November 16, 1964 Dwight Eugene Gooden, former Major League baseball player, was born in Tampa, Florida. Gooden made his major league debut in April, 1984 with the New York Mets and that year was selected the National League Rookie of the Year. In 1985, he had one of the most dominating single seasons in base […]
Archive | November RSS feed for this section
November 15th in African American History – William Edward John (Little Willie John)
November 15, 1937 William Edward John (Little Willie John), rhythm and blues singer, was born in Cullendale, Arkansas but raised in Detroit, Michigan. In 1955, John recorded his debut single “All Around the World”. This was followed by such hits as “Fever” (1956), “Talk To Me” (1958), and “Sleep” (1960). Over his career John made […]
November 15th in African American History – Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)
November 15, 1998 Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), political activist and one of the first users of the term “Black Power”, died. Carmichael was born June 29, 1941 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Howard University in 1964. While at Howard, Carmichael became involved with the Nonviolent […]
November 14th in African American History – Cornelius E. Gunter
November 14, 1936 Cornelius E. Gunter, rhythm and blues singer, was born in Coffeyville, Kansas. He began recording in 1953 singing backup on Big Jay McNeely’s “Nervous Man Nervous.” In 1957, he sang the title song for the movie “The Green Eyed Blonde.” From 1958 to 1961, Gunter performed as a member of the Coasters […]
November 14th in African American History – Condoleeza Rice
November 14, 1954 Condoleeza Rice, professor, diplomat and national security expert, was born in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1974, at the age of 19, Rice earned her Bachelor’s Degree in political science, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver. In 1975 she earned her master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and in 1981 […]
November 13th in African American History – Leonard Roy Harmon
November 13, 1942 Leonard Roy Harmon, the first African American to have a Navy ship named in his honor, died. Harmon was born January 21, 1917 in Cuero, Texas. He enlisted in the Navy in June, 1939 and in October of that year was assigned to the USS San Francisco. By 1942, Harmon had advanced […]
November 13th in African American History – Caryn Elaine Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg)
November 13, 1955 Caryn Elaine Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg), actress, comedienne and activist, was born in New York City. In 1983, Goldberg created “The Spook Show”, a one woman show which ran on Broadway for 156 sold out performances and won her the 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One Person Show. In 1985, she made […]