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Showing posts from 2016

STEVIE WILLIAMS

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Stevie Williams (born December 17, 1979) is an African American professional skateboarder and was included in the twenty-seventh position of the "30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time" list that was compiled byTransworld Skateboarding in late-2011.[2] Early lifeEdit Williams grew up in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, United States (US), and started skateboarding at the age of eleven.[3] It was during the period when Williams began skateboarding that the term "dirty ghetto kids" first emerged, as the title was applied to Williams and his friends.[4] At the age of fourteen, Williams left Philadelphia to hitchhike toCalifornia, US.[5] Professional skateboardingEdit At the age of 12 years, Williams and his group of friends met Jeff Pang, a skater who was with the Element brand at the time. Williams asked Pang how he could become an Element team member and subsequently filmed a video part for the 1994 Element video Fine Artists Vol. 1, in which he was named "Lil

COMER JOSEPH COTTRELL JR

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Comer Joseph Cottrell Jr.(December 7, 1931 - October 3, 2014) was an American entrepreneur most notable for founding Pro-Line Corp., a business that created the Curly Kit, which brought the Jheri curlhairstyle to the masses and made it easy to achieve at home. Personal lifeEdit He was born in Mobile, Alabama and died in Plano, Texas at age 82. He briefly attended the University of Detroitand served in the Air Force during theKorean War. VenturesEdit He founded Pro-Line Corp. in 1970.[1] It was originally based in Los Angeles. In 1979, he created the Curly Kit and in 1980, he moved the company toDallas.[2] Forbes Magazine called the Curly Kit "the biggest single product ever to hit the black cosmetics market." In 2000, he sold the company to Alberto-Culver for $75 million to $80 million.[3]With his brother, James, he turned Pro-Line into one of the most successful black-owned companies in the United States. In 1990, he purchased the campus ofBishop College and moved Paul

FREDERICK DOUGLASS PATTERSON

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Frederick Douglas Patterson (born 1871-1932) was an American entrepreneur, the first African American to manufacture cars, and known for the Greenfield-Patterson automobile of 1915, built in Ohio. He later converted his business to the Greenfield Bus Body Company. While in college at Ohio State University, he was the first African American to play on its football team. He returned to Greenfield to join his father in his carriage business, which became C.R. Patterson and Sons. The younger man saw opportunity in the new horseless carriages, and converted the company in the early 1900s to manufacture automobiles, making 150 of them. Later he shifted to making buses and trucks, and renamed his company as Greenfield Bus Body Company. After Patterson's death in 1932, his son kept the business going through much of theGreat Depression, finally closing it in 1939. Early life and educationEdit Named after the noted abolitionist, Frederick Douglas Patterson was born in 1871 as the younges

KIMBO SLICE

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Kevin Ferguson (February 8, 1974 – June 6, 2016), better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian-born Americanmixed martial artist, boxer and occasional actor. He became famous for mutual combat street fights which were spread across the Internet, leadingRolling Stone to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers".[2] Slice left the underground fighting scene and signed a professional contract with EliteXC in 2007. Slice competed in The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights,[3] where he lost in his first fight to series winner Roy Nelson. In his UFC debut, Slice defeated Houston Alexander in the The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights finale. From January 2015 until his death in June 2016, Slice was under contract to Bellator MMA.[4] Early life Ferguson was born in Nassau, Bahamas, but moved to the United States as a child, growing up in Cutler Ridge, Florida.[5] Ferguson was raised with his two brothers by mother[6]Rosemary Clarke.[7] He went to Bel-Air Elementary School,[5] where Ferguson

CT FLETCHER

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Fletcher is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. However, he has lived in Southern California for over 50 years. Fletcher grew up in a religious home, where his father, a Pentecostal preacher, routinely punished him. One lesson he did get from his strict upbringing, however, was a mental focus and toughness that enabled him to build an illustrious career in body building. However, despite his religious upbringing, Fletcher became involved in the streets of Compton, earning him a substantial amount of time in a correctional facility. This rough past has truly molded him to unleash in the gym. Fletcher’s physique, and attitude, changed significantly after undergoing an open heart surgery in 2005. He was weighing 260 pounds before the procedure, so he shed off 45 pounds to try and avoid the surgery. However, it did not work. He came out of the surgery weighing 190 pounds and recovered fully after about two years. While most people attribute steroids to his medical problems, CT believed

BARACK OBAMA

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Barack Hussein Obama II(US i/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/;[2][3]born August 4, 1961) is an American politician serving as the 44th Presidentof the United States. He is the firstAfrican American to hold the office, as well as the first president born outside of the continental United States. Born inHonolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was acommunity organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as acivil rights attorney and taughtconstitutional law at University of Chicago Law School between 1992 and 2004. He served three termsrepresenting the 13th District in theIllinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, andran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the United States House of Representatives in 2000 against incumbent Bobby Rush. In 2004, Obama received national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in the Marc

Muhammad Ali

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Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/;[2] born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016[3]) was an Americanprofessional boxer, generally considered one of the greatestheavyweights in the history of the sport. Early in his career, Ali was known for being a controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the boxing ring.[4][5] He was one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.[6][7] He also wrote several best-selling books about his career, includingThe Greatest: My Own Story and The Soul of a Butterfly. Ali, originally known as Cassius Clay, began training at 12 years old and at the age of 22 won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset. Shortly after that bout, Ali joined the Nation of Islamand changed his name. He converted toSunni Islam in 1975, and 30 years later began adhering

VICTOR MOORE

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Victor Moore (born August 23, 1943) holds a 10th Degree Black Belt inKarate[1] and was one of the late Robert Trias Chief instructors of the Shuri-ryūKarate system.[2] Moore was one of the first ten original members of the Trias International Society[3] and also studied and trained with William J. Dometrich in the style of Chito-ryu.[4] Moore has studied martial arts for over 50 years, and is a four-time world karate champion.[5]HistoryEditMoore began to travel with a handful of his students to several tournaments as far away as Canada. He later ventured out opening karate schools throughout the Cincinnati area[6] and began traveling the Midwest and East coast. Being successful in competition,[5] he meets the father of American KarateRobert A. Trias. Robert Trias with his skills and ability took Moore under his wings.[7 He continued to train with Trias at various tournaments and seminars, learning the Kenpo and Goju-Ryu styles of Karate, Moore traveled many times to the USKA headquar