| Created by Stephen A. Maglott (1953-2016). Biographical tributes to distinguished LGBTQ/SGL people of color/African descent.

Keith Cylar

April 18, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Keith Cylar was born on April 18, 1958 (to April 5, 2004). He was an outspoken activist, agitator, and advocate who was a co-founder and co-president of Housing Works, a leading HIV/AIDS service provider in New York City. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Keith Cylar was raised by foster parents. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University, Cylar first became aware of AIDS soon after it was identified in 1981. Three years later, he moved to New […]

Categories: All, April, April 18, Cylar, Keith • Tags: 1958, 2004, April 18, April 5, Keith Cylar, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Essex Hemphill

April 16, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Essex Hemphill was born on April 16, 1957 (to November 4, 1995). He was an influential poet, award-winning editor, memorable performance artist, and fearless activist. Essex Charles Hemphill was one of five children born to Mantalene Clark Hemphill and Warren A. Hemphill, Sr. He began his life in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in southeast Washington, DC, where he began writing at age 14. Hemphill studied English at the University of Maryland, but decided to complete his degree at the […]

Categories: All, April, April 16, Hemphill, Essex • Tags: 1957, 1995, April 16, Essex Hemphill, November 4, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Jericho Brown

April 14, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Jericho Brown was born on April 14, 1976. He is an award-winning poet and beloved college professor, LGBTI activist, and community builder. Jericho Brown was born Nelson Demery, III in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Nelson Demery, Jr. and Neomia Lenoir Demery, who made their living cutting lawns and cleaning homes and other buildings. His sister is the filmmaker, Nequella Demery. Because of his family moving so often and his own behavior, Brown was expelled several times, attending five grade schools and two middle schools. […]

Categories: All, April, April 14, Brown, Jericho • Tags: 1976, April 14, Jericho Brown, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Robert K. Burns

April 14, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Robert K. Burns was born on April 14, 1975 (to December 8, 2011). He was a respected professional in the delivery of health care services, the former executive director of the COLOURS Organization, a leader in the house ball community, and a beloved DJ around the country. Robert Keith Burns, also known as Robbie Rob Blahnik, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a large and supportive family. He is a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School who went on […]

Categories: All, April, April 14, Burns, Robert K. • Tags: 1975, 2011, April 14, December 8, Robert K. Burns, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Willi Ninja

April 12, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Willi Ninja was born on April 12, 1961 (to September 2, 2006). He was a dancer, performance artist, and choreographer who was featured in the ball community documentary film, “Paris is Burning.” William Roscoe Leake grew up in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens, where he began dancing at the age of seven. He had an undistinguished school career, but his talent soon led him to Manhattan. Arriving in Greenwich Village in the late 1970s, Willi Ninja […]

Categories: All, April, April 12, Ninja, Willi • Tags: 1961, 2006, April 12, September 2, Ubuntu Biography Project, Willi Ninja

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Ali Forney

April 12, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Ali Forney was born on April 12, 1975 (to December 5, 1997). Sometimes known as Luscious, Forney was a homeless gender nonconforming peer counselor and LGBTQ youth advocate for whom the Ali Forney Center was named when it opened in 2002. Ali He’shun Forney was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and raised by a single mother in Brooklyn, New York. By the time he became a teenager, Forney was a prostitute, and later ran away from a group home. Preferring […]

Categories: All, April, April 12, Forney, Ali • Tags: 1975, 1997, Ali Forney, April 12, December 5, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Maurice Tomlinson

April 9, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Maurice Tomlinson was born on April 9, 1971. He is a courageous attorney-at-law, law lecturer, human rights and LGBTQ advocate, and a prominent HIV and AIDS activist in Jamaica, the Caribbean, and Canada for more than two decades. Maurice A. Tomlinson was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica to Carmen Tomlinson, a cashier, and his father, George Tomlinson, a telephone technician. Tomlinson has one older and one younger brother, both of whom migrated to North America. Tomlinson attended two different high schools in Jamaica, Cornwall College in […]

Categories: All, April, April 09, Tomlinson, Maurice • Tags: 1971, April 9, Maurice Tomlinson, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Carmen McRae

April 8, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Carmen McRae was born on April 8, 1920 (to November 10, 1994). She was jazz vocalist, composer, pianist, and actress, and one of the most influential jazz stylists of the 20th century. McRae recorded more than 60 albums, and performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. Carmen Mercedes McRae was born in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem to Jamaican immigrant parents, Osmond and Evadne McRae. She was fortunate enough to have been raised by a family prosperous […]

