Bernie Mac

Bernie Mac, born as Benard Jeffrey McCullough was born on October 5th 1957 in Chicago Illinois. Bernie Mac performed his first stand up routine at the age of eight. Mac lost his mother to cancer then soon after that his father, brother, and grandmother. Mac realized the power of laughter made him feel better. He began telling jokes in the Chicago Subway. He joined the comedy club in 1977. The Bernie Mac show made a debut on Fox in 2001. He co starred with Chris Rock and replace Bill Murray in Charlies Angels. Bernie Mac sadly passed away in pneumonia on August 9th, 2008. 

Russell Simmons

Born on October 4th 1957 in Queens, New York. He attended the city college of New York. Russel Simmons left school and founded Rush Management to promote rap. Russell Simmons managed under Def Jams many artists.

A fight for Civil Rights

Rosa Parks was born as Rosa Loiuse McCauley on February 4th, 1913 in Tuskegee Alabama. Rosa was a civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a public bus. She created a boycott citywide and helped put an end to segregation.  A contemporary of Rosa Parks were. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I choose to write about Rosa Parks because her standing up for herself helped everyone else worldwide and realize to stand up for themselves even to this day.  

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Haitian artist and humanitarian Wyclef Jean 

On this Day October 17, 1969, artist, songwriter, and guitarist Nel Ust Wyclef Jean was born in Croix-Des-Bouques, Haiti. Wyclef Jean joined a group in high school by the name of Exact Change who was later signed to Columbia Records in 1993. Two of Wyclef Jeans greatest songs are "Ready or Not" and "Killing me Softly." Wyclef Jean is a Grammy award winning artist. When Haiti had their big earthquake in 2010 Wyclef Jean created a charity to raise money for help. I choose this artist over the others because I am more comfortable and familiar with him.

"I have a Dream"

On January 15th 1929, Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta Georgia. Dr. King was a minister and social activist who led the Civil rights movement from the late 1950's until his assassination on April 4th 1968. Dr. King had many known worthy accomplishments in his life. One included being awarded for the Nobel Peace Prize, one of the six prizes awarded for important work in the fields of literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, and economics. Martin Luther King was awarded his prize for his nonviolent resistance to the racial prejudice in America. Some of his contemporaries were Jesse Jackson and Roy Wilkins of the NAACP. Martin Luther King will be known for his legacy and for telling people to stand for their rights, and to know their place in this world. I choose Martin Luther King because he left his mark on this world not through music, but through action and speech. 

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison born on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio. Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulilzer Prize novelist. In 1993 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison has won multiple book awards. A few novels she wrote are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. Toni Morrison taught English at Texas Southern University and was graduated from Lorain High School in 1949.

                                             Photo courtesy of:http://tinyurl.com/gm2j2uw

India Arie

India Arie was born on October 3, 1975 in Denver, Colorado born as India Arie Simpson. India is a songwriter, musician, and record producer. She obtained a passion for music in her early life. India Arie featured on Stevie Wonders album and was nominated for a Grammy in 2006. She also featured on the Tyra banks show in 2005 and performed "Just for the day".

Hiram R. Revels

Hiram R. Revels was born on September 27, 1827 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Revels came the first African American United States senator. Revels resigned from the Senate after a year to accept the presidency of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. He later died on January 16, 1901.

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Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah was born on September 21, 1909 in Nkroful, Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah was a leader who led the Gold Coasts struggle for independence against Great Britain. He then became the president of Ghana. Nkrumah published Africa must Unite in 1963. He passed on April 27, 1972.

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Charles Mingusx5

Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, a pianist band leader and composer. He was born in Nogales, Arizona but raised in Watts, California. Mingusx5 was Charles Mingus last album. It was also the most productive and significant time of his career and life. The album was recorded on September 20, 1963. Eric Dolphy, and Jaki Byard both featured in this album.

Erroll Garner

Erroll Louis Garner was a Jazz Pianist born on June 15, 1921. He was born it Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He was credited one of the best selling albums in the history of Jazz. Erroll Garner most famous record was 'Concert By The Sea'. He died on January 2, 1977 in Los Angeles, California.

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B.B King

B.B King was born on September 16, 1925. He died on May 14, 2015 age 89. He was influenced by a preacher, who saw him sing and perform the guitar whenever he went to church. received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Yale University, Berklee College of music, Rhodes College and Tougaloo College.He later then made a big break. He played live on a radio station (KWEM) hosted by Sonny Boy Williamson. He then was given his own radio show. In 1952 he went on his first tour.  Lucille is the name of the guitar he almost lost during a fire.

Constance Baker Motley

She rose to become a champion for victims of discrimination and oppression and worked diligently to remove obstacles to education for all Americans. A brilliant lawyer, Motley played a pivotal role in numerous Civil Rights cases during the two decades following World War II. She battled in the courts of the Deep South at a time and place where racial tensions burned white hot, often putting her own life in danger for the sake of the cause.

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Alain Leroy Locke Mini Biography

Alain Leroy Locke was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished as the first African American Rhodes Scholar in 1907, Locke was the philosophical architect--- the acknowledged in the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Philadelphia on this day in 1885.

Mae Jemison

Mae Carrol Jemison is an American  and NASA astronaut. She became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.

Althea Gibson: Tennis Great

Trailblazing athlete Althea Gibson became the first great African American player in women’s tennis. Raised primarily in Harlem, New York City. She won a string of American Tennis Association titles on the African American circuit. After being allowed entry to the major tournaments, she became the first black player to win Wimbledon and the French and U.S open Titles. She won the U.S open on this day in 1957.

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Sonia Sanchez (Wilsonia Benita Driver)

Sonia Sanchez born Wilsonia Benita Driver was born on this day in 1934 Birmingham, Alabama. She is a founder of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960 and the author of numerous books including, Homecoming, We a Baddddd People, and A Blues Book for Blue Black Magic Women. Sanchez currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

  Carter G Woodson

The father of Black history, Carter G Woodson, founds the Association for the study of Negro like and history, on this day in 1915