Sarah Ratliff's Blog, page 3
February 5, 2016
Nella Larsen
Nella Larsen was born in Chicago in 1891 to an Afro-Caribbean father and Danish mother, both of whom were immigrants. Larsen is best known for her two short novels written during the Harlem Renaissance—Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929). Larsen’s novels wrestle with the complexity of being mixed race during a time of heightened race awareness. […]
February 4, 2016
Zawe Ashton
Zawe Ashton is a prominent British actress, born of an English father and a Ugandan mother in Hackney. Ashton’s maternal grandfather Paulo Muwanga was the President and Prime Minister of Uganda in 1985. Both of Ashton’s parents are teachers. Zawe Ashton is best known for her roles in the TV shows Fresh Meat and Not […]
February 3, 2016
Daniel Sunjata
Born in 1971 in Illinois, Daniel Sunjata is an American actor of African-American, Irish and German descent. Sunjata is best known for playing Franco Rivera in the FX drama Rescue Me and has played the lead role in Graceland since 2013. In 2003, Sunjata was named one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” and […]
February 1, 2016
Misty Copeland
In 2015, 33-year-old Misty Copeland became the first Black woman promoted to principal dancer of the prestigious American Ballet Theater (ABT). Both of Copeland’s parents are Biracial, and she grew up in relative poverty in Southern California with her mother. Copeland didn’t begin ballet until the late age of 13. However, Copeland was a […]
January 27, 2016
Introducing Black Biracial History Month
In 1915, Harvard-educated historian, Carter G. Woodson, Ph.D., along with some friends and colleagues, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Within a year they published The Journal of Negro History and by 1926 Dr. Woodson proposed setting aside a week in February to celebrate the contributions of African Americans. He […]
January 23, 2016
Shaun King
Shaun King is a civil rights activist and writer, best known for his involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement. Born in 1979 in Kentucky, King has lead fundraisers for large issues involving the black community. He raised $1.5 million for those displaced by the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and raised $60,000 for Tamir Rice’s […]
Drake
Hip Hop singer Drake was born in Toronto, Canada in 1986. His Jewish Canadian mother and Black father from Memphis, Tennessee divorced when Drake was 5 years old. He was raised by his mother in Toronto, first in a working class neighborhood and then in an affluent area where his mother scraped by financially. Drake […]
Rihanna
Singer and songwriter Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados in 1988. Her mother is Afro-Guyanese and her father is of Barbadian and Irish descent. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, which makes her one of the best-selling artists in history. Rihanna grew up in Barbados with her mother […]
Troian Bellisario
Troian Bellisario was born in Los Angeles, California in 1985. Her mother is Black and her father is half Italian, half Serbian. Both of her parents are television producers, and her father is known for producing Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap and NCIS. Bellisario is best known for playing Spencer Hastings on the television show Pretty […]
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in 1818. He was a social reformer, abolitionist, writer, orator and statesman who escaped slavery before the Civil War. Douglass was born on a plantation to a Black slave mother, from whom he was soon separated, as was the custom in Maryland. Though not verified, the master […]
