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.
Mildred Loving (1939-2008), along with her husband, Richard, changed the United States miscegenation laws by taking the state of Virginia to court and the Supreme Court ruling that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional.
Loving died recently, and daughter, Peggy Fortune, wants people to remember her as being strong, brave, humble and someone who believed in love. She was 68.
Jackie Ormes (1911-1985) was the first black woman to write and draw widely distributed comic strips.
Born Zelda Mavin Jackson on Aug. 1, 1911, in Pittsburgh, Ormes enjoyed drawing as a child and was praised for her artistic abilities. Following graduation, she began working as a proofreader for The Pittsburgh Courier, which was once the country’s most widely circulated black newspaper. Continue Reading »
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was one of the most celebrated cultural figures in the Caribbean and was revered in his native Martinique, which sent him to France’s parliament for nearly half a century and repeatedly elected him mayor of the capital.
A poet honored throughout the French-speaking world and a crusader for West Indian rights, Césaire died recently. He was 94. Continue Reading »
Following Snoop Dogg, Sisqo & Bobby Brown’s appearance at the CMT Music Awards on Monday, Angel and I thought black cowboys would make a great Black History Spotlight this week.
Cowboys and the West play an important role in Americana, but do you know the role black cowboys and buffalo soldiers have played in history?
Rough Riders and Black Cowboy Legends acknowledges the contribution they have made to the success of America.
In pop culture, images of black cowboys have been scarce, giving a false impression that blacks were not among the men and women who settled the West. In fact, there have been thousands of black cowboys.
Blacks came to cattle country most often as slaves, brought by white landowners who hoped to take advantage of the fertile Texas soil to grow cotton.
At the start of the Civil War in 1861, Texas had over 180,000 black inhabitants. The U.S. government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, which were composed of black soldiers led by white officers. Continue Reading »
Jane Bolin (1908-2007) enjoyed a number of firsts during her lifetime. She was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, the first to join the New York City Bar Association, the first to join the city’s law department and the first black woman to serve as a judge in the United States.
Born on April 11, 1908, in Poughkeepsie, NY, Bolin was the youngest of four siblings. Her father, Gaius Charles Bolin, was the first black to graduate from Williams College and became a lawyer. Her mother, Matilda, a white Englishwoman, died when Bolin was eight. Bolin graduated from high school in Poughkeepsie and was one of two black students in her class at Wellesley College.
Donyale Luna (1945-1979) was the first black supermodel, cover girl and the first model of ethnic origin to appear on Vogue, appearing on the March 1966 issue.
Born Peggy Anne Freeman on Jan. 1, 1945, Luna was described by a relative as “a very weird child, even from birth, living in a wonderland, a dream.” Her mother wanted her to be a nurse, but after being discovered by British fashion photographer David McCabe, Luna became the first black woman to be featured on a U.S. fashion magazine: the January 1965 issue of Harper’s Bazaar.
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.
