Happy birthday Tracy K. Smith! Celebrating her birthday April 16, Tracy K. Smith is Pulitzer Award Winner and the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States. Here are a few of her notable works.





Happy birthday Tracy K. Smith! Celebrating her birthday April 16, Tracy K. Smith is Pulitzer Award Winner and the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States. Here are a few of her notable works.





Blessed heavenly birthday Booker Taliaferro Washington! Born April 5, Booker T. Washington was an educator, author, founder and first president of what is now Tuskegee University. Known for Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington wrote several books. Here are just a few:




Happy heavenly birthday Dr. Maya Angelou! Born April 4, Dr. Angelou was a poet, activist, professor and more. Her iconic/classic poem, “Still I Rise”, is as relevant today as it was when it was first written and published.





Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins was born in Portland, Maine in 1859. She was a playwright, journalist, novelist, historian, editor, feminist, public intellectual, supporter of the arts, and an outspoken crusader for African American rights. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes and is best known for her 1900 novel Contending Forces: A Romance of Negro Life North and South.



Born March 24, 1896, John Mason Brewer was an African American folklorist, scholar, teacher, and author. He was a pioneer in the field of folklore and most of his folklore was centered around Texas.




Born March 25, 1939, Toni Cade Bambara was a writer, teacher, and activist. She passed away in 1995. Here are some of her notable works:





Happy birthday Kalamu ya Salaam! He celebrates his 79th birthday today! Kalamu ya Salaam is a poet, author, filmmaker, and teacher from the 9th Ward of New Orleans. A well-known activist and social critic, Salaam has spoken out on a number of racial and human rights issues. Here are a few of his works:






Celebrating his 83rd birthday March 22, Houston A. Baker, Jr. is a scholar s an American scholar specializing in African-American literature and Distinguished University Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. Here are a few of his books:





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