Josephine Baker (1906-1975)

Growing up Josephine Baker always dreamed about the glamour of theater. Living in the slums of St. Louis made her obstacles seem harder to overcome, especially being pulled out of school before she was ten years old -- but she harboured the talent and courage to follow her dreams.

Baker joined a traveling dance troupe when she was 16 years old. In 1923, she earned a spot in the Broadway show "Shuffle Along". Then two years later in Paris she starred in, "La Revue Negre".

Paris loved Baker and she loved Paris in return, as she was often known for her exotic prowess, stage presence, voluptuous body, deep red lipstick, and her outrageous personality.

The talented dancer was rooted in politics, and found herself taking courageous stands against racism. She received the "Medal of the Resistance" and the "Legion of Honor" awards for her activism efforts.

2008 LA

Daniel A.P. Murray (1852-1925)

Daniel A. P. Murray was a librarian, historian, and businessman. Murray believed that "the true test of progress of a people is to be found in their literature."

He decided he wanted to do his part to preserve the written record of African American voices, so they wouldn't be lost among main stream American history.

Murray began his mission of devoting his life to collecting and documenting Black literature. He was employed by the Library of Congress, and there he developed his professional skills as a scholar and bibliographer.

A main office duty of Murray's was to secure a copy of every book and pamphlet in existence by a Black author, to exhibit at the Paris Exposition in 1900. 

Because of Murray's efforts there are now over 1,500 books and pamphlets apart of the library's holdings. The information contained provides strong documentation of African American life during the fifty years following emancipation.

Thank you Daniel A. P. Murray, because of you people have access to resources which reveals truth about African American people, the horrid struggles they endured, and the lives they led.

2008 LA

Dr. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (1929-1968)

Martin Luther King Jr., was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to a family of Baptist ministers. He lead some of the most important Civil Rights campaigns in the 1950s and 1960s. 

King spoke of American democracy and used Gandhian tactics, of non-violent resistance to minimize bloodshed. He tried very hard to break the institutionalized racial segregation and fought hard to support racial equality.

In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; the youngest person to ever receive this honor. King described his life long work, "as a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice."

King was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he led six thousand protesters on a march in support of sanitation workers. MLK delivered his powerful speech "I've been to the Mountaintop", the day before his assassination.

James Earl Ray (seen above), is later captured and convicted of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ray denied shooting Martin Luther King Jr., leaving it as a conspiracy surrounding the government.

King's birthday is now a national holiday, and history remembers him as an important American Civil Rights leader.

Why do you think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated? 

2008 LA

RICHARD WRIGHT (1908-1960)

Richard Wright was born on a Mississippi plantation and was the son of a farm worker. His life was marked by poverty, hunger, and racial prejudice. These experiences he put into his writings.

'Uncle Tom's Children', 'Native Son', and 'Black Boy' are just a few of Richard Wright's writings that paved the way for African American writers to express freely their experiences.

In the words of biographer Robert Felger,  

"Richard Wright is the very first writer to give the white community explanations and themes, that cut through it's prejudices and forced it to look at the reality of black life in America."

2008 LA

FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1817-1895)

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery. He was an abolitionist, author, orator, and editor who spoke eloquently before audiences in America and abroad.

Douglass edited an anti-slavery journal from 1847 to 1860, helped to organize two regiments of Massachusetts Negroes during the Civil War, and had two sons serve in the Union army.nDouglass continued pushing for civil rights when the war was over. 

In the words of Frederick Douglass, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."

2008 LA

PHILLIS WHEATLEY (1753-1784)

Phillis Wheatley, was kidnapped from West Africa as a child and shipped to Boston on a slave ship. 

In Boston, Massachusetts, Wheatley was fortunate to grow up in comfortable circumstances as she inherited a family that treated her well and encouraged her education. Phillis published her first poems in 1767, and was fluent in Greek and Latin.

Moreover, she was highly admired in the United States and England, and was idolized by many African Americans because she was living proof of black intellectual accomplishment.

2008 LA

FANNIE LOU HAMER (1917-1977)

Fannie Lou Hamer picked cotton as a child and worked as a sharecropper for eighteen years.

In 1962, Fannie attempted to vote in the county seat of Indianola, Mississippi, and when that action brought on physical violence she decided to dedicate her life to civil rights activism. 

Ms. Hamer secured federal guaranteed voting rights for African Americans, and founded the 'Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party' (MFDP seen above). She gained national attention when MFDP, demanded to be seated along the all white state delegation.

Although beatings from police officers caused permanent damage to Ms. Hamers' arm and kidneys -- she didn't let the beatings slow her down, and she continued to fight against racial discrimination and terror. 

 2008 LA

SOJOURNER TRUTH (1797-1883)

Born into slavery with no formal education Sojourner Truth, was a strong feminist who became an itinerant preacher. Truth stated that "God commanded her to become a preacher."

In 1851, at a women's rights conference in Akron, Ohio, Sojourner Truth strongly attacked the hypocrisies of organized religion, white privilege, and oppression in her famous speech "Ain't I a Woman?" 


Sojourner Truth gave a voice to the voiceless while standing up for the rights of an oppressed people. Thank you Ms. Truth for your self-less efforts.

In the words of Sojourner Truth from her "Ain't I a Woman" speech:

"Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say."

2008 LA