Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Jam and Lewis
Jam and Lewis's emergence as major record producers was kick-started by Prince's pique. Keyboard player Jimmy Jam (James Harris III) and bassist Terry Lewis played together in local Minneapolis bands while in high school, graduating to...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Julius Rosenwald
Biographical sketch of the life of Julius Rosenwald, an American merchant and unorthodox philanthropist who opposed the idea of perpetual endowments and frequently offered large philanthropic gifts on condition that they be matched by...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Kara Walker
Biographical information on Kara walker, an American installation artist who used intricate cut-paper silhouettes, together with collage, drawing, painting, performance, film, video, shadow puppetry, light projection, and animation, to...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Laura Wheeler Waring
Short biographical sketch on Laura Wheeler Waring, an American painter and educator who often depicted African American subjects.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Leon Spinks
Biographical sketch of American boxer Leon Spinks, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and was the world heavyweight champion in 1978. He and Michael Spinks became the first brothers to win gold medals in the same sport at the same...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Lucky Thompson
Biographical details on Lucky Thompson, an American jazz musician, one of the most distinctive and creative bop-era tenor saxophonists, who in later years played soprano saxophone as well.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Lucy Terry
Learn about the life of Lucy Terry, poet, storyteller, and activist of colonial and postcolonial America.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Luther Vandross
Summarizes the life and career of Luther Vandross, an American soul and pop singer, songwriter, and producer whose widespread popularity and reputation as a consummate stylist began in the early 1980s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Maggie Lena Draper Walker
Summarizes the life of Maggie Lena Draper Walker, an American businesswoman, who played a major role in the organizational and commercial life of Richmond's African-American community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Margaret Walker
Biographical details on Margaret Walker, an American novelist and poet who was one of the leading black woman writers of the mid-20th century.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mary Eliza Church Terrell
Learn about Mary Church Terrell, American social activist who was cofounder and first president of the National Association of Colored Women. She was an early civil rights advocate, an educator, an author, and a lecturer on woman...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mary Lou Williams
Biographical sketch of jazz pianist, Mary Lou Williams, who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and '50s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Maury Wills
Read about the life of Maury Wills, African-American professional baseball player and manager, who set base-stealing records in his playing career.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Max Roach
Biographical sketch of Max Roach, an American jazz drummer and composer, one of the most influential and widely recorded modern percussionists.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mc Coy Tyner
Learn about the life and career of McCoy Tyner, an African-American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer noted for his technical virtuosity and dazzling improvisations.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Melvin Tolson
Biographical information on Melvin Tolson, an African-American poet who worked within the modernist tradition to explore African-American issues.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Melvin Van Peebles
Learn about the life and career of Melvin Van Peeples, the American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and starred in Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), a groundbreaking film that spearheaded the rush of African American action films...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mike Tyson
Summarizes the life and career of Mike Tyson, an American boxer who, at age 20, became the youngest heavyweight champion in history.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Muddy Waters
A brief biography of Muddy Waters, American blues guitarist and singer who became famous in the post-World War II era.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Oprah Winfrey
Biographical details on Oprah Winfrey, American television personality, actress, and entrepreneur whose syndicated daily talk show was among the most popular of the genre.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Paul Robeson
Read about the life of Paul Robeson, celebrated American singer, actor, and black activist.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Percy Ellis Sutton
Brief account of the life of Percy Sutton, a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Malcolm X as well as some 200 people arrested in the 1960s during protests against racial segregation in the American South.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Phillis Wheatley
Learn details about the life of Phillis Wheatley, the first black woman poet of note in the United States.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Robert Smalls
Brief biographical details on Robert Smalls, an African-American slave who became a naval hero for the Union in the American Civil War and went on to serve as a congressman from South Carolina during Reconstruction.