Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, born Jennifer Simons on September 5, 1953, in Paramaribo, Suriname, is a prominent Surinamese politician and a medical doctor. Her extensive political career has been mostly marked by a significant tenure in the National Assembly and most recently by her ascent to the presidency. Geerlings-Simons began her political journey in 1996 when she was first elected as a […]

Historian and curator Lonnie Griffith Bunch III, born on November 18, 1952, in Newark, New Jersey, is a distinguished scholar with a significant academic background. He was reared in Belleville, New Jersey, and graduated from Belleville High School in 1970. Bunch attended Howard University before transferring to American University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1974, a Master […]

Kamla Susheila Persad-Bissessar, often referred to by her initials, KPB, is a prominent Trinidadian lawyer, politician, and educator who has twice served as the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. She holds that post today and is head of state of that nation. Persad was born on April 22, 1952, in rural Siparia in southern Trinidad. Her early education took […]

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the current President of Nigeria, was born into a Yoruba family in Osun State on March 29, 1952. After early schooling in Nigeria, he pursued higher education in the United States, studying at Richard J. Daley College and subsequently Chicago State University, where he excelled academically, graduating with honors in Accounting in 1979. His professional life in […]

Dr. Robert L. Morris is a composer, arranger, and conductor of African American music, including spirituals, jazz, and original compositions. He is the sole child of the late Robert Morris, a cabdriver, and Ella Wilkerson Morris, a domestic worker in Chicago, Illinois. Morris earned his B.A. from DePaul University in 1964, a Master’s degree from Indiana University in 1970, and […]

Alvin Finkel is professor emeritus of history at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada. A longtime specialist in labor history, he has written a number of books including History of the Canadian Peoples. His latest book, which is the subject of the Perspectives article below, is titled Humans: The 300,000 Year Struggle for Equality. Here Finkel challenges the traditional idea that […]

Since its inception in 1848, The Christian Recorder, initially known as The Christian Herald, has served as an essential faith-based informational resource advocating for morality, science, and literature. Founded by the General Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this notable publication has consistently represented the voices of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church across the United States. As the oldest periodical still […]

The Safe Bus Company was a Black-owned transportation company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, operating from 1926 to 1972. It was founded to provide transportation for African American workers and to serve the city’s underserved Black neighborhoods. Prior to its establishment, public transportation did not reach the areas of Winston-Salem where most African Americans lived. On April 24, 1926, Clarence […]

Nathaniel “Nate” Archibald is a former National Basketball Association (NBA) player who spent 14 seasons as a point guard with the Cincinnati Royals (later the Kansas City-Omaha/Kansas City Kings, now the Sacramento Kings), the New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets), the Boston Celtics, and the Milwaukee Bucks. Archibald was born on September 2, 1948, to Julia Archibald and an […]

Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Carroll Napier Langston, Jr. was born on September 25, 1917, in a modest household in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the only child of Carroll N. Langston, Sr., a respected figure in the local community, and Vivien Cashin, from Montgomery, Alabama. The family later relocated to Chicago, where Langston grew up and where he attended Hyde […]