Ira Frederick Aldridge (July 24, 1807 – August 7, 1867) was an American and later British stage actor and playwright who made his career after 1824 largely on the London stage and in Europe, especially in Shakespearean roles. Born in New York City, Aldridge is the only actor of African-American descent among the 33 actors of the English stage honored with bronze plaques at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre atStratford-upon-Avon. He was especially popular in Prussia and Russia, where he received top honors from heads of state. He was married twice, once to an Englishwoman, once to a Swedish woman, and had a family in England. Two of his daughters became professional opera singers. Early life and careerEdit Aldridge was born in New York City to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge July 24, 1807. At age 13, Aldridge went to the African Free School in New York City, established by the New York Manumission Society for the children of free blacks and slaves. They were given a classical edu

Esther Jones, known by her stage name "Baby Esther", was an African-Americansinger and entertainer of the late 1920s, known for her "baby" singing style. She performed regularly at the Cotton Clubin Harlem. Theatrical manager Lou Walton testified during the Fleischer v. Kane trial that Helen Kane saw Baby Esther's cabaret act in 1928 with him and appropriated Jones' style of singing, changing the interpolated words "boo-boo-boo" and "doo-doo-doo" to "boop-boop-a-doop" in a recording of "I Wanna Be Loved By You". Kane never publicly admitted this. Jones' style, as imitated by Kane, went on to become the inspiration for the voice of the cartoon character Betty Boop. When Kane attempted to sue Fleischer Studios for using her persona, the studios defended themselves by arguing that Kane herself had taken it from "Baby Esther" Jones. An early test sound film of Baby Esther's performance was used as eviden

Larry Hoover (born November 30, 1950 in Jackson, Mississippi) was a leader and co-founder of the Chicago street gang called the Gangster Disciples. Hoover is currently serving 6 life sentences at the ADX Florencesupermax prison in Florence, Coloradoafter being convicted in 1997 ofconspiracy, extortion, money laundering, and running a continuing criminal enterprise for leading the gang from state prison.[3] Early life Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Hoover's parents moved their family to Chicago, Illinois, when Hoover was four years old. By age 12, Hoover was on the streets with his friends calling themselves "supreme gangsters". As the gang grew, Hoover emerged as its natural leader. Known as "Prince Larry," Hoover, along with rival gang leader David Barksdale, decided to merge their gangs into one: the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. On February 26, 1973 Hoover and another Gangster Disciple, Andrew Howard, shot and killed dealer William Young after a heated a

Larry Davis (May 28, 1966 – February 20, 2008), who changed his name toAdam Abdul-Hakeem in 1989, was aNew Yorker who shot six New York City Police Department officers on November 19, 1986, when they raided his sister's apartment in the Bronx. The police said that the raid was executed in order to question Davis about the killing of four suspected drug dealers.[1] At trial, Davis's defense attorneys claimed that the raid was staged to murder him because of his knowledge of the involvement of corrupt police in the drug business. With the help of family contacts and friends, he eluded capture for the next 17 days despite a massive manhunt.[2] Once the search was narrowed to a single building, he took several hostages but surrendered to police when the presence of reporters convinced him he would not be harmed.[3] Davis was acquitted of attempted murder charges in the police shootout case and also acquitted of murder charges in the case involving the slain drug dealers. He was f

Zelda Wynn Valdes (June 28, 1905 – September 26, 2001) was an African-American fashion designer and costumer. In 1948, she opened her own shop on Broadway in New York Citywhich was the first in the area to be owned by an African American. Some of her clients included other notable black women of her era, including Dorothy Dandridge and Marian Anderson. She is also most famous for designing the original costumes for the Playboy Bunnies and the Dance Theater of Harlem. Valdes was a fashion legend who was the first black designer to open her own shop on Broadway in New York in 1948. She began to develop her skills by studying through her grandmother and working for her uncle’s tailoring business. She made clothes for her dolls and eventually made her grandmother a dress. Her grandmother was so impressed, despite doubting Valdes could construct an outfit to fit her tall frame. Her grandmother was buried in the same dress Zelda made for her. Valdes’ first job was at a fancy boutique where

The Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club(NABSMC) is a Black (African-American) motorcycle club in the United States, named for the historic African-American United States Army regiments known as Buffalo Soldiers, seen in theirpatch.[1][2][3][4] It is one of the biggest Black motorcycles clubs in the USA and the biggest African American motorcycle club in Chicago, with 97 chapters as of 2012,[5] with over 2000 members across the USA.[6][7] HistoryEdit The first club chapter was founded by Ken Thomas, a Chicago policeman, in 1993[8][9] or 1994.[2] The National Association of Buffalo Soldiers/Troopers Motorcycle Clubs (NABSTMC) was formed c. 1999.[2] ActivitiesEdit Chapters participate in many charitable activities across the United States, including providing "Soldiers' Thanksgiving" Thanksgiving turkeys, hams and other necessities for poor families in Tacoma, Washington;[10]fundraising for victims of the 2010 Tennessee floods, highway adoptionand adopting a nursing home f

