was born June 11, 1930 in Fort Wayne Indiana. He played college football at Drake University where he led the nation in total offense in 1949 and 1950. On October 20, 1951 in a game against Oklahoma State University, Bright […]
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 – Eric Marlon Bishop (Jamie Foxx)
December 13, 1967 Eric Marlon Bishop (Jamie Foxx), stand-up comedian, actor and singer, was born in Terrell, Texas. Foxx began performing stand-up in 1989 and changed his name to Jamie Foxx, choosing the surname as a tribute to Redd Foxx. In 1991, he joined the cast of the television show “In Living Color” and from […]