Categories: All, April, April 08, McRae, Carmen • Tags: 1920, 1994, April 8, Carmen McRae, November 10, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Billie Holiday

April 7, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915 (to July 17, 1959). She was an iconic jazz singer, song stylist, and songwriter. Billie Holiday was named Eleanora Fagan when she was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Sarah Julia “Sadie” Fagan. Her father, Clarence Holiday, a musician, did not marry or live with her mother, who had moved to Philadelphia at the age of thirteen, after being put out of her parents’ home in Baltimore for becoming pregnant. With no support […]

Categories: All, April, April 07, Holiday, Billie • Tags: 1915, 1959, April 7, Billie Holiday, July 17, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Wanda Renita Alston

April 7, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Wanda Renita Alston was born on April 7, 1959 (to March 16, 2005). She was a passionate feminist and LGBTQ advocate who became the first Washington, DC cabinet-level director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs. Wanda Renita Alston was born in Newport News, Virginia, the tenth of eleven children of Arabelle and the late William D. Alston. After graduating from high school in Newport News, she left home and joined the United States Air Force, where […]

Categories: All, Alston, Wanda Renita, April, April 07 • Tags: 1959, 2005, April 7, March 16, Wanda Renita Alston

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Doug Cooper Spencer

April 6, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Doug Cooper Spencer was born on April 6, 1954. He is a highly respected novelist, short fiction writer, essayist, lecturer, beloved friend, and human rights activist living in New York City. Doug Cooper Spencer was born in Lincoln Heights, Ohio, a predominantly African American town north of Cincinnati. He is the fifth child of eight children born to Ellis Cooper, who was a laborer, and Estella Cooper, a homemaker. Spencer attended Lincoln Heights Elementary and High School, before graduating from […]

Categories: All, April, April 06, Spencer, Doug Cooper • Tags: 1954, April 6, Doug Cooper Spencer, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Robert Reid-Pharr

April 4, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Robert Reid-Pharr was born on April 4, 1965. He is an influential writer, critical essayist, and Distinguished and Presidential Professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is considered an authority on both African American writing and twentieth century American literature, especially poetry, literary history, criticism, and theory. Robert Fitzgerald Reid-Pharr was born in Charlotte, North Carolina to Robert Lyons Pharr and Joanna Reid Pharr. He attended Garinger High […]

Categories: All, April, April 04, Reid-Pharr, Robert • Tags: 1965, April 4, Robert Reid-Pharr, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Samuel R. Delany

April 2, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Samuel R. Delany was born on April 1, 1942. He is an acclaimed writer considered to be the dean of American science fiction writers, and the first major Black American author of science fiction. Delany also is a well-known professor and literary critic. He is noted for his explorations of social and moral issues as well as language structure and mythology. Samuel Ray Delany was born in New York City’s legendary neighborhood of Harlem. He is the son of Margaret […]

Categories: All, April, April 01, Delany, Samuel R. • Tags: 1942, April 1, Samuel R. Delany, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Lucille Bogan

April 2, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Lucille Bogan was born on April 1, 1897 (to August 10, 1948). She was an important blues singer who sometimes recorded under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson. Bogan was considered by many to be the toughest practitioner of a genre known as the Dirty Blues in the early part of the twentieth century. She was one of the first Black women to record, and stands along with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith as one of “the big three of the blues.” […]

Categories: All, April, April 01, Bogan, Lucille • Tags: 1897, 1948, April 1, August 10, Lucille Bogan, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Shawn Short

April 2, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Shawn Short was born on April 1, 1978. He is an artistic-scholar, dancer, model, choreographer, educator, visionary, and a social justice and LGBTQ equality advocate. Shawn Short was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, to Nathaniel Short, a United States Marine, and Frances Robinson, a financial professional. Shortly after his father completed his military duties in South Carolina, Short’s family migrated to the Washington, DC metro area. He attended Duval High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and graduated in 1996. Short’s early 20s were a tough time filled with […]

Categories: All, April, April 01, Short, Shawn • Tags: 1978, April 1, Shawn Short, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Paul Scott

