People, Locations, Episodes

Bobby Seale, Black Panther Activist born

*Bobby Seale was born on this date in 1936. He is an African American political activist co-founder and national chairman of the Black Panther Party and author.

Leonard Jeffries Jr. Pan-Africanist born

*On this date in 1937, Leonard Jeffries Jr. was born.  He is a Black educator and Pan-African advocate.   He was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Jeffries attended Lafayette College for his undergraduate work. While in Lafayette, Jeffries pledged and was accepted into Pi Lambda Phi, a fraternity with a large number of Jewish members.  In his senior year, Jeffries was elected […]

The Southern Negro Youth Congress is Founded

*On this date in 1937, The Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC) was founded.  Established in 1937 at a conference in Richmond, Virginia, the Southern Negro Youth Congress consisted of young leaders participating in the National Negro Congress.  The first gathering of the SNYC consisted of a wide range of individuals. Such individuals as representatives from almost all the HBCUs […]

Ruben ‘Hurricane’ Carter, Boxer born

*Rubin Carter was born on this date in 1937. He was an African American professional boxer and criminal justice advocate.

Charles Sherrod, Minister, and Educator born

*This date in 1937 is celebrated as the birth date of Charles Sherrod, a Black activist, educator, and minister.    Charles Sherrod was born in Surry, Virginia, and was raised by his Baptist grandmother. As a young boy, he sang in a choir and attended Sunday school at church. When he was older, he became a […]

Bruce Boynton, Lawyer, and Activist born

*Bruce Boynton was born on this date in 1937.  He was a Black lawyer and civil rights leader.  Bruce Carver Boynton grew up in Selma, Alabama. His parents were civil rights activists, known in their community as Mr. and Mrs. Civil Rights because of their participation.  He was named after his Godfather, George Washington Carver. He […]

Jean Augustine, Administrator born

*On this date in 1937, Jean Augustine was born.  She is a Black Canadian educational administrator, advocate for social justice and politician. Jean Augustine was born in 1937 in Grenada but immigrated to Canada in 1960 under the West Indian Domestic Scheme.  She studied at the University of Toronto, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education. After university, she worked as an elementary school […]

Sandra ‘Casey’ Cason, Activist born

*Sandra Cason “Casey” Hayden was born on this date in 1937. She was a white-American radical student activist and civil rights worker in the 1960s and is still active. As a fourth-generation Texan, she was born Sandra Cason in Austin, Texas. She was raised in Victoria, Texas, in a “multigenerational matriarchal family” by her mother, […]

Elbert Howard, Black Panther Activist born

*Elbert Howard was born on this date in 1938. He was a Black activist, author, and founding member of the Black Panther Party. Howard was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Anderson and Emma (Hawkshaw) Howard. In 1956 he enlisted in the Air Force. He served four years, and when honorably discharged at Travis Air Force Base […]

Diane Nash, Activist born

*Diane Nash was born on this date in 1938. She is an African American activist, lecturer and businesswoman.

Charles McDew, Activist and Educator born

*Charles McDew was born on this date in1938. He is an African American educator and activist.

From Massillion, Ohio, he led his first demonstration in the eighth grade, to protest violations of the religious freedom of Amish students in his hometown. As a student at South Carolina State College he became involved in the civil rights movement. This included a campaign against segregated lunch counters in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1960.

David Sibeko, Activist born

*David Sibeko was born on this date in 1938. He was a Black South African writer and activist. David Bambatha Maphgumzana Sibeko was from Johannesburg, South Africa, and began his political career as a journalist for the black South African Magazine Drum. During his tenure with that magazine, he became a leading figure within the […]

Dorothy Pittman Hughes, Women’s and Family Activist born

*Dorothy Pitman Hughes on this date in 1938. she was a Black feminist, child-welfare advocate, activist, public speaker, author, and small business owner. Dorothy Jean Ridley was born in Lumpkin, Georgia. When she was ten years old, her father was beaten and left for dead on the family’s doorstep by the Ku Klux Klan members. […]

Herchelle Challenor, Foreign Policy Activist born

*Herchelle Challenor was born on this date in 1938.  She is a Black foreign policy expert, international civil servant, and university administrator.  Herchelle Sullivan Challenor is the second child of Atlanta natives. Her mother and aunts graduated from Spelman College, and her father graduated from Morehouse College.  While Challenor was born in Atlanta, the Sullivan family moved to Pittsburgh when her father enrolled in […]

Fela Kuti, Musician and Nigerian Activist born

*Fela Kuti was born on this date in 1938. He was a Black multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti was born into the Ransome-Kuti family, an upper-middle-class family in Abeokuta, Nigeria. His mother, Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a Nigerian women’s rights activist.  His father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, was an Anglican […]