Tag: Ubuntu Biography Project

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

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

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 […]

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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

Stanley Bennett Clay

March 18, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Stanley Bennett Clay was born on March 18, 1950. He is an acclaimed novelist, playwright, filmmaker, actor, and activist. Stanley Bennett Clay came into the world as Stanley Gale Clay in Chicago, Illinois, born to a single mother, Bertha Florence Clay. He was reared in a loving household by his homemaker mother and her new husband, mailman Raymond L. Fleming, whom Clay embraced as his father. Clay is the second oldest of eight children. An avid reader with a musical aptitude, he began […]

Categories: All, Clay, Stanley Bennett, March, March 18 • Tags: 1950, March 18, Stanley Bennett Clay, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Cleavester Brooks

March 17, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Cleavester Brooks was born on March 17, 1983. He is an entrepreneur, writer, blogger, magazine publisher, and community builder. Cleavester Brooks, Jr. was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Cleavester Brooks, Sr., who was a sergeant in the United States Army, and Tonia Johnson, a homemaker; he has a brother, Kevin. In school, Brooks was president of the 4-H Club, served as vice president of the student council and sports editor of the yearbook, and earned many choral and perfect attendance awards. After graduating in 2001 […]

Categories: All, Brooks, Cleavester, March, March 17 • Tags: 1983, Cleavester Brooks, March 17, Ubuntu Biography Project

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L. Lamar Wilson

March 17, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

L. Lamar Wilson was born on March 17, 1979. He is an award-winning poet, librettist, newspaper editor and essayist, and literary scholar. Leroy Lamar Wilson was born in Marianna, Florida, to Leroy E. Wilson Jr., a lifelong teacher and social worker, and Annell Wilson, a seamstress, factory worker, and homemaker. He attended Marianna High School and graduated in 1997 as its second African American and first Black male valedictorian. Wilson also rended racial barriers in regional and state competitions in tennis and concert music, as a trumpeter. Following high school, Wilson enrolled […]

Categories: All, March, March 17, Wilson, L. Lamar • Tags: 1979, L. Lamar Wilson, March 17, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Vincent Johnson

March 17, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Vincent Johnson was born on March 16, 1964. He is a personal training coach, a SilverSneakers coach, a group training specialist, a senior exercise specialist, and an entrepreneur. Vincent Dwayne Johnson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Corrine Fults, who was a homemaker. He attended South Shore High School, graduating in 1982. Following high school, Johnson enrolled at Robert Morris University, where he obtained his Master of Management degree with a major in higher education administration. He then […]

Categories: All, Johnson, Vincent, March, March 16 • Tags: 1984, March 16, Ubuntu Biography Project, Vincent Johnson

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Octavia St. Laurent

March 16, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Octavia St. Laurent was born on March 16, 1964 (to May 17, 2009). She was a transgender vocalist, drag performer, actress, and ballroom icon featured in the 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning.” Octavia St. Laurent was born somewhere in Brooklyn, New York. She legally changed her name a few times, and sometimes went by Heavenly Angel Octavia St. Laurent Manolo Blahnik, and alternatively, Octavia St. Laurent Mizrahi. Little is known about St. Laurent’s early years, due to the many conflicting […]

Categories: All, March, March 16, St. Laurent, Octavia • Tags: 1964, 2009, March 16, May 17, Octavia St. Laurent, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Stephen Bailous

March 15, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Stephen Bailous was born on March 14, 1954. He is a respected advocate, consultant, program director, and community builder. Stephen LaMont Bailous was born in Canton, Ohio to Paul Bailous, Sr., who was a high school custodian, and his mother, Virginia DeBerry Bailous, a junior high school math teacher. Stephen Bailous is the youngest of four children, and graduated from Canton McKinley High School in 1972. Following high school, he enrolled at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio, and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in speech and theatre […]

Categories: All, Bailous, Stephen, March, March 14 • Tags: 1954, March 14, Stephen Bailous, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Randall Kenan

March 12, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Randall Kenan was born on March 12, 1963. He is a beloved educator, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and editor. Randall Garrett Kenan was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the offspring of a young, unmarried couple with limited finances. Kenan’s parents accepted an offer from his paternal grandparents to raise him in rural North Carolina. Kenan’s great aunt took an intense interest in him, and he went off to live with her in Chinquapin, North Carolina, a town with fewer than a thousand people. The community later became the setting […]

Categories: All, Kenan, Randall, March, March 12 • Tags: 1963, March 12, Randall Kenan, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Geofrey Mashala

March 12, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Geofrey Mashala was born on March 11, 1984. He is a respected Tanzanian human rights activist and empowerment program director. Geofrey Leonard Mashala was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s important commerce hub and Indian Ocean port. He is the son of Leonard Mashala, who was a certified accountant, and Elizabeth Mashala. Geofrey Mashala attended Baptist Secondary School, where he was a leader on the student government board as a minister of entertainment. He focused on arts courses at Midlands High School, before […]

Categories: All, March, March 11, Mashala, Geofrey • Tags: 1984, Geofrey Mashala, March 11, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Francisco Manicongo