Eugene Jacques Bullard (9 October 1895 – 12 October 1961), born Eugene James Bullard, was the first African-American military pilot.[1] His life has been surrounded by many legends.[2]However, Bullard was unquestionably one of the few black combat pilots inWorld War I, as was Ahmet Ali Çelikten. Early lifeEdit Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia, the seventh of ten children born to William (Octave) Bullard, a black man who was from Martinique, and Josephine ("Yokalee") Thomas, a Creek Indian.[3] His father's ancestors had been slaves in Haiti to French refugees who fled during the Haitian Revolution.[4] They reached the United States and took refuge with the Creek Indians.[5][6][7][8] Bullard was a student at the Twenty-eighth Street School from 1901 to 1906.[9] As a teenager, he stowed away on a ship bound for Scotland, hoping to escape racial discrimination. (He later claimed to have witnessed his father's narrow escape from lynching). Bullard arrived at Aberde

nry "Box" Brown (c.1816–June 15, 1897)[1] was a 19th-century Virginiaslave who escaped to freedom at the age of 33 by arranging to have himself mailed in a wooden crate in 1849 toabolitionists in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. For a short time Brown became a noted abolitionist speaker in the northeast United States. As a public figure and fugitive slave, Brown felt endangered by passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which increased pressure to capture escaped slaves. He moved toEngland and lived there for 25 years, touring with an anti-slavery panorama and becoming a mesmerist and showman. Mostly forgotten in the United States,[2] he married an English woman and had a second family with her. He returned to the US with them in 1875 and continued to earn a living as an entertainer. He toured and performed as a magician, speaker, and mesmerist until at least 1889, and the last decade of his life (1886-1897) was spent in Toronto, where he died in 1897.[1] Childhood and slavery

Ned Huddleston (also known as Isom Dart) was born into  slavery  in  Arkansas  in 1849. His reputation as a rider, roper and bronco-buster earned him the nicknames of the “Black Fox” and the “Calico  Cowboy .”  He was also a notorious  Wyoming  Territory  outlaw . In 1861 twelve-year-old Huddleston accompanied his owner, a Confederate officer, into  Texas  during the  Civil War . After being freed at the end of the war Huddleston headed for the southern Texas- Mexico  border region where he found work at a rodeo, became a stunt rider and honed his skills as a master horseman. Huddleston straddled both sides of the law. For a time he and a young Mexican bandit named Terresa survived as rustlers stealing horses in Mexico and selling them in Texas. Huddleston later joined a cattle drive heading northwest to Brown’s Hole in the  Colorado -Wyoming area around 1871. The 6’2” Huddleston briefly found success mining gold and silver then claimed his partner cheated him out of his earning

Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in  Crawford County ,  Arkansas . [1] [2] Reeves was named after his grandfather, Basse Washington. Bass Reeves and his family were slaves of Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. [1] When Bass Reeves was eight (about 1846), William Reeves moved to  Grayson County ,  Texas , near  Sherman  in the Peters Colony. [1]  Bass Reeves may have served William Steel Reeves son, Colonel  George R. Reeves  who was a legislator in Texas until the time of his death from rabies in 1882. George Reeves was the  Speaker of the House . [3]  During the  American Civil War , Bass parted company with George Reeves, perhaps "because Bass beat up George after a dispute in a card game." [2] [3] [4]  Bass Reeves fled north into the  Indian Territory  (now  Oklahoma ) and lived with the  Cherokee ,  Seminole , and  Creek Indians  until he was freed by the thirteenth amendment, which abolished slavery in 1865. [3] Later Reeves moved to Arkansas and f

Samuel Jesse Battle (January 16, 1883 - August 7, 1966) was the first African American police officer in New York City. After attending segregated schoolsin North Carolina, Battle moved north, first to Connecticut, then to New York City, where he took a job as a train porter and began studying for the New York City Police Department civil service exam. He was sworn in on March 6, 1911.[1][2] Biog raphyEdit He was born on January 16, 1883 inNew Bern, North Carolina. His brother-in-law was PatrolmanMoses P. Cobb, who started working for the Brooklyn Police force in the early 1890s before the unification of NYC and acted as Battle's mentor. "Big Sam" as he was known — 6 feet, 3 inches tall, 280 pounds — earned the respect of his fellow officers after saving one officer's life in the early 1920s. They subsequently voted to allow him into the Sergeant's Academy. As the NYPD's first black lieutenant, during the intenseHarlem Riots of 1935 - after 3 days of violenc