People, Locations, Episodes

C. T. Vivian, Minister born

*C. T. Vivian was born on this date in 1924.  He was a Black minister, author, and activist.   Cordy Tindell Vivian was born in Boonville, Missouri.  As a small boy, he migrated with his mother to Macomb, Illinois, where he attended Lincoln Grade School and Edison Junior High School. Vivian graduated from Macomb High […]

Rev. John Cross Jr., Activist born

*The Reverend John H. Cross, Jr. was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American minister and activist.

From Haynes, Arkansas he was the son of Margie Ann and John H. Cross Sr. He attended elementary school at Spring Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Haynes, Arkansas and Lincoln High School in Forrest City, Arkansas. As a teenager, Cross gave his trial sermon and was ordained at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church. After high school, in 1944, Cross entered the United States Army as an Assistant Regimental Chaplain.

The New Everdale Baptist Church is Formed

*On this date in 1925 the New Everdale Baptist Church was built. This is one of the oldest Black churches in Alabama.

Ralph Abernathy, Minister, and Activist born

*This date marks the birth of Ralph David Abernathy in 1926. He was an African American minister, and civil rights leader.

James Reeb, Minister, and Activist born

*On this date, in 1927, James Reeb was born.  He was a white-American minister, pastor, and activist.   James Reeb was born in Wichita, Kansas, to Mae (Fox) and Harry Reeb.  He was raised in Kansas and Casper, Wyoming.  He attended Natrona County High School and graduated in 1945, after which he joined the Army despite the fact that his commitment to the ministry made him exempt from service. […]

Michael E. Haynes, Minister and Activist born

*Michael E. Haynes was born on this date in 1927. He was a Black minister, politician, and activist from Boston, MA. Taught daily by a praying mother, he surrendered his life to Christ as a teenager. In the following decades, Haynes passionately represented his Savior to the city of Boston as a youth director, teacher, […]

Dorothy Coates, Gospel Vocalist born

*Dorothy Coates was born on this date in 1928.  She was a Black gospel vocalist.  Born Dorothy McGriff in Birmingham, Alabama, she was one of seven children of a minister.  She sang in local churches and started a family group, the Royal Gospel Singers, as a teenager.  Coates joined the Gospel Harmonettes, a well-known Birmingham […]

Robert Graetz, Pastor, and Activist born

*Robert Graetz was born on this date in 1928. He was a white-American Lutheran clergyman and activist.  Robert S. Graetz, of German descent, was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and educated in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, in 1950 and received a B.D. in 1955 from Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary […]

Oba Adefunmi, Spiritual Leader born

*Oba Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi was born on this date in 1928.  was a Black priest (spiritual leader), historian, and activist.   Born Walter Eugene King, he was from Detroit, Michigan. King had been baptized at the age of 12. He left the Baptist faith at age 16, became interested in African culture, and began African studies.  At age 20, King traveled to Haiti in 1954 to study Haitian […]

The Dixie Hummingbirds, Gospel Group is Formed

The founding of the Dixie Hummingbirds in 1928 is celebrated on this date. They are an African American Gospel singing group.

Martin Luther King Jr., Minister, and Visionary born

This date marks the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1929. He was an African American minister and activist.

Israel Dresner, Rabbi, and Activist born

*Israel Dresner was born on this date in 1929. He was a white Jewish-American Reform rabbi and global activist. Israel Seymour Dresner was born on the Lower East Side of New York City. He was raised in Brooklyn, attending an Orthodox yeshiva (day school). At the age of 13, he joined Habonim Dror, a Labor […]

Barbara Harris, Bishop born

On this date in 1930, Barbara Harris, the first woman ordained a bishop in the Anglican Communion, was born.

Rastafarianism, a story

*Rastafarianism is affirmed on this date in 1930.  Also known as Rastafari and the Rastafari movement, it is a religion developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. No central authority controls the movement, and much diversity exists among practitioners, […]

The Nation Of Islam is Founded

On this date in1930, E. Muhammad established the Nation of Islam (NOI).

Founded in Detroit, the NOI (at the time) started with 250,000 thousand Blacks. Earlier that year (on July 4) Master W. Fard Muhammad appeared in that city. He preached that God is one, and it was now time for Blacks to return to the religion of their ancestors, Islam.