Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States, in 1961 and subsequent years, in order to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960),[3] which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.[4] The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961,[5] and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.[6]

Prince Hall (c. 1735–1738—1807)[1] was an African American noted as an abolitionist for his leadership in the free black community in Boston and as the founder of Prince Hall Freemasonry. He lobbied for education rights for black children and was active in the back-to-Africa movement. Hall tried to gain New England’s enslaved and free blacks a place in Freemasonry, education and the military, which were some of the most crucial spheres of society in his time. Hall is considered the founder of “Black Freemasonry” in the United States, known today as Prince Hall Freemasonry. Hall formed the African Grand Lodge of North America. Prince Hall was unanimously elected its Grand Master and served until his death in 1807. Steve Gladstone, author of Freedom Trail Boston states that Prince Hall—known for his role in creating Black Freemasonry, championing equal education rights, and fighting slavery—"was one of the most influential free black leaders in the late 1700s."[2] There is c

Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins (May 25, 1849 – June 14, 1908, age 59) was an African American musical prodigy on the piano. He had numerous original compositions published and had a lengthy and largely successful performing career throughout the United States. During the 19th century, he was one of the best-known American performing pianists. Although he lived and died before autism was described, he is now regarded as an autistic savant. Early life Wiggins was born on the Wiley Edward Jones Plantation in Harris County, Georgia. Blind at birth, he was sold in 1850 along with his enslaved parents, Charity and Domingo "Mingo" Wiggins, to a Columbus, Georgia, lawyer, General James Neil Bethune.[1] Bethune was "almost the pioneer free trader" in the United States and "the first [newspaper] editor in the south to openly advocate secession".[2] General Bethune renamed the child Thomas Greene Bethune or Thomas Wiggins Bethune (according to different sour

Macon Bolling Allen (born Allen Macon Bolling;[1] August 4, 1816 – June 11, 1894) is believed to be both the first African American licensed to practice law and to hold a judicial position in the United States. Allen passed the bar exam in Maine in 1844 and became a Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1848. He moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a probate court judge in 1874. Following the Reconstruction Era, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association.

Yasuke (variously rendered as 弥助 or 弥介, 彌助 or 彌介 in different sources.[1]) (b. c. 1555–1590) was a black Samurai of African origin who served under the Japanese hegemon and warlord Oda Nobunaga in 1581 and 1582. Early life A Nanban group traveling in Japan According to Histoire Ecclesiastique Des Isles Et Royaumes Du Japon, written by François Solier of the Society of Jesus in 1627, Yasuke was likely from Portuguese Mozambique.[2] Solier's account may, however, have been an assumption as it was written so long after the event and there is no surviving contemporary account that corroborates it. A 2013 investigation by the light entertainment television program Discovery of the World's Mysteries (世界ふしぎ発見) suggested that Yasuke was a Makua named Yasufe.[3] This name seems to be derived from the more popular Mozambican name, Issufo.[4] This was not a highly journalistic investigation and the program provided little proof for their conclusions. The Makua didn't have any sign

Black Caesar (died 1718) was an 18th-century African pirate. For nearly a decade, he raided shipping from the Florida Keys and later served as one of Captain Blackbeard's, a.k.a. Edward Teach's, crewmen aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. He was one of the surviving members of Blackbeard's crew following his death at the hands of Lieutenant Robert Maynard in 1718. Caesar's Rock, one of three islands located north of Key Largo, is named in his honor,[1] and is the present-day site of his original headquarters. Biography according to legend Black Caesar, according to traditional accounts, was a prominent African tribal war chieftain. Widely known for his "huge size, immense strength, and keen intelligence", he evaded capture from many different slave traders. Caesar was finally captured when he and twenty of his warriors were lured onto a ship by a slave trader. Showing him a watch, the trader promised to show him and his warriors more objects which were &quo

The tale of George and Willie Muse, albino brothers living in the rural South during the late 1800s, is stirring. According to accounts, the brothers were kidnapped as boys, sold off to a local carnival sideshow and paraded around the country. The Muse brothers were a rarity: Black albinos would be a lucrative attraction for a carnival with a so-called “human oddities” segment. According to a report by The Roanoke Times, the brothers were tricked by a bounty hunter working for a sideshow promoter and taken away from their mother. The man told the brothers that their mother was dead. In the circus, the dreadlocked brothers were first said to hail from “a colony of sheep-headed people.” The brothers learned to play guitar and mandolin, which became a feature of their act. Showman Al G. Barnes then promoted them as White Ecuadorian cannibals. The Muse brothers traveled with Barnes all across the country and into Canada. Amazingly, they were never paid for their work and it was rumored t