Black/African
While there has been controversy over the years, the inspiration for an iconic curvaceous animated figure illustrated by Max Fleischer has been traced back this Black jazz singer in Harlem who regularly performed in the Cotton Club, who’s childlike scat sounds were later “appropriated” from her by actress Helen Kane who went on to find early fame utilizing them in her songs.
Who is "Baby" Esther Jones
This individual grew up in Miami, Fl., and is of Cuban descent. They began their career in the early 2000’s recording reggaeton, latin hip hop, and crunk music. Their music has been on the top Billboard charts, such as TIMBER, FIREBALL, RAIN OVER ME, WE ARE ONE, and DON’T STOP THE PARTY to name a few. Determined to help the Latino community in their hometown, their social impact focus for the last decade has been closing the poverty gap through educational initiatives. They helped start a Tuition-Free Public charter for middle and high school called Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM!), which opened in 2013 in Miami's Little Havana, the neighborhood where they grew up. SLAM! now operates nationwide, including in Miami, Las Vegas and Atlanta, with a 96 percent graduation rate.
Who is Armando Christian Pérez, known professionally as “PITBULL”
They are a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. They rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950’s as a singer of guarachas, earning the nickname, “La Guarachera de Cuba.” Other nicknames given to them were, “Queen of Salsa” or “The Queen of Latin Music” due to their contributions to the Latin music in the U.S.
Who is Celia Cruz
After school funding was withdrawn, this woman fundraised to create the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina and through her education work became a fierce and vocal opponent of Jim Crow laws.
Who is Charlotte Hawkins Brown
This Colorado native got his nickname due to their fiery personality in their youth, and “always popping off”. They studied engineering in school, but could not afford college after their first semester. They dropped out and turned to boxing. They fought as a featherweight 75 times, and was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. After their career in boxing, they ran for Colorado State Representative, but was defeated. They worked on voter registration for John F. Kennedy presidential campaign, and successfully registered more Mexican Americans than any other time in Colorado’s history. They made their final political effort in 1967 when they ran for Denver Mayor, however, they lost again. They became a leader in the Chicano Movement. They founded the Crusade for Justice, led a group in the Poor People’s March on Washington, and organized a resistance at West High School after a teacher made racist comments. They wrote a famous poem, “Yo Soy Joaquin, which was published in 1967, and has been quoted in protest literature, published in plays, and reprinted in several editions.
Who is Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales
He is remembered as an influential voice of the Nuyorican Movement, which captured the experiences of Puerto Ricans in New York through the discrimination and marginalization they faced. He also penned the noteworthy memoire Down These Mean Streets, discussing the racism, identity issues and poverty he experienced during his lifetime growing in Spanish Harlem in NYC, the Cuban-Puerto Rican poet created a piece of literature that shone a light on his own Afro-Latino community.
Who is Piri Thomas
Though often overshadowed by its Egyptian neighbors to the north, this Kingdom stood as a regional power in Africa for over a thousand years. This ancient Nubian empire reached its peak in the second millennium B.C., when it ruled over a vast swath of territory along the Nile River in what is now Sudan. Historical sources indicate that it was an economic center that operated a lucrative market in ivory, incense, iron and especially gold. The kingdom was both a trading partner and a military rival of Egypt—it even ruled Egypt as the 25th Dynasty—and it adopted many of its neighbor’s customs.
What is Kingdom of Kush or Kush Kingdom
The gay liberation movement of the 1960s would have been much less powerful without this individual. Advocating for trans people and people of color within the movement, this individual is perhaps best known for throwing one of the first bottles during the Stonewall riots, and fighting against the exclusion of trans people from Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act. They also started a home dedicated to providing shelter to homeless queer youth via their organization, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR).
Who is Sylvia Rivera
After passage of this Act which gave Puerto Ricans US citizenship, they were eligible to be drafted for military duty and Afro-Puerto Ricans were subject to the same discrimination faced by African Americans. Although it is rarely mentioned in histories of the unit, Puerto Rican popular music legend Rafael Hernandez Marin was part of 369th Infantry Regiment known as the Harlem Hellfighters. He, along with his brother and 16 other Puerto Ricans, were also part of United States Army’s Ochestra Europe.
What is the the Jones Act