People, Locations, Episodes

Nikole Hannah-Jones, Journalist born

*Nikole Hannah-Jones was born on this date in 1976. She is a Black investigative journalist and editor. Nikole Sheri Hannah-Jones was born in Waterloo, Iowa, to Father Milton Hannah, who is black, and Mother Cheryl A. Novotny, who is white. She is the second of three girls and was raised Catholic. Hannah-Jones and her sister […]

Jericho Brown, Poet, and Educator born

*Jericho Brown was born on this date in 1976. He is a Black poet and writer. Born Nelson Demery III, he was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. Brown later changed his name and graduated from Dillard University, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity through the Beta Phi chapter in 1995. He also graduated from the University of New […]

Rosemary Sadlier, Author, and Activist born

*Rosemary Sadlier was born on this date in 1977. She is a Black Canadian social justice activist, researcher, author, and consultant.  Born and raised in Toronto, she has teaching and social work degrees. Her roots in Canada reach back to pre-Confederation: her mother’s family can be traced to 1840, while her father’s ancestors arrived in […]

Ijeoma Oluo, Information Literacy Ambassador born

*Ijeoma Oluo was born on this date in 1980. She is a Black writer, Information Literacy Ambassador, and poet. From Denton, Texas, her father, Samuel Lucky Onwuzip Oluo, is from Nigeria and Black, and her mother, Susan Jane Hawley, from Kansas, is white. Her younger brother is jazz musician Ahamefule J. Oluo.   She married Chad […]

Monica Carrillo, Afro Peruvian Activist born

*Monica Carrillo was born on this date in 1984.  She is an Afro Peruvian poet and activist.  She is from the community of Chincha, Peru. She holds a degree in journalism from the National University of San Marcos in Peru and received her degree in political journalism and cultural analysis from the University of Antonio […]

Black Poetry Day is Celebrated

This date is Black Poetry Day established in 1985. An unofficial holiday, it celebrates past and present poets like Langston Hughes, Phillis Wheatley, Frank X. Walker and Maya Angelou.

This day is not officially endorsed by an American city, state, or federal government, but it has gained fame and grown because of its importance in black heritage, in literacy, and in community meaning. Schools and the general public are asked to spend this day appreciating African American authors and spreading the word of Black poets through friends, family members, and throughout the world.

The First Black Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature

On this date in 1986, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Wole Soyinka. Soyinka is perhaps Africa’s most versatile and eclectic intellectual–a playwright, poet, novelist, literary and social critic. He has authored over 40 works.

Fanna Norrby, Writer, and Lecturer born

*Fanna Norrby was born on this date in 1990. She is an Afro Swedish (Black Swede) freelance writer, lecturer, and activist. Fanna Ndow Norrby was born in Stockholm and has studied strategic communication and public relations at Berghs school of communication. In 2015, she released the book Black Woman via the book publisher Natur och […]

‘Days of Rondo’ is Published

*On this date in 1990, Days of Rondo was published. The Days of Rondo by Evelyn Fairbanks is an interpretive account of events in the life of her family struggling for survival and meaning in a northern city. In the 1930s and the 1940s, the Rondo community was at the heart of St. Paul, Minnesota’s largest black neighborhood. African […]

Daughters Of Africa is Published

*Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present celebrated this date in 1992. This book is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, who compared assembling […]

The Bell Curve (the book) is Published

*The Bell Curve was published on this date in 1994. This book was and remains highly controversial, primarily where the authors discussed purported connections between race and intelligence and suggested policy implications based on these purported connections. Its full title, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, was by psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein […]

Ariana Brown, Blaxican Poet born

*The birth of Ariana Brown is celebrated on this date in 1995. She is a Gay, Blaxican author, spoken word artist, and poet. Brown was born in San Antonio, Texas. Her father was African American, and her mother is Mexican American. Brown identifies as a Black Mexican American person. She is queer and has an older sister. […]

Amanda Gorman, Poet born

*Amanda Gorman was born on this date in 1998.  She is a Black poet and activist. Amanda S. C. Gorman was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1998 and was raised by her mother, Joan Wicks, a teacher, with her two siblings. She has a twin sister, Gabrielle, who is a filmmaker. Gorman has said she grew […]

Aesop, an Original Storyteller born

Aesop, an ancient and famous Black storyteller, was born on this day around 620 BC. Aesop is known for his stories, which are called “Aesop’s Fables,” which have become a blanket term for collections of brief fables, usually involving anthropomorphic animals.

Aesop was a Black slave of Iadmon,located in the south of Greece near northern Africa. Most accounts describe Aesop as a deformed man whose name came from the Greek word Aethiops which means Ethiopia.

Broadside Lotus Press is Formed

*On this date, 2015, it was announced that Lotus Press would merge with Broadside Press, forming the new Broadside Lotus Press.    Dudley Randall founded this Black-owned literature publisher in 1965 in Detroit, and Naomi Long Madgett’s Lotus Press was founded in Detroit in 1972. These two writers and publishers created the oldest Black-owned presses […]