2-6-12 black history month
James Baldwin 1924-1987
His father was a lay preacher in the Holiness-Pentecostal sect, and at the age 14 baldwin was also ordained preather.
By 1948 baldwin had concluded that the socail tenor of the United States was stifling his creativity, and he went to Europse with the financial assistance of a Rosenwald fellowship.
In Europe, Baldwin completed Go Tell It on the Mountain(1953)Notes of a Native Sin (1955), and Giovanni's Room (1956)
2-8-12
Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
He liked books and kept them around him even before he could read.
He thought about becoming a minister but decided against it because he felt it would not allow him to speak on contemporary problems.
Though always conscious of the possiblitiy of death, he was steadfastly dedicated to nonviolence because of its power over violence.
2-9-12
Muhammad Ali 1942-
He earned a reputation as a man dedicated to his goals and beliefs.
He came up with float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
As a teenager he won a gold metal in the olympics
Whoopi Goldberg 1949
She is an actress and a comedienne.
Her and her brother were raised by there mother in a housing project.
The Color Purple started her carrier in 1985.
Elijah McCoy 1843-1929
He helped trains and all things with engines run smoothly and safely.
He was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada.
His parents were slaves in Kentucky befpre escaping to Canada on the underground railroad.
Dred Scott 1795-1858
He was born a slave in Virginia.
He was imployed as a farmhand,stevedore, craftsman, and general handyman.
The justice argued that scott was not a citizen because he was both a black man and a slave.
Duke Ellington 1899-1974
He was a composer, bandleader, and painist.
He was more interested in athletics and art than in music.
HIs father strongly suported his interest in art.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1962-
She was a track and feild athlete.
Younger sister of Al Joyner.
She won a silver medal in the heptathlon in the 1984 Olypics.
Maya Angelou
She was a writer, poet, performer, and director.
SHe was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
She stopped speaking at the age 7 and didn't talk again until she was 12.
Colin Powell 1937-
He was the son of a shipping clerk and a seamstress both whom were immigrants from Jamaica.
He was a second lietenant in the U.S. Army.
He was assigned in South Vietnam and was wounded.
Frederick Douglass 1818-1895
He was the first African American leader of the national stature in U.S. history.
He never knew his father.
He was born sometime in February.
Booker T. Washington
He was born into slavery.
He was born in Franklinn County, Virginia.
He escaped to West Virginia during the civil war.
Ralph Bunche
He was the highest American offical in the United Nations.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.
He was born in Detroit Michigan.
Sidney Poitier
He was an actor.
He was born weighing only 3 pounds.
He dropped out after a year and a half of schooling.
Wilma Rudolph
She was an Olympic gold medalist runner.
She was the first American woman to win 3 gold medals in the Olymic games.
She coached underprivileged kids.
Louis Armstrong
He was a jazz musicain and entertainer.
He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
His date of birth is questionable.
Mae Jemison
She was an Astronaut and a physicain.
She was the youngest child of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Jemison.
She was born on October 17 1956.
