Solomon Northup: Time Served
“Life is dear to every living thing; the worm that crawls upon the ground will struggle for it.” In the early 19th century, Solomon Northup entered the world amidst unique circumstances. Both his mother and father were free people of colour in pre-Abolitionist America, so Solomon and his brother were born free. Solomon’s father […]
Ursula Burns: A Career To Be Copied
Ursula Burns was brought up by a single mother in a New York City housing project. Hardly the place one would associate with one of the most powerful women in the modern world. Burns’s education took her beyond her humble beginnings. She earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in […]
Lenny Henry: Standing Up for Comedy
Born to Jamaican immigrants in 1958, Lenny Henry was funnier than most people in the world at a very young age. Once named one of the fifteen funniest black performers of all time, Henry is best known for co-founding the charity Comic Relief. The first time he appeared on television Lenny Henry won a […]
Rosa Parks: First Lady of Civil Rights
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born in 1913 and spent her formative years on a farm in Pine Level, Alabama with her mother, brother and grandparents. In her autobiography Parks could recall the chilling signs of racism running rampant around her. There were times when her grandfather would stand guard, gripping a shotgun, […]