April 2, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Paul Scott was born on March 31, 1963. He is a health activist, SGLBT advocate, and a community builder. Paul Jonathan Scott was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the youngest child of Paul S. Scott, who was a United States naval officer, and Mable L. Jones, who worked for the Los Angeles School District. Scott and his family moved to California when he was nine years old. He has three sisters and one brother, and attended Dorsey High School in […]

Categories: All, March, March 31, Scott, Paul • Tags: 1963, March 31, Paul Scott, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Countee Cullen

March 30, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Countee Cullen was born on March 30, 1903 (to January 9, 1946). He was an important poet, columnist, editor, novelist, playwright, children’s writer, and educator who was also a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Given the name Countee LeRoy Porter at birth (in Lexington, Kentucky; New York City; or Baltimore, Maryland, depending on the source), he was the son of Elizabeth Thomas Lucas. The conflicting accounts of his early life can be attributed to the lack of verifiable records, […]

Categories: All, Cullen, Countee, March, March 30 • Tags: 1903, 1946, Countee Cullen, January 9, March 30, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Tracy Chapman

March 30, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Tracy Chapman was born on March 30, 1964. She is an accomplished singer, songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. Chapman is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning musician, composer, and artist best known for her singles “Fast Car,” “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution,” “Baby Can I Hold You,” “Crossroads,” and “Give Me One Reason.” Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved at a young age with her family to Connecticut. She was raised by her mother, who recognized Chapman’s love of […]

Categories: All, Chapman, Tracy, March, March 30 • Tags: 1964, March 30, Tracy Chapman, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Aundaray Guess

March 28, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Aundaray Guess was born on March 28, 1967. He is a respected writer and playwright, a committed HIV/AIDS activist, and a community builder. Guess is co-editor of the Stephen A. Maglott Ubuntu Biography Project, relaunched in 2017. Aundaray Lamond Guess was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Martha McGhee, who was a factory worker in the rural area of the city. His family moved to Minnesota, and he attended St. Paul Central High School, where he graduated in 1985. As a young man, Guess […]

Categories: All, Guess, Aundaray, March, March 28 • Tags: 1967, Aundaray Guess, March 28, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Doug Robinson

March 26, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Doug Robinson was born on March 26, 1951. He is a longtime advocate for human rights, adoption and family rights, education and healthcare. Douglas Robinson is the son of Dan and Grace Robinson. The youngest of four children, Robinson grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family was the first to integrate the local YMCA, and Dougie—as he is known to family and close friends—was expected to be a model student. Active in the marching band, jazz band, […]

Categories: All, March, March 26, Robinson, Doug • Tags: 1951, Doug Robinson, March 26, Ubuntu Biography Project

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D’Ontace Keyes

March 26, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

D’Ontace Keyes was born on March 26, 1990. He is an artist, philanthropist, visionary, and creative. Born D’Angelo-D’Ontace Tre’Maine Keyes, Keyes is a native of Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lake Keyes, who was a military man, and his mother, Debra Jackson, a nurse. As a child, Keyes was abused by his mother, and raised fatherless. When he was twelve, Keyes was placed in foster care, and spent all of his teen years as a foster child. Keyes attended several primary schools, including Langston Hughes Elementary School. For […]

Categories: All, Keyes, D'Ontace, March, March 26 • Tags: 1990, D'Ontace Keyes, March 26, Ubuntu Biography Project

Sheryl Swoopes

March 26, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Sheryl Swoopes was born on March 25, 1971. She is a former professional basketball player, coach, and three-time Olympic gold medalist. Swoopes has been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Sheryl Denise Swoopes was born in Brownfield, Texas, a small town forty miles southwest of Lubbock. Her father, Billy Ray Swoopes, abandoned the family only months after Swoops’ birth. Father and daughter were not reunited until 2003, when Sheryl Swoopes […]

Categories: All, March, March 25, Swoopes, Sheryl • Tags: 1971, March 25, Sheryl Swoopes, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Cecil Taylor

March 26, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Cecil Taylor was born on March 25, 1929 (to April 5, 2018). He was a celebrated jazz pianist and poet who is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. Cecil Percival Taylor was born in Queens, New York, the child of a musical family, whose mother was a dancer and silent film actress. She also played the piano and violin, but died of cancer while Taylor was still young. His father, Percy Clinton Taylor, was head chef […]

Categories: All, March, March 25, Taylor, Cecil • Tags: 1929, Cecil Taylor, March 25, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Gee Smalls

