Black History Month: Daily Updates

Your Black History Update Homework - Learn More

I hope that this past month of Black History Updates has been as inspiring to you as it has been for me. In curating, editing, and researching these brief profiles, I've learned a lot about 19 individuals who have not - for the most part - been at the forefront of Black History celebrations. Many have been featured in the New York Times Overlooked series which has sought to make up for not celebrating the lives and contributions of women and people of color in their white, male-dominated obituaries. Others have a local connection to the Chicago area, or small, but dedicated communities devoted to reminding us that there is more to Black History Month than the icons we know well.

I'm grateful to the members of the COD community who not only nominated figures for these updates, but wrote profiles that shine bright with their personal connections to their nominees. These contributions ensured that the Black History Updates spanned three centuries and represented the arts, sciences, and humanities as well as activists and people who led their lives extraordinarily.

I would also like to thank my friends and family who followed along on Facebook and provided their own suggestions for profiles. Of course, as the shortest month of the year, there simply aren't enough days in February for Updates for all the people I'd love to share with you. Instead, I'm assigning you some homework - below are five folks whose names came to me just this week, each with a single Learn More link.

Knowing the past opens the door to the future. I look forward to seeing it with you.

Until next year,

--Jenn.

Alain Locke (1885 - 1954) - Writer, Philosopher, Educator

Dubbed the "Dean of the Harlem Renaissance," Locke was the first African American Rhodes Scholar and editor of the 1925 book The New Negro: An Interpretation, an anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays on African and African American art and literature.

LISTEN: The Birth of a 'New Negro' - Code Switch (37 min)

Bessie Colman (1892-1926) - Aviator

Colman was the first African-American woman and the first Native-American to hold a pilot license.

WATCH: The Daredevil Aviatrix That History Forgot - American Masters: Unladylike2020 (9 min)

Prince Martin (1895 - 1965) - Bartender

READ: The Extraordinary Life of Pioneering Bartender Prince Martin

Arthur Mitchell (1934 - 2018) - Ballet dancer, choreographer

At the age of 21, Mitchell became the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet and was promoted to principal dancer the following year - an almost unheard of accomplishment.

WATCH: Arthur Mitchell: A Day of Reflection - Dance Theatre of Harlem (34 min)

Betty Davis (1945 - ) - American funk and soul singer

Born Betty Mabry, the funk diva who influenced the jazz fusion of trumpeter Miles Davis kept her ex-husband's name long after the end of their 1-year marriage - "Every day married to him was a day I earned the name Davis." She modeled in London, released three albums, and became a legendary cult figure, only to disappear from the music scene in 1979. The 2017 film Betty: They Say I'm Different tells the story of this "bold soul sister."

READ: Betty Davis Was a Raw Funk Pioneer. Her Decades of Silence Are Over - The New York Times