March 12, 1932 Andrew Jackson Young, pastor, politician, diplomat and civil rights leader, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Young earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Pre-Dentistry at Howard University in 1951 and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in 1955. In 1960, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in [...]
Tag Archives | Presidential Medal of Freedom
February 20th in African American History – Sidney Poitier
February 20, 1927 Sidney Poitier, actor, director, author, and diplomat, was born in Miami, Florida. At 17, Poitier moved to New York City and joined the American Negro Theater. He made his film debut in “No Way Out” (1950) and his breakout role was in “Blackboard Jungle” (1955). In 1959, Poitier acted in the first [...]
February 7th in African American History – James Herbert “Eubie” Blake
February 7, 1887 James Herbert “Eubie” Blake, composer, lyricist, and pianist, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Blake began taking music lessons at the age of 7 and at 15 was playing piano in a bordello. In 1912, he began playing in vaudeville and shortly after World War I joined forces with Noble Sissle as the [...]
February 4th in African American History – Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
February 4, 1913 Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, the “mother of the modern Civil Rights Movement,” was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, she refused to obey a bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a White passenger and was arrested. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and [...]
January 31st in African American History – Benjamin Lawson Hooks
January 31, 1925 Benjamin Lawson Hooks, attorney, minister and civil rights leader, was born in Memphis, Tennessee. After graduating from Howard University in 1944, Hooks joined the Army where he found that the prisoners he was responsible for guarding could eat in restaurants from which he was barred. Hooks graduated from DePaul University College of [...]
January 31st in African American History – Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson
January 31, 1919 Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson, the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era, was born in Cairo, Georgia. Robinson attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was a star athlete, from 1939 to 1941 and served in the United States Army as a first lieutenant from [...]
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 [...]