Thursday, July 3, 2008 |
Dr. Mark Dean (1957-) is an American inventor and computer scientist.
Born March 2, 1957, in Jefferson City, Tennessee, Dr. Dean was a bright and energetic child who was often asked by his classmates if he was really black because, according to them, black people were not supposed to be that smart. He excelled both athletically and academically and continued his success in college as he graduated at the top of his class with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1979.
The following year, Dean was invited to join IBM as an engineer. Despite his new position, Dean continued his education and received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 1982. As an engineer for IBM, Dean served as the chief engineer for the team that developed the IBM PC/AT, the original home/office computer. Continue Reading »
Thursday, June 26, 2008 |
Lovie Austin (1887-1972) was one of the first female bandleaders in jazz.
Born Cora Calhoun in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on September 19, 1887, she studied music theory at Roger Williams University and Knoxville College in Nashville. In 1923, she moved to Chicago and began touring on the vaudeville circuit. A fancy dresser and a well-liked person, she was often seen around town dressed to the nines and driving her Stutz Bearcat with leopard skin upholstery.
Ranked one of the best female jazz blues piano players of the period, Austin began her career accompanying blues singers such as Ma Rainey. Continue Reading »
Thursday, June 19, 2008 |
Fela Kuti (1938-1997) was Africa’s most famous musician and Nigeria’s foremost political dissident. The video above is part one of a documentary filled with the words and music of Fela. What better way to learn about him than hearing from the man himself?
Fela coined and invented Afrobeat, a combination of Yoruba music, jazz, Highlife, and funk rhythms, fused with African percussion and vocal styles.
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Thursday, June 12, 2008 |
Ma Rainey (1886-1939) known as ‘the mother of the blues’ was the first black professional blues vocalist.
Born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia, on April 26, 1886, Pridgett first appeared on stage in Columbus at the age of fourteen. She joined a traveling vaudeville troupe, the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, which described itself as “the leading Negro show in America”.
She began singing in a blues style in 1902, after hearing a blues song at a theater in St. Louis, Missouri. She claimed at that time that she was the one who coined the name “blues”. In 1904, she married fellow Rabbit’s Foot member, William “Pa” Rainey, and began billing herself as Ma Rainey. Continue Reading »
Thursday, June 5, 2008 |
In honor of Black Music Month, Concrete Loop will feature a musician as a Black History Spotlight each week during the month of June. Bo Diddley, who influenced rockers and rappers alike, died earlier this week at the age of 79.
Bo Diddley (1928-2008) was a key figure in the blues genre and creator of one of the foundational rhythms of rock and roll: the Bo Diddley beat.
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Thursday, May 29, 2008 |
Carl Rowan (1925-2000) was a federal cabinet member, international ambassador and one of the most prominent black journalists of the 20th century.
Born in Ravenscroft, Tennessee, to Thomas David and Johnnie B. Rowan on August 11, 1925, Rowan grew up during the Great Depression. As a young boy, Rowan worked hoeing bulb grass for 10 cents an hour, later performing hard manual labor for 25 cents an hour when there was work available. In his autobiography, Rowan told of living with “no electricity, no running water, no toothbrushes … no telephone, no radio and no regular inflow of money.”
He graduated in 1942 from Bernard High as valedictorian and class president. Rowan moved to Nashville with 77 cents in his pocket and the dream of a college education. In order to earn his tuition for college, he moved in with his grandparents and got a job in a tuberculosis hospital the summer before enrolling in the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College (now Tennessee State University) in Nashville in the fall of 1942. Two years later, during World War II, Rowan passed a competitive exam to become one of the first blacks in Naval officer training.
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Thursday, May 22, 2008 |
Edmonia Lewis (1845?-1911?) was the first Black female sculptor to gain fame and recognition.
Born Mary Edmonia Lewis on July 14, 1845, to a black father and part American Indian, Lewis was raised as a Mississauga Indian with the culture and values of the Chippewa Nation after her parents died when she was around ten. She and her brother were known as Wildfire and Sunrise, respectively.
Her brother financed her prep school education with wealth from the California Gold Rush, and also an education at Oberlin College beginning in 1859. While there, she excelled at drawing. When a teacher at Oberlin lost some paintbrushes, Lewis was accused of the theft. She was also accused of attempted murder when two girls fell ill after drinking mulled wine, which Lewis allegedly served them. Although acquitted of both charges, she was not permitted to graduate.
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Thursday, May 15, 2008 |
Aaron Douglas (1898-1979) was a leading visual artist during the Harlem Renaissance.
Douglas was born May 26, 1898, in Topeka, Kansas. At an early age, his mother encouraged his creative interest in art; his drawings and paintings were welcomed on the walls of their home. He was also heavily influenced by Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first black painter to gain international acclaim.
In 1922, Douglas graduated with a B.A. in fine arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He taught art in Kansas City for a few years until he decided to pursue a career as an artist and headed to New York to earn his M.A. from Columbia University. In 1925, Douglas moved to New York City and settled in Harlem. A few months after his arrival, Douglas began producing illustrations for both The Crisis and Opportunity, the two most important magazines associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas was also the illustrator for The New Negro, edited by Dr. Alain Locke.
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