Calendar

TULSA MASSACRE (5/31/1921)

Patricia Roberts Harris

Verrett (1931-2010) was an operatic mezzo-soprano who established herself as a soprano sfogato, mastering both vocal ranges with extraordinary power and flexibility throughout her celebrated career. She rose to international prominence from the late 1960s through the 1990s, earning particular acclaim for her commanding interpretations of Verdi and Donizetti heroines, along with definitive portrayals of roles like Carmen, Tosca, and Lady Macbeth.

Author

Josephine Baker

Country Singer

US Foreign Service Officer

Spelman College and Yale Law School graduate, the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar (1964), founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and the first woman alum elected to the Yale University Corporation, Marian Wright Edelman has dedicated her life to advocating for children's rights and serving her community.

On May 1, 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and became the first African American to win a Pulitzer.

Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni

Artist and Sculptor

Biopic based on the Life of Tina Turner.

School Desegregation Advocate.

Academy Award winner for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

The first black American to host her own TV show, The Hazel Scott Show

Educator, Palmer Memorial Institute

Considered the second African American woman to become a licensed architect in the U.S.

A 1959 tragedy starring Marpessa Dawn. It is based on the Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during Carnaval.

Decided June 12, 2967. In 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving were arrested and jailed for violating Virginia's Racial Integrity Act, which banned marriages between individuals classified as "white" and "colored." The Lovings first challenged the constitutionality of the Act in the Virginia Supreme Court. After the state court upheld the law, the Lovings appealed to the United States Supreme Court, arguing that Virginia's anti-miscegenation law violated the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Government

Actress

Composer, Pianist.

Tony award winning actress.

Known as the "Queen Mother" and "Matriarch of Black Dance", Dunham (1909-2006) pioneered a new form of artistic expression by fusing her anthropological studies of Caribbean cultures with modern dance techniques, creating the Dunham Technique which is still widely taught today. She formed one of the first black ballet companies, the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, through which she showcased the beauty and power of the Dunham Technique's African diasporic dance movements. One of the company's celebrated works was the 1948 piece Caribbean Rhapsody, which featured a remarkable performance by the then 21-year-old Eartha Kitt. The company also achieved acclaim through Broadway and Hollywood performances that brought the Dunham Technique to global audiences.

Sci-Fi

Track & Field

Starring Dorothy Dandridge and Sydney Potier.

Actress

Novelist, Sculptor

Fashion, Play Boy Bunny Outfit

An ensemble cast starring Halle Berry, Robin Givens, Eartha Kitt, Tisha Campbell, and Eddie Murphy.