Juan Rodríguez: The First Non‑Indigenous New Yorker
Juan Rodríguez (Dutch: Jan Rodrigues; Portuguese: João Rodrigues) holds the distinction of being the first documented non-indigenous person to reside on Manhattan Island. He arrived...
Category : History Makers
Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber
Joe Louis, the “Brown Bomber,” was one of the most dominant heavyweight champions in boxing history and a national symbol of Black dignity, American patriotism,...
Lima Barreto: Brazil’s Sad Visionary
Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto (1881–1922) was a distinguished Brazilian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer renowned for his incisive social criticism and satirical depictions of...
Kathleen Cleaver: ‘My Place is in the Revolution’
“Whatever path we seem to take, it always has one end: a racist bullet. A racist bullet murdered Malcolm X, murdered Martin Luther King, murdered...
Mazisi Kunene: Poet Laureate of Africa
How will I ever forget you, magic leaf Tormented as I am by your taunts The prodding jeers and the branding iron You command, “[Captive],...
Edward Kamau Brathwaite: Poet of the Tides
Edward Kamau Brathwaite — born Lawson Edward Brathwaite on May 11, 1930 — was a Barbadian poet, historian, linguist and cultural theorist who became one...
Jayne Cortez: Firespitter of the Black Arts Movement
Jayne Cortez (born Sallie Jayne Richardson) was a visionary African American poet, performer, and cultural activist whose fierce, music‑driven poetics made her a defining voice...
Rudolph Fisher: A Renaissance Man of Science and Story
Rudolph Fisher (1897–1934) was a physician, radiologist, writer, musician, and orator whose remarkable, though brief, life had a profound impact on the Harlem Renaissance and...
Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues
I went to the crossroadFell down on my kneesI went to the crossroadFell down on my kneesAsked the Lord above, “Have mercy now,Save poor Bob,...
Doctor Caesar: The Power of Black Medical Knowledge in Early South Carolina
Caesar was an African healer living under forced servitude in early South Carolina whose knowledge of botanical medicine became valuable enough to secure his freedom....