People, Locations, Episodes

Sekou Sundiata, Writer, and Teacher born

Sekou Sundiata was born on this date in 1948. He was an African American poet who writes for print, performance, music, and theater and he is a teacher.

Born Robert Feaster in Harlem, NY, he changed his name to Sekou Sundiata in the late 1960s to honor his African heritage. He taught at New York City’s New School. Famous students include musicians Ani DiFranco and Mike Doughty.

Sundiata graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the City College of New York in 1972 before successfully completing a master’s degree in creative writing from the City University of New York.

Ntozake Shange, Author, and Educator born

Ntozake Shange was born on this date in 1948. She is an African American playwright, author, and educator.

Ahmos Zu-Bolton II, a Writer, and Teacher born

*Ahmos Zu-Bolton II was born in this date in 1948. He was an African American poet, playwright, educator, editor, and publisher of African American culture.

Theresa Venable, Librarian and Administrator born.

*Theresa Venable was born on this date in 1948.  She is a Black educator, historian, and retired librarian. From Knoxville, TN, Theresa Evans Venable earned a B.S. in Elementary Education and an M.S. in Information Sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. For thirty years, she was an elementary and middle school reading and […]

Pearl Cleage, Writer born.

Pearl Cleage, an African American writer, was born in Springfield, MA, on this date in 1948.

Gil Scott Heron, Poet, and Musician born

Gil Scott Heron was born on this date in 1949. He was an African American poet, lyricist, musician, and activist.

Thulani Davis, Writer born

The birth of Thulani Davis in 1948 is celebrated on this date. She is an African American writer, educator, and journalist.

She grew up in a home of educators in Virginia;

Gayle Jones, Writer born

*Gayle Jones was born on this date in 1949.  She is a Black writer. Jones is from Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Franklin and Lucille Jones. She grew up in Speigle Heights, a neighborhood, in a house with no indoor toilet. Her father was a restaurant cook, and her mother, who wished to be a writer, stayed home.  She […]

Gloria Naylor, Author born

*Gloria Naylor was born on this date in 1950. She is an African American author.

Bebe Moore, Writer, and Journalist born

*Bebe Moore was born on this date in 1950. She was an African American teacher, journalist, and novelist.

Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell Gordon was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, the only child of Doris Moore and George L. P. Moore. She was educated in the Philadelphia Public Schools, graduating from the Philadelphia High School for Girls.

The First Black Wins The Pulitzer Prize For Poetry

On this date in 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry, “Annie Allen.”

Melvin Dixon, Author, and Professor born

*Melvin Dixon was born on this date in 1950. He was a Black Gay Professor of Literature and an author, poet, and translator. He wrote about Black gay men. Melvin Dixon was born in Stamford, Connecticut. Although he was born and raised in the Northeast, his parents were from the South. Dixon acquired an uncanny […]

Alexs Pate, Author, and Educator born

*Alexs Pate was born on this date in 1950. He is a Black Author and educator. He was born in Philadelphia, PA. From 1999 to 201, he was on the University of Southern Maine faculty and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Pate has published five novels to date. His best-known work is […]

Gloria Wekker, Academic and Writer born

*Gloria Wekker was born on this date in 1950. She is an Afro Surinamese Dutch gender activist, emeritus professor, and writer. Gloria Daisy Wekker was born in Paramaribo, Suriname. Her family migrated to the Netherlands when she was a one-year-old infant and lived in a neighborhood in Amsterdam that had formerly been predominantly Jewish before WWI. […]

The Harlem Writers Guild, a story

*The Harlem Writers Guild (HWG) is celebrated on this date in 1950. HWG is the oldest organization of Black writers in America. It was initially established as the Harlem Writers Club by John Oliver Killens, Rosa Guy, John Henrik Clarke, Willard Moore, and Walter Christmas. During the 1920s and 1930s, many southern African Americans traveled to Northern urban […]