African Americans

Phillis Wheatley was indeed a significant figure in American history, particularly for her accomplishments as a poet. Born in West Africa, likely in Senegal or Gambia, around 1753, Wheatley was kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of seven. She was transported to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was purchased by John Wheatley as a domestic servant for his wife, …

The story of Benjamin Banneker and his wooden clock is an inspiring tale of ingenuity and accomplishment. Benjamin Banneker, an African American born on November 9, 1731, in Maryland, possessed an inherent curiosity and a strong aptitude for mathematics and mechanics. In 1752, Banneker garnered public acclaim by building a clock entirely out of wood. The clock, believed to be …

Marcus Shute Jr., a 34-year old lawyer from Nashville, raised a few eyebrows when he decided to grow his locks in 2002. But he still refuses to cut his hair in hopes to make a point that his personal appearance should not affect his professional career! In fact, Shute is a well sought-after lawyer and he runs his own law …

Africa is on the move as South Sudan’s first female pilot Aluel Bol Aluenge has risen to the position of captain with major American airline company Delta Air Lines after working with Ethiopian Airlines and FlyDubai. 34-year-old Aluel Bol was celebrated in 2011 subsequent to finishing an aeronautics training in the United States with the help of the South Sudanese government. “I …

Captain Theresa Mae Claiborne was the first African American woman to become a U.S. Air Force pilot. Theresa Mae Claiborne is a native of the United States, having been born on May 25, 1959 to parents Wayne Morris Sr. and Dorothy Claiborne in Emporia, Virginia. Because of the Claibornes’ military history, they were able to visit many different countries. Theresa …

Osborne Hemsley Winfield is regarded as the first African American modern dancer and the founder of “Negro concert dancing.” Winfield, the founder of the New Negro Art Theatre Dance Group, was a Harlem Renaissance dancer who worked alongside Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman. He was born on April 20, 1907 in Yonkers, New York, to general contractor Osborne …

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was born a slave in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1819. She had little reason to dream of the life that would become her own. Because of a series of strange events and her own hard work, she became known as the first African American singer to become famous in both the United States and Europe. Long before she …

Vivienne Malone-Mayes was born on February 10, 1932. She was the fifth African American woman to get a Ph.D. in math. Malone-Mayes was born and raised in Waco, Texas. She graduated from A.J. She was only 16 when she went to Moore High School. Even though she went to a separate high school in Waco, she did well and moved …

After attempting to flee from his master, James Somerset (or Sommersett), a Boston slave transported to England in 1771, was apprehended. He was loaded onto a ship and shipped to Jamaica to be bought and sold. His English allies, on the other hand, used a writ of habeas corpus to remove him from the ship before it set sail. After …

Reverend William Washington Browne, a former Georgia slave, established America’s first black-owned bank. The “True Reformers Savings Bank” was the first black bank to be chartered in the United States. The Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers, a Black fraternal organization founded by Browne in 1849, inspired the bank’s name. The bank was established in 1888 but did not …