A retired former featherweight world champion with two world title wins, Legrá, known for his speed and agility in the ring, José Legrá, a 5-foot, 6-inch boxer and resident of Spain, was born José Adolfo Legrá Utría in Baracoa, Provincia de Guantánamo, Cuba, on April 19, 1943, to Adolfo Legrá and Soledad Utría Soa. José was the second of eight […]

The Harlem Renaissance in New York City attracted African Americans from every part of the United States, the West Indies, and the African continent to participate in its massive production of art and literature. The Renaissance was Pan-African in scope, showcasing the scholarship of bibliophile Arthur Alfonso Schomburg from Puerto Rico, the literature of the Jamaican Claude McKay, and the […]

Linda Martell, the first black female solo country artist to play the Grand Ole Opry, was born during the Jim Crow era on June 4, 1941, in segregated Leesville, South Carolina. She was born as Thelma Bynem to Clarence Leon Bynem, Sr., a Baptist minister, and Willie Mae Caldwell Bynem.  Linda’s siblings were Clarence, Jr., Leonard, Elzie Lee, and Evelyn. […]

Mount Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, located at 257 Carver Avenue in Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Mississippi, was a unique institution that not only served the needs of its parishioners but was also the headquarters for civil rights activity in that region of Mississippi in the 1960s. Founded in 1947 by the Reverend A.D. Adkins, it would eventually serve as a cornerstone […]

The first African American mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska, James C. Hayes was born in Sacramento, California on May 26, 1946. His parents were Caustella and Juanita Metoyer Hayes. In 1955, after his parents divorced, James and his mother relocated to Fairbanks, Alaska. As a teenager, James attended Austin E. Lathrop High School in Fairbanks. In 1964 he was a member […]

Jayne Kennedy Overton is a model, actress, and corporate spokeswoman. Kennedy was born Jayne Harrison on October 27, 1951, to Herbert and Virginia Harrison in Wickliffe, Ohio. She attended Wickliffe High School in Wickliffe, Ohio, and graduated in 1969. In 1970, Kennedy was crowned the 1970 Miss Ohio USA. Kennedy later competed in the Miss USA national contest that same […]

Jazz singer Betty Carter was born Lillie Mae Jones on May 16, 1929, in Flint, Michigan, to James Jones, a church musical director, and Bessie Jones, an active member of the NAACP. However, Betty was reared in Detroit and sang in the Hartford Avenue Baptist Church. At 16, she began singing in the choir at the Sidney D. Miller, a […]

Claude William Black Jr. was one of the most important advocates for civil rights and social justice in San Antonio, Texas. He was born on November 28, 1916, in San Antonio, Texas, to Claude William Black Sr., the Vice President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Cora Lee Word Black, a homemaker from Midway, Texas. Claude had a […]

STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the first circuit ________________________________________ No. 20–1199. Argued October 31, 2022—Decided June 29, 2023 ________________________________________ Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (UNC) are two of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. Every year, tens […]