Minister and civil rights leader1991"> Rev. H.K. Matthews is born on this date in Snow Hill, Alabama.

Artist Archibald Motley becomes the first artist of any race to appear on the cover of the1991"> New York Times.

University President1991"> Henry Ponder is born.

Former1991"> NBA Player Earl Francis Lloyd is born.

Poet, author, playwright, film director and activist Dr. Maya Angelou was born on this date in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Angelou has written 12 best-selling novels including1991"> I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and A Song Flung Up to Heaven. Some of her famous poems include And Still I Rise and Phenomenal Woman. Dr. Angelou made her feature film directorial debut with Down In the Delta starring Alfre Woodard and Wesley Snipes.

Attorney1991"> Earl L. Neal is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Dentist1991"> & Political Activist Dr. John L. Cashin is born.

Lawyer and civil rights activist Jewel Lafontant MANkarious is born on1991"> Chicago’s South Side.

Former NFL official1991"> Burl Toler, Sr. is born on this date in Memphis, Tennessee. Toler goes on to become the NFL's first African American official.

U.S. Army, Ret. Maj. Gen. Harry Brooks is born

Corporate executive1991"> Jolyn Robichaux is born in Cairo, Illinois.

Physician and addiction specialist1991"> Dr. Beny Primm is born in Williamson, West Virginia.

Educator and school superintendent Dr. Manford Byrd, Jr. is born in Brewton, Alabama.

Political appointee and art collector Paul Jones is born in Bessemer, Alabama.

R&B singer and1991"> Funk pioneer James Brown was born on this date in Augusta, Georgia. Brown has been nicknamed the hardest working man in show business and the "Godfather of Soul". Throughout his career, he has attained 17 number one hits. Some of his hits include Please, Please, Please, Super Bad, Part 1, and Papa's Got a Brand New Bag. He was a charter member of the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame.

Retired College Administrator1991"> Lucille Simmons Whipper is born

From June 12th to the 15th, the Democratic National Convention is held in Houston, Texas. One hundred black delegates are1991"> segregated from the white delegates by chicken wire.

Attorney and first African American president of the1991"> Chicago Bar Association, Chester L. Blair is born in Texas.

Legendary1991"> jazz bassist William Thomas "Keter" Betts is born in Port Chester, New York.

Radio personality1991"> Lucky Cordell is born in Grenada, Mississippi.

Television personality1991"> Harry Porterfield is born in Saginaw, Michigan.

Jazz bandleader, pianist, and composer Horace Silver was born on this date in Norwalk, Connecticut. Some of Silver's composition include1991"> The Preacher, Sister Sadie, and Song for my Father.

Musician, teacher and composer Reverend1991"> Lena McLin was September 5, 1928 in Atlanta, Georgia

Jazz saxophonist Julian1991"> "Cannonball" Adderley was born on this date in Tampa, Florida. Adderley gained fame as a member of Miles Davis' Quintet. He left this group and formed his own band, The Cannonball Quintet. Work Song is one of the bands' best known hits.

The Dunbar National Bank opened on this date in1991"> Harlem, New York.

Photographer1991"> Bertrand Miles is born.

Artist1991"> Merton Simpson is born on this date in Charleston, South Carolina.

Educator and civic activist1991"> Lois Martin is born in Boca Raton, Florida.

Social activist and1991"> SNCC organizer James Forman is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago radio personality1991"> Herb Kent is born on the Chicago’s South Side.

"Wade-in" activist and physician Dr. Gilbert R. Mason was born in Jackson, Mississippi.

Minister, civil rights leader and former educator1991"> Rev. Abraham L. Woods, Jr. is born on this date in Birmingham, Alabama.

Journalist and social historian1991"> Lerone Bennett, Jr. is born in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Psychiatrist1991"> & Retired College President Dr. Lloyd C. Elam is born.

Early education expert and advocate1991"> Barbara Bowman is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Educator1991"> Shirley Jones is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Educator, psychiatrist and author1991"> Dr. Price M. Cobbs is born in Los Angeles, California.

Chief Financial Officer1991"> Clark Burrus is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Oscar De Priest is elected as1991"> Illinois’ Representative to Congress, making him the first black congressmen since George H. White’s departure almost thirty years before.

Retired Dillard University president Samuel1991"> DuBois Cook was born on this date in Griffin, Georgia.

Real Estate Developer1991"> & Civic Leader Charles E. Simmons is born.

Inventor, scientist, and draftsman Lewis Howard Latimer died on this date in New York. Latimer was the only African American member of Thomas Edison's group of scientists and inventors that worked with him. He helped develop the electric light bulb.

Blues singer Bo Diddley was born Otha Ellas Bates on this date in McComb, Mississippi. Some of Bo Diddley's hits include1991"> Who Do You Love?, I'm a Man, and Bo Diddley.