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Encyclopedia Britannica: Walter White
Learn about the life of Walter White, foremost spokesman for African Americans for almost a quarter of a century and executive secretary (1931-55) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Lester Young
Biographical details on Lester Young, American tenor saxophonist popular in the mid-1930s jazz world who played with the Count Basie band.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: James Van Der Zee
Biographical account of James Van Der Zee, an American photographer, whose portraits chronicled the Harlem Renaissance.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: o.j. Simpson
Biographical details on O.J. Simpson, American collegiate and professional gridiron football player who was a premier running back known for his speed and elusiveness. His trial on murder charges in 1995 was one of the most celebrated...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: A'lelia Walker
Learn about the life of A'Lelia Walker, an American businesswoman associated with the Harlem Renaissance as a patron of the arts who provided an intellectual forum for the black literati of New York City during the 1920s.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Read about the life of Whitney M. Young, Jr., U.S. civil rights leader who spearheaded the drive for equal opportunity for blacks in U.S. industry and government service during his 10 years as head of the National Urban League (1961-71).
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Booker T. Washington
A brief biographical sketch of Booker T. Washington, an educator and reformer, first president and principal developer of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), and the most influential spokesman for black...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Carolyn M. Rodgers
Learn about the life of Carolyn Rodgers, an American poet, teacher, critic, and publisher who is noted for a body of work that deepened and extended beyond the Black Arts movement in which she found her voice.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Carter G. Woodson
Biographical details on Carter Woodson, an American historian who first opened the long-neglected field of black studies to scholars and also popularized the field in the schools and colleges of black people. He also founded Negro...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Harriet E. Wilson
Biographical details on Harriet Wilson, one of the first African-Americans to publish a novel in English in the United States.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Ida B. Wells Barnett
Provides biographical details on the life of African-American journalist, Ida B. Wells, who led an antilynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s. She later was active in promoting justice for African Americans.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
Biographical sketch of Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, an American community leader who was active in the women's rights movement and particularly in organizing African American women around issues of civic and cultural development.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Run d.m.c.
Biographical details on Run-D.M.C., the American rap group that brought hip-hop into the musical and cultural mainstream, introducing what became known as "new-school" rap.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Alice Walker
Biographical information on American writer Alice Walker whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African-American culture. Her novels, most notably The Color Purple (1982), focus particularly on...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Al Sharpton
Biographical details on Al Sharpton who began preaching at age four and became an ordained Pentecostal minister at age 10. A colorful and popular figure in the African American community, he embarked upon controversial protests that...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Amos Tutuola
Read about the life of Amos Tutuola, a Nigerian author of richly inventive fantasies. He is best known for the novel The Palm-Wine Drinkard and His Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Deads' Town (1952), which was the first Nigerian book to...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Andrew Young
A brief biographical sketch of Andrew Young, an American politician, civil rights leader, and clergyman who served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1973-77) and later was mayor of Atlanta (1982-90).
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Archie Shepp
Learn about the life of Archie Shepp, African American tenor saxophonist, composer, dramatist, teacher, and pioneer of the free jazz movement.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Arthur Tappan
Biographical sketch of the life of Arthur Tappan, American philanthropist who used much of his energy and his fortune in the struggle to end slavery.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Augusta Savage
Read interesting facts about the life of American sculptor and educator, Augusta Savage, who battled racism to secure a place for African American women in the art world.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Augustus Tolton
Summarizes the life and career of Augustus Tolton, an American religious leader who is regarded as the first African American ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: August Wilson
Read about the life of African-American playwright, August Wilson, author of a cycle of plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, about black American life. He won Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1986) and The Piano Lesson...
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Bayard Rustin
Biographical information on Bayard Rustin, African-American civil rights activist who was a close adviser to Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Encyclopedia Britannica: Bessie Smith
Biographical details on American singer, Bessie Smith, one of the greatest of blues vocalists.