Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, singlehandedly raised Jackie and her four other children. The Robinson family was the only Black family on their block. The racism they encountered strengthened their family bond.

This hu(read more)mble beginning would produce the first baseball player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier that segregated this sport for more than 50 years, when in 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first MLB Black player… (read more)

Joe Louis Barrow was born in 1914 in Lafayette, Alabama. He was the 7th of 8 children born to parents who were sharecroppers and he was the grandson of enslaved people. When he was two years old, his father was committed to an asylum.

Joe received a very limited education and relied on his physical ability to advance in life… (read more)

Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama in 1913 to a family of sharecroppers. He was the last of 10 children born to Henry and Mary Emma Owens, and he was the grandson of enslaved people. One of the defining moments in his childhood was undergoing the removal of a large fibrous mass from his chest, near his heart. The surgery was performed in the kitchen of his house, with a kitchen knife, by his mother.

At times Jesse and his siblings were forced to pick cotton, but they would also play in the fields, which is where Jesse developed a love of running… (read more)

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks on June 16, 1971 in New York City. He moved to California with his mother and, by the time his debut album “2Pacalypse Now” was released in 1991, he was considered an unequivocal figure in West Coast hip-hop, distinguished by his lyrical commentary on society and systemic oppression. This LP was a means of commenting on mass incarceration, racism, police brutality, and the inequity within the War on Drugs. Tupac’s parents were Black Panther members, and his godmother is Assata Shakur, the de facto leader of the Black Liberation Army in the 1970s. Shakur learned about the politics of the Black Panther Party and the associated Black Liberation Army at an early age from his mother and her friends, many of whom were imprisoned or otherwise targeted by the government for their belief… (read more)

NWA became active in 1987, smashing the gangsta rap scene with their significant popularity and message regarding police brutality and racial inequity. The members of NWA were all incredibly talented musicians: Eazy-E, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince. Their debut studio album was released in 1988 in just 6 weeks with an $8,000 budget, and “Straight Outta Compton” quickly became incredibly successful and controversial… (read more)

Lauryn Noelle Hill was born on May 26, 1972 in New Jersey where she grew up. Her mother was an English teacher, and her father was a computer and management consultant. Her family was always very musically inclined, constantly playing several instruments and music throughout the house. Lauryn went to Columbia High School where she excelled in advanced placement classes and sports and founded the gospel choir. In high school, she met two Haitian immigrants, Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean, who asked her to join a hip-hop group, the Fugees, a take on the word “refugees.” She became their lead singer-songwriter and learned to rap as well as sing…. (read more)

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, known by his stage name Nas, was born on September 14, 1973 in New York City. Nas’ music career began in 1989 when he was 16 years old, and his debut album “Illmatic” released in 1994 launched him into incredible success and acclaim. He followed this with the record-smashing hit “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” featuring Lauryn Hill. By this point, Nas was already considered a legend; his debut album is still considered to be one of the best of all time, and his lyricism is unmatched. Nas was a part of a very public four-year-long feud with Jay-Z, releasing a diss track “Ether” which blew the feud out of the water. Eventually, the feud was resolved, and Nas was signed to Jay-Z’s Def Jam Recordings where he continued to put out albums with never-before-seen lyricism and talent that smashed records left and right… (read more)

Biggie Smalls was born Christopher George Latore Wallace on May 21st, 1972 in Brooklyn NY, the only child of Jamaican parents and died on March 9th, 1997 in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. He was only 24 years of age. He is the only person, other than Nas, to compete with Tupac for the greatest in hip-hop history. Biggie began rapping at the age of 11. He learned to dictate and phrase his lyrics from jazz drums… (read more)