March 9, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

We celebrate the life of Francisco Manicongo on March 9, known as Xica Manicongo Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Manicongo was taken from their home in West Africa in the late 1500s, and forced into slavery in present-day Brazil, as the property of a shoemaker. Manicongo became notorious at the time for openly wearing women’s clothing. Francisco Manicongo was kidnapped from the Angola/Congo region of Central Africa, taken to Bahia in South America, and sold as a slave to […]

Categories: All, Manicongo, Francisco, March, March 09 • Tags: Francisco Manicongo, March 9, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Kevin Mwachiro

March 8, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Kevin Mwachiro was born on March 8, 1973. He is a writer, poet, journalist, communicator, podcaster, activist, cultural enthusiast, fitness nut, and lover of humanity and Africa. In 2015, after being diagnosed with the blood cancer multiple myeloma, Mwachiro added cancer fighter to that list. Kevin Mwachiro was born in Nairobi, Kenya to Leslie and Betty, and has three siblings. He attended Consolota Primary School, and then secondary (high) school at Saint Mary’s School. Mwachiro furthered his education at Kenya’s […]

Categories: All, March, March 08, Mwachiro, Kevin • Tags: 1973, Kevin Mwachiro, March 8, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Bishop Zachary Jones

March 8, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Bishop Zachary Jones was born on March 8, 1958. He is an acclaimed faith leader, HIV/AIDS activist, community builder, senior bishop, and father. Zachary Glenn Jones was born the seventh of eight children in Los Angeles, California to Frank Jones, a city sanitation worker, and Maggie Jones, a licensed vocational nurse. He attended Budlong Elementary School, Inglewood High School, and Lutheran High School, where he graduated in 1976. Following high school, Jones enrolled at El Camino City College and Southern California Regional Occupation School. He went […]

Categories: All, Jones, Zachary, March, March 08 • Tags: 1958, Bishop Zachary Jones, March 8, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Wanda Sykes

March 7, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Wanda Sykes was born on March 7, 1964. She is an Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and voice artist. Wanda Sykes was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in the Washington, DC area. Her mother, Marion Louise, worked in banking, and her father, Harry Ellsworth Sykes, was a United States Army Colonel employed at the Pentagon. Sykes attended Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland, and went on to graduate from Hampton University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing, […]

Categories: All, March, March 07, Sykes, Wanda • Tags: 1964, March 7, Ubuntu Biography Project, Wanda Sykes

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Darryl Stephens

March 7, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Darryl Stephens was born on March 7, 1974. He is an actor, model, author, musician, and producer who is best known for playing Noah Nicholson on the landmark television dramedy “Noah’s Arc.” Darryl Joseph Stephens was born in Pasadena, California, and grew up in the Altadena and Pasadena areas of Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied sociology and ethnic studies along with drama and dance, before earning his bachelor’s degree in American […]

Categories: All, March, March 07, Stephens, Darryl • Tags: 1974, Darryl Stephens, March 7, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Clark Bertram Accord

March 6, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Clark Accord was born on March 6, 1961 (to May 11, 2011). He was an accomplished Surinamese-Dutch author and makeup artist. Clark Bertram Accord was born in the capital city of Paramaribo, Suriname. He moved to the Netherlands when he was 17 years old, and completed high school there. Accord went on to train and find work as a nurse at the AMC Hospital in Amsterdam. He went back to school to follow a new career as a beautician and […]

Categories: Accord, Clark Bertram, All, March, March 06 • Tags: 1961, 2011, Clark Bertram Accord, March 6, May 11, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Ruby Dandridge

March 3, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Ruby Dandridge was born on March 3, 1900 (to October 17, 1987). She was a radio, television, and film actress from the early days of those mediums, also notable for being the mother of actresses Vivian and Dorothy Dandridge. Ruby Jean Butler was born in Wichita, Kansas, the daughter of Nellie Simon and George Butler. Her father was born in Jamaica in 1860, and came to the United States when he was a child. George Butler was a janitor at […]

Categories: All, Dandridge, Ruby, March, March 03 • Tags: 1900, 1987, March 3, October 17, Ruby Dandridge, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Janyce Jackson Jones

March 2, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Janyce Jackson Jones was born on March 2, 1951. She is a beloved mother, grandmother, wife, activist, community organizer, pastor, spiritual leader, and non-profit director. Born Janyce Lorraine Mills, she is a native of Ocala, Florida, the daughter of Alphonso Mills, and Etta Mae Jones. She was raised by her aunt and great grandparents until the age of thirteen, when she left to join her mother who was pursuing a career as a blues and jazz singer in New York City. She has three […]

Categories: All, Jones, Janyce Jackson, March, March 02 • Tags: 1951, Janyce Jackson Jones, March 2, Ubuntu Biography Project

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Ron Simmons

March 2, 2018 by Ubuntu Biography Project

Ron Simmons, Ph.D. was born on March 2, 1950. He is an educator, administrator, and photographer as well as an activist. Before retiring in 2016, Simmons served for 24 years as the president and chief executive officer of Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. (UHU), one of the largest Black gay AIDS organizations in the United States. Isaiah Ronald Simmons was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Isaiah, a garment worker, and Duella, who was a factory worker. He grew up in the Van Dyke housing […]

Categories: All, March, March 02, Simmons, Ron • Tags: 1950, March 2, Ron Simmons, Ubuntu Biography Project

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