At Black Then, we frequently see interesting photos that give us a glimpse into the past. They tend to show us a piece of black history that is often not covered in textbooks, in history classes, or shown in the media. In a photo that we found on Black History Album , we see this […]
Happy Birthday to philosopher, political activist and scholar of African American studies, Cornel West. West was born on June 2, 1953, in Tulsa, Oklahoma to a father who was a civilian U.S. Air Force administrator and an elementary school teacher/principal mother. His family later moved to Sacramento, California. At the age of 17, West attended […]
In this interview clip, James Baldwin speaks with Mavis Nicholson on Go Tell it on the Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, about love, sexuality, and race. Baldwin, who was a renown writer, novelist, and social critic, was well known for pushing boundaries, and questioning the status quo.
BY WALTER OPINDE Let’s join hands in wishing Brady a Happy Birthday, and may he celebrate and enjoy his new age; Brad is now a year older. On this day, June 2, 1972, famous comedian, singer, actor, and television personality, Wayne Brady was born. Brady is known for his work as a regular character on the […]
June 2, 1863: In the early morning hours, Harriet Tubman guided three steamboats around Confederate mines in the waters leading to the shore. Once ashore, the Union troops set fire to the plantations, destroying infrastructure and seizing thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies. When the steamboats sounded their whistles, slaves throughout the area […]
Edward “Bearcat” Wright was a second generation boxer and wrestler. He became best known as the first Black World Heavyweight champion in a wrestling promotion. Finishing his 8-0 boxing career in the late 1950s, he made his wrestling debut in 1959. His hottest period was the 1960s. His 6’6, 275lbs frame made him the perfect heel […]
Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter is a novel by William Wells Brown (1815-84), a fugitive from slavery and abolitionist and was published in London, England in December 1853. It is often considered the first African-American novel. This novel focuses on the difficult lives of mulattoes in America and the “degraded and immoral condition of the […]
BY WALTER OPINDE WGPR-TV was the first African-American fully owned and operated television station in the U.S., which kicked into the air on September 29, 1975, when it made its first broadcast. WGPR-TV stood for “Where God’s Presence Radiates,” and the station, situated in Detroit, Michigan, was founded by William Banks Venoid. The station first […]
At Black Then, we frequently see interesting photos that give us a glimpse into the past. They tend to show us a piece of black history that is often not covered in textbooks, in history classes, or shown in the media. In a photo that we found on Black History Album , we see this […]
William Wells Brown was born in Lexington, Ky. His mother was a slave and, according to tradition, the daughter of Daniel Boone, the frontiersman. His father was the owner of the plantation on which William was born. While still a boy William was hired out to the captain of a St. Louis steamboat in the […]
Philip Parris Lynott—best known as Phil Lynott—was the lead singer and bassist of the Irish hard rock and later heavy metal band Thin Lizzy. Lynott was born August 20, 1949 in Staffordshire, England. His mother Philomena Lynott was born in Ireland while his father Cecil Parris was born in British Guiana—now Guyana. EARLY MUSIC CAREER Young […]
Dubbed the “Bronze Muse” in honor of her skills as both a writer and lecturer, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper is regarded as one of the most extraordinarily accomplished African American women of the nineteenth century. She was, for example, a respected poet whose ten volumes of verse sold well enough to provide her with a […]