March 26, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Gee Smalls was born on March 24, 1977. He is a father, husband, philanthropist, writer, blogger, love coach, brand ambassador, entrepreneur, event producer, LGBTQ activist, and community leader. Gee Smalls was born as Gregory V. Smalls, in Baltimore, Maryland. His Black father, the late Virgil F. Smalls, was retired from the Navy; his white mother, Rita F. Smalls, is a caregiver for kids and seniors. He has one older sister, Tawnya C. Smalls. The family relocated to Charleston, South Carolina shortly after […]

Categories: All, March, March 24, Smalls, Gee • Tags: 1977, Gee Smalls, March 24, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Marc Loveless

March 23, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Marc Loveless was born on March 23, 1961. He is a public servant, civil rights activist, and an HIV/AIDS advocate. Loveless is the first openly gay former elected official in Chicago, the first Black gay candidate for a citywide office, and a Capuchin Franciscan Friar. Marc Zohntell Loveless was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Benny Dunn Loveless, an electrical engineer and founding member of the local AFSCME union; his mother, Margret, was a cosmetologist, business owner, and cosmetology instructor. He attended Detroit’s Redford High School, and […]

Categories: All, Loveless, Marc, March, March 23 • Tags: 1961, Marc Loveless, March 23, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Alex Danamarie Brown-Jones

March 23, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Alex Danamarie Brown-Jones was born on March 23, 1966. She is an author, playwright, director, and producer. Brown-Jones also is an advocate for basic human rights whether championing the homeless, LGBTQ, or church communities. Alex Danamarie Brown-Jones was born Dana Marie Jones in Queens, New York. She was raised by her nana, Marie Davis, who was a devout Holiness Christian. Brown-Jones was educated in various parochial and public schools in New York before leaving school to care for her nana […]

Categories: All, Brown-Jones, Alex Danamarie, March, March 23 • Tags: 1966, Alex Danamarie Brown-Jones, March 23, Ubuntu Biography Project

Curtis Lipscomb

March 23, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Curtis Lipscomb was born on March 23, 1965. He is a Black gay artist, publisher, scholar, community organizer, developer, advocate, mentor, devoted friend, and executive director of LGBT Detroit. Curtis Alexander Lipscomb was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Lester L. Lewis and Mary K. Salley. He attended and graduated from Cass Technical High School, where, under the direction of his beloved teacher, Marion Stephens, he excelled academically and was encouraged to pursue his creative dreams. Following high school, Lipscomb enrolled at […]

Categories: All, Lipscomb, Curtis, March, March 23 • Tags: 1965, Curtis Lipscomb, March 23, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Marcus Lee

March 22, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Marcus Lee was born on March 22, 1993. He is a writer, budding scholar, friend, and a brother. Marcus Lee was born outside of Washington, D.C. to Rodney Lee, who is a consultant, and Stephanie Lee, an information technology specialist; he has two brothers, Stephon and Antoine Fleming. Lee attended Harding University High School, where he graduated in 2011. Following high school, he enrolled at Morehouse College to study sociology, and then the University of Chicago for studies in political theory. Marcus Lee served as president of SafeSpace, an innovative student-driven project of Morehouse’s Gender and Sexual Diversities Collective, and […]

Categories: All, Lee, Marcus, March, March 22 • Tags: 1993, March 22, Marcus Lee, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Dale Guy Madison

March 22, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Dale Guy Madison was born on March 22, 1958. He is a former QVC host, and an award-winning educator, LGBTQ activist, playwright, author, doll collector, performance artist, and artist-in-residence. Dale Guy Madison was born on a naval base in Great Lakes, Illinois. He attended Northwestern Senior High School in Baltimore, Maryland, graduating in 1976. Madison received his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Antioch University, and a master’s degree in education and leadership. In the 1980s, Madison played a pivotal role in Baltimore’s gay African […]

Categories: All, Madison, Dale Guy, March, March 22 • Tags: 1958, Dale Guy Madison, March 22, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Jaye Davidson

March 22, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Jaye Davidson was born on March 21, 1968. He is an American-born British actor, model, and fashion promoter best known for his role as transwoman Dil in the 1992 film “The Crying Game,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Jaye Davidson was born Alfred Amey in Riverside, California, to a Ghanaian father and English mother; he has two sisters. Davidson and his family moved to the United Kingdom when he was […]

Categories: All, Davidson, Jaye, March, March 21 • Tags: 1968, Jaye Davidson, March 21, Ubuntu Biography Project

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