People, Locations, Episodes

Nathan Wright Jr., Activist born

*Nathan Wright Jr. was born on this date in 1923.  He was a Black author, minister, activist, and educator. He was from Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up with his twin brother Benjamin Hickman Wright and their sisters in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Nathan Wright Sr., was an insurance agent and the executive secretary of the […]

Hoyt Fuller, Author, and Editor born

 *Hoyt W. Fuller was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black editor, educator, critic, and author. Hoyt William Fuller was born in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1927, his mother, Lillie Beatrice Ellafair Thomas, died. Shortly afterward, the same year, Fuller’s father, Thomas Fuller, died. Young Fuller went to live with his aunt in […]

Nadine Gordimer, Activist, and Author born

*Nadine Gordimer was born on this date in 1923. She was a White Jewish author and anti apartheid activist.

E. J. Josey, Librarian Advocate born

*E. J. Josey was born on this date in 1924. He was a Black activist and librarian. He was born Elonnie Junius Josey in Norfolk, Virginia, to Willie and Frances Bailey Josey. He graduated from Howard University in 1949 and received his master’s in History from Columbia University in 1950. A master’s in librarianship from the University […]

Can Themba, South African Writer born

*Can Themba was born on this date in 1924. He was a Black South African activist and short-story writer. Daniel Canodoise “Can” Themba was born in Marabastad, near Pretoria, South Africa. The town was destroyed under the provisions of the apartheid Group Areas Act, which reassigned ethnic groups to new areas. He was a Fort […]

James Baldwin, Author, and Critic born

James Arthur Baldwin was born on this date in 1924. He was an African American novelist and essayist.

Robert F. Williams, Civil Rights Leader, and Author born

*Robert F. Williams was born on this date in 1925. He was a Black civil rights leader and author. Robert Franklin Williams was born in Monroe, North Carolina, to Emma Carter and John L. Williams, who worked as a railroad boiler washer. He had two sisters, Lorraine Garlington and Jessie Link, and two brothers, John […]

The ‘New Negro'(Literary Collection) is Published

*The publication of The New Negro: An Interpretation is celebrated on this date in 1925. This is an anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays on African and African American art and literature edited by Alain Locke. This collection of creative efforts came from the New Negro Movement or Harlem Renaissance; literary scholars and critics consider the book to be […]

Bob Kaufman, Poet born

Bob Kaufman was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American poet.

He was born Robert Garnell Kaufman in New Orleans, LA. He has been described as an “innovative poet” and an important writer who gained his prominence during the “Beat period.” As a youth, Kaufman had the opportunity to gain exposure to a wide variety of religions. His father was German-Jewish, his mother was Roman Catholic and his grandmother was a practitioner of voodoo. Eventually however, Kaufman developed an interest in eastern religions and like many of the other Beat writers, became a Buddhist.

Franz Fanon, Writer born

*Frantz Fanon was born on this date in 1925.  He was an Afro Caribbean author, psychiatrist, and political philosopher.  Frantz Omar Fanon was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique.   His father, Félix Casimir Fanon, was a descendant of African slaves and worked as a customs agent. His mother, Eléanore Médélice, was Afro Martinique […]

Carl Rowan, News Writer born

*Carl Rowan was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American federal cabinet member, international ambassador and nationally known syndicated newspaper columnist.

Rowan was born in Ravencroft, Tennessee, but his family soon moved to nearby McMinuville, where he was reared. He graduated in 1942 from Bernard High as valedictorian and president of a class of 13 students. In 1942, he enrolled at Tennessee A&I, now Tennessee State University. Two years later, during World War II, Mr. Rowan passed a competitive exam to become one of the first Blacks in Naval officer training.

Geneva H. Southall, Musician, Author, and Teacher born

On this date in 1925, Geneva Handy Southall was born. She was an African American musician, educator, activist, and author.

Hans Massaqoui, Journalist born

*Hans Massaquoi was born on this date in 1926. He was a Black German-American journalist and author. Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi was born in Hamburg, Germany, to Bertha Baetz a white German mother, and Al-Haj Massaquoi a Liberian his father the grandson of the consul general of Liberia in Germany at the time. Massaquoi enjoyed a relatively happy childhood […]

Yolanda Vargas Dulché, Writer born

 *Yolanda Vargas Dulché de la Parra was born on this date in 1926. She was a Mexican writer principally known for creating the comic book character of Memín Pinguín and various telenovelas for Mexican television. Vargas Dulché was born to parents Armando Vargas de la Maza and Josefina Dulché in Mexico City, along with one sister, Elba. The family […]

Anthony Sampson, Writer born

*Anthony Sampson was born on this date in 1926. He was a white British writer and journalist. Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson was born in Billingham, County Durham, and was educated at Westminster School. In 1944 he joined the Royal Navy, and by the time he left in 1947, he was a sub-lieutenant in the RN […]