Charles Smith, a visual artist, historian, activist, and minister, was born on November 11, 1940, to Bertha Mary Smith and an unnamed father in New Orleans, Louisiana. His early life was marked by tragedy when his father was killed in what local officials in New Orleans described as a ferry accident, but Smith believed it was a hate crime. This […]

Jeanne Martin Cissé was a Guinean teacher and nationalist politician. Cissé was born on April 6, 1926 to Darricau Martin Cissé and Damaye Soumah in Kankan, Guinea. She attended the Ecole Normale de Rufisque, a teacher-training institute for women in Dakar, Senegal, where she trained to become a teacher. In 1944, Cissé became one of Guinea’s first female teachers and […]

Louis Allen, an American farmer and logger, was murdered on January 31, 1964, because of his efforts to vote in Amite County, Mississippi. Allen was born on April 25, 1919, to unnamed parents in Amite County, Mississippi. He served in the United States Army during World War II. After the war, Allen returned to Mississippi, where he worked as a […]

Christian Uzoma Onyeji Sr., a composer, ethnomusicologist, and pianist, is deeply dedicated to promoting classical music drawn from Nigerian-based content and methodology. Born on August 15, 1967, in Imo State, Nigeria, he carries on the musical legacy of his paternal grandfather, an Igbo master Oja (wooden flute) performer at traditional Igbo ceremonies. Onyeji received a Diploma in Music Education in […]

On August 7, 2022, Francia Márquez became the first Black woman to be elected Vice President of Colombia. The following year, she was also sworn in as Minister of Women and Equality in the Cabinet of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Marquez, a noted social activist for Afro-Colombians, feminist, poet, singer, and promoter of climate justice, is from El Cauca, Yolombó, […]

Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old African American resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was fatally shot by Officer Christopher Schurr of the Grand Rapids Police Department during a scuffle between the two in Grand Rapids. Born on February 6, 1966, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lyoya was the oldest of Peter and Dorcas Lyoya’s six children. Lyoya was a dancer […]

Benjamin Franklin Kelly made history on September 19, 1953, when he became the first African American to play at an all-white college in Texas, San Angelo College (later Angelo State University, ASU). His San Angelo College debut came eight months before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education decision overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine. On that historic […]

Mary Smith Kelsey Peake, a pioneering educator, is one of few African American women to have a school, The Mary Peake Center of Hampton Public Schools, and a street, the Mary Peake Boulevard, named in honor due to her work as the first teacher for the newly freed slaves in Fortress Monroe, Virginia. In collaboration with the American Missionary Association […]

Joseph “Joe” Pierre Torry is an actor and comedian. He was born on September 28, 1965, to Robert Torry and Rebecca Torry in Saint Louis, Missouri. Torry attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications and Broadcast Journalism. While at Lincoln, Torry joined Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. After college, Torry […]

The Oriental Opera Company (OOC), established in 1892, was one of the nation’s first all-African American opera and classical music dramatic ensembles. It was founded by Michael Graffe, a white philanthropist from Syracuse, New York. Graffe, who financed the Opera Company for its first year, aimed to demonstrate globally that African Americans had the ability and expertise to sing, interpret, […]