William Anthony “The Refrigerator” Perry was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Perry was born on December 16, 1962, to Inez Perry and Hollie Perry in Aiken, South Carolina. He attended Aiken High School in Aiken, South Carolina where he played defensive tackle on the school football and ran for the school track team. Perry […]

Bedford Stuyvesant, New York, is the oldest Black community in Brooklyn. Established by the Dutch in 1636 as part of Breuckelen (Brooklyn), it later became known as Bedford Stuyvesant. When Brooklyn was incorporated in 1837, this area comprised parts of the seventh and ninth wards of the new city. One section was home to Weeksville, one of the first free […]

Brownsville, established in 1858 and named after its developer, Charles S. Brown, is known for its vibrant street art scene. Located in the easternmost part of Brooklyn, Brownsville is bordered by Canarsie to the south, East New York to the east, Crown Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant to the north, and East Flatbush to the west. Originally home to Dutch farmers, Brownsville […]

On February 7, 2016, musician Beyoncé Knowles performed her single “Formation” at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show during the game between the Carolina (North Carolina) Panthers led by Quarterback Cam Newton and the Denver (Colorado) Broncos led by Peyton Manning. The halftime show opened with British rock group Coldplay performing their songs including “Yellow,” “Viva la Vida,” “Paradise,” and […]

In January 2025, Daphne Barbee-Wooten, a Hawaii historian and social activist attorney wrote the article below describing the campaign to make the Aloha State recognize the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King as a state holiday. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth date (January 15) became a federal holiday within the federal government in 1985. All federal employees were able […]

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is an award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, and cultural critic. He was born on September 16, 1950, in Keyser, West Virginia, to Henry Louis Gates Sr. and Pauline Augusta Coleman Gates. He has one brother, Paul Edward Gates. In 1968, Gates graduated as the valedictorian of his class from Piedmont High School, becoming one of the […]

Michigan State Representative Amos O’Neal was born on July 17, 1961, in Saginaw, Michigan. He attended Saginaw Public Schools and graduated with a business degree from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. O’Neal raised his three daughters in Saginaw with his late wife, Sherry, who was a public school teacher. After graduating from Northwood University, O’Neal worked as a Director of […]

Harlem began in 1658 as a Dutch village founded by settlers who named it after the city of Haarlem, in the Netherlands. In 1873 the village was annexed to Manhattan. The annexed section was a 45-block area stretching from the north end of Central Park (110th Street) to 155th Street. At the time of the annexation, there were a few […]

Penfield Tate II was a politician, LGBTQ supporter, and Boulder, Colorado’s first African American mayor. Tate was born on June 11, 1931, to Penfield Tate Sr and Vera Jane Houston Tate in New Philadelphia, Ohio. He was the second eldest of ten children. Growing up, Tate worked in steel mills in Ohio and attended segregated schools. Tate attended Kent State […]

The Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and Cooperative Union was established by a small group of Black farmers on December 11, 1886, in Houston County, Texas. The Colored Alliance was established because the Southern Farmers’ Alliance barred Blacks from joining their organization due to their race. The Colored Farmers’ Alliance was also founded on the farm of R.M. Humphrey, a white […]