June 22, 1947 Octavia Estelle Butler, award-winning science fiction writer, was born in Pasadena, California. Butler began writing at the age of 10 and at 12 began a lifelong interest in science fiction. In 1968, she earned an associate’s degree from Pasadena City College and then participated in a number of writing workshops. Her first […]
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June 21st in African American History – James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner
June 21, 1964 James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, civil rights activist, were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi while trying to investigate the burning of a church that supported civil rights activity. The FBI discovered their bodies on August 4. While searching for the three men’s bodies, the FBI also discovered the bodies of at […]
June 20th in African American History – The Detroit Race Riot
June 20, 1943 The Detroit Race Riot began with a fist fight between a black man and a white man on Belle Isle. The fight eventually grew into confrontations between groups of blacks and whites, spreading into the city. Rumors that black women were being assaulted and white women being raped fueled the confrontations. Stores […]
June 20th in African American History – Lionel Brockman Richie
June 20, 1949 Lionel Brockman Richie, singer, songwriter and record producer, was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Richie went to Tuskegee Institute on a tennis scholarship and graduated in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. In 1968, he became a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores who became popular with albums such as “Natural High” […]
June 19th in African American History – Manute Bol
June 19, 2010 Manute Bol, former basketball player and human rights activist, died. Bol was born October 16, 1962 in Sudan. He started playing basketball in 1978 and was selected by the Washington Bullets in the 1985 NBA Draft. Bol was one of the tallest players to play in the NBA and over his ten […]
June 19th in African American History – Phylicia Ayers-Allen (Phylicia Rashad)
June 19, 1948 Phylicia Ayers-Allen (Phylicia Rashad), stage, television and screen actress and singer, was born in Houston, Texas. Rashad earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Howard University in the early 1970s. She initially gained recognition on the stage with a string of Broadway credits. From 1981 to 1983, she […]
June 18th in African American History – Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki
June 18, 1942 Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, the second President of post-apartheid South Africa, was born in Idutywa, South Africa. Both of Mbeki’s parents were teachers and activist and Mbeki describes himself as “born into the struggle.” In 1959, he was expelled from school for his involvement in student strikes and in 1961 he was elected […]