VIA: ShaniDavis.Com Shani Davis was born on Friday, August 13, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois. Raised by his mother on the city’s south side, he started roller-skating at local rinks at age two. By age three Shani was darting around the roller rink so fast that skate guards would chase him just to ask him to […]
VIA: ICDC.Com THE FBI’S COVERT ACTION PROGRAM TO DESTROY THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY INTRODUCTION In August 1967, the FBI initiated a covert action program — COINTELPRO — to disrupt and “neutralize” organizations which the Bureau characterized as “Black Nationalist Hate Groups.” 1 The FBI memorandum expanding the program described its goals as: 1. Prevent a […]
VIA: TYLERPERRY.COM Tyler Perry is by all means, a Renaissance man. He’s an actor, director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is a true American success story. Tyler Perry’s inspirational journey from the hard streets of New Orleans to the heights of Hollywood’s A-list is the stuff of American legend. Born into poverty and raised in […]
VIA: JackieRobinson.Com Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only black family on their block, and the prejudice they encountered only strengthened their bond. From this humble beginning would grow the first […]
VIA: TheGrio.Com The Hysterectomy is one of the most invasive procedures in the medical practice, and Tony Hansberry has invented a device that will do the post surgery stitching with minimal chances of complications or harm. Sounds like something a seasoned physician developed, but it’s actually something a 15-year-old high school student named Tony Hansberry […]
A team of investigators hired by the D.C. City Council accused council member Marion Barry of public corruption Tuesday for securing a $15,000 contract for his ex-girlfriend and taking a cut for himself. Although Barry has run into legal trouble in the past — including convictions for drug possession and failure to pay local and […]
VIA: TheKennedyCenter.Org (singer; born February 27, 1897, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Most Americans best remember Marian Anderson for her conscience-grabbing concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939 after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall, an arena that, from 1935 to 1952, opened its doors to white artists only. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, appalled […]
VIA: RedHotJazz.Com Mamie Smith was the first to record blues songs in 1920 with her versions of Perry Bradford’s “Crazy Blues”, and “It’ s Right Here for You” on Okeh Records. The record was a wild success, selling over a million copies in less than a year, and finally ending up selling over two million […]
VIA: NAACP.Org The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing horrific practice of lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, the capital of Illinois and resting place of President Abraham Lincoln. Appalled at the violence that was committed against blacks, a group of white liberals that included Mary White Ovington and Oswald […]
VIA: EncyclopediaOfChicago.Org Oscar DePriest was born in Florence, Alabama, to ex-slaves. He arrived in Chicago in 1889. DePriest worked as a painter and decorator, reportedly on occasion passing for white to get a job. He developed his own contracting business and began participating in community affairs. He began his political career as a precinct secretary, […]