January 30, 1919 Margaret Bush Wilson, lawyer and activist, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Wilson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Talladega College in 1939 and her law degree from the Lincoln University of Missouri School of Law. After passing the bar, she was the second woman of color admitted to [...]
Tag Archives | activist
March 17th in African American History – Bayard Rustin
March 17, 1912 Bayard Rustin, civil rights leader and the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1942, Rustin assisted in the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality. A declared pacifist, he was imprisoned from 1944 to 1946 for violating the Selective [...]
February 18th in African American History – Audre Geraldine Lorde
February 18, 1934 Audre Geraldine Lorde, writer, poet, and activist, was born in New York City. Legally blind, Lorde wrote her first poem when she was in the eighth grade. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in library science from Hunter College in 1959 and her Master of Library Science degree from Columbia University [...]
January 15th in African American History – Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929 Martin Luther King, Jr., clergyman, activist, and leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. King entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1948. He then earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951 [...]
December 12th in African American History – Marie Dionne Warwick
December 12, 1940 Marie Dionne Warwick, singer and activist, was born in East Orange, New Jersey. Warwick began singing gospel as a child and sang her first solo at the age of 6. In 1958, she and other members formed the Gospelaires which in their first performance together won the weekly amateur contest at the [...]
October 27th in African American History – Es’kia Mphahlele
October 27, 2008 Es’kia Mphahlele, author, educator, and activist, died. Mphahlele was born December 17, 1919 in Pretoria, South Africa. He earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of South Africa in 1949 and 1956, respectively. Mphahlele taught high school from 1945 to 1952 and published his first book [...]
May 21st in African American History – Katherine Mary Dunham
May 21, 2006 Katherine Mary Dunham, dancer, choreographer, author, educator, activist, and “Matriarch and Queen Mother of Black Dance,” died. Dunham was born June 22, 1909 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She became fascinated with dance at a young age and while in high school started a dance school for young black children. Dunham studied dance [...]