People, Locations, Episodes

Charles Fuller, Playwright born

*Charles Fuller was born on this date in 1939. He is an African American playwright.

From Philadelphia, Fuller is the son of Charles H., a printer, and Lillian (Anderson) Fuller. From 1956-1958, young Fuller attended Villanova University, and from 1965-1968, LaSalle College where he earned a D.F.A..

Toni Bambara, Writer, and Activist born

*Toni Cade Bambara was born on this date in 1939. She was an African American writer, civil-rights activist, and teacher who wrote about the concerns of the African American community.

Cherry Muhanji, Poet, and Educator born

*Cherry Muhanji was born this date in 1939. She is an African American poet and writer.

Al Young, Poet, and Educator born

Al Young was born on this date in 1939. He is an African American writer and educator.

Born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Young’s family lived there until his father was discharged from the Navy. Then the entire family moved to Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from high school, Young attended the University of Michigan where he majored in Spanish. In 1961, Young moved to San Francisco where he pursued a music career and worked as a disc jockey, writing instructor, and held various jobs to make ends meet between musical gigs.

Delbert Tibbs, Writer, and Incarceration Activist born

*Delbert Tibbs was born on this date in 1939. He was an African American writer and anti-death penalty activist.

Barbara Chase-Riboud, Artist, and Author born

*Barbara Chase-Riboud was born on this date in 1939. She is a Black visual artist and sculptor, novelist, and poet. Barbara Chase was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was the only child of Vivian May Chase, a histology technician, and Charles Edward Chase, a contractor. Chase displayed an early talent for the arts and began attending the […]

Willie Kgositsile, Educator, and Writer born

*Willie Kgositsile was born on this date in 1938. He is an African poet, educator, and activist.

Primus St. John, Writer, and Teacher born

*The birth of Primus St. John is celebrated on this date in 1939. He is a Black writer and educator.  Born in New York City, New York, St. John attended the University of Maryland and Lewis and Clark College. His collections of poetry include Communion: Poems, 1976-1998 (Copper Canyon Press, 1999), which won the Western States Book […]

Sterling Plumpp, Poet, and Educator born

*Sterling Plumpp was born on this date in 1940. He is an African American poet, and educator.

From in Clinton, Mississippi, he was reared by his maternal grandparents, Mattie and Victor Emmanuel. They were sharecroppers, and Plumpp and his brother worked the fields with their grandparents. He and his family lived about ten miles from school, and there were no buses for them to ride. As a result, they did not start school until they were eight and nine years old, and able to walk the distance. As a young boy, Plumpp never attended school a full year.

Anne Moody, Writer, and Activist born

*Anne Moody was born on this date in 1940. She is an African American writer.

From Wilkinson County, Mississippi. She is the daughter of Fred and Elmire Moody, and the oldest of nine children. Moody felt the pains of racism at an early age. She had to clean houses as a child to help her family to afford food and clothing. She attended segregated schools, where she received good grades. After graduating from high school, Moody received a basketball scholarship to Natchez Junior College in 1961.

Toi Derricotte, Author born

Toi Derricotte was born on this date in 1941. She is an African American writer.

From Hamtramck, Michigan, “toy dare-i-cot”; Derricotte is the daughter of Benjamin Sweeney Webster and Antonia Webster Cyrus. She studied special education at Wayne State University, where she earned a B.A., and studied English literature and creative writing at New York University, where she received her M.A.

Sue Sojourner, Writer, Activist, and Journalist born

*Sue Sojourner was born on this date in 1941. she is a white Jewish-American author, activist, and historian. Susan Hasalo was born in Chicago, Ill. Her mother, Bess, Father, Bernard, sister Muriel, and brother Bud moved around, but Sue always looked back fondly on her high school days in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Class of 19. Sojourner’ […]

John Edgar Wideman, Writer, and Educator born

*John Edgar Wideman was born on this date in 1941. He is an African American writer and educator.

From Washington, D.C., shortly before his first birthday, his family moved to Homewood, a black community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that has been the locale of much of his writings. He attended Peabody High, one of Pittsburgh’s best secondary schools. There, he excelled in his studies as well as in sports.

James Loewen, Writer, and Scociologist born

*James Loewen was born on this date in 1942.  He was a white-American sociologist, historian, and author.  James William Loewen was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Winifred and David F. Loewen. His mother was a librarian and teacher, and his father was a medical director and doctor.  He graduated in 1960 from MacArthur High School […]

Wilbert Rideau, Author born

*Wilbert Rideau was born on this date in 1942.  He is a former Black death row inmate, author, and prison journalist.   From Lawtell, Louisiana, when he was six, his family moved to Lake Charles near the Texas border. Rideau grew up in the Jim Crow South; he attended the all-black Second Ward Elementary School. […]