Heavenly blessed birthday wishes Elizabeth Josephine Brown! Born June 12, 1839 Elizabeth Josephine Brown was the daughter and biographer of escaped African-American slave William Wells Brown and his first wife Elizabeth Schooner. Josephine’s account, Biography of an American Bondman, by His Daughter, was published in Boston by R. F. Wallcut in 1856. She died in 1874.
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Manning Marable! Born May 13, 1950, Manning Marable was an African American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University. He founded and directed the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. He passed away in 2011.
His most notable work is Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (2011). He was posthumously awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for History for this work.
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Coretta Scott King! Born April 27, 1927, Coretta Scott King was the founder of The King Center, a human/civil rights activist, wife and mother, she also was an author. Here are a few of her notable books.
Happy birthday Rita Williams-Garcia! Born April 13, Rita Williams-Garcia is an award winning children’s and young adult author. Her notable books include One Crazy Summer, She Persisted-Florence Griffith Joyner, and A Sitting in St. James.
Born March 18, Michael S. Harper was a poet and English professor at Brown University, who was the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island from 1988 to 1993. His poetry was influenced by jazz and history. Some of his notable works:
Below is a biography of Michael S. Harper
Born March 17, Bayard Rustin was a political activist and principal organizer of the March on Washington. Here are a few books by and about Bayard Rustin.
Born March 8, Mel Watkins is an author, critic and a former staff member of the New York Times. He is known for this book, Stepin Fetchit, the Life and Times of Lincoln Perry. He has written a book about comedy, On the Real Side and his memoir, Dancing with Strangers.
Born March 3, Lawrence Dunbar Reddick was an African American historian, professor, and author of the first biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Earlier today, I learned of the passing of Jesse Jackson. Here are a few books that honor his life and legacy.
Born January 24, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was was an Afro-Puerto Rican historian who moved to the United States and spent his life collecting materials demonstrating the accomplishments of the African diaspora and the scope of Black history.
His book: The Negro: A Selected Bibliography
Biography 1: Diasporic Blackness The Life and Times of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg by Vanessa K. Valdes
Biography 2: Arturo Alfonso Schomburg by Elinor Des Verney Sinnette
Biography 3 (A children’s book): Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Eric Velasquez.
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 