Frank Calloway of Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a 96-year-old African-American artist. In 1952, Calloway was diagnosed with schizophrenia. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/32696
Willie Francis of St. Martinsville, Louisiana is known as the first person to suffer from a failed execution via the electric chair in the United States. The 16-year-old had been sentenced to death for the murder of his former employer, Andrew Thomas, a Cajun pharmacist. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/32449
DC Comics has changed their format to create a new lineup of historic characters called The New 52. The switch is an ambitious effort to build a new, and more diverse audience base. The “Number One” issues were released on Aug. 31st. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/32233
Whether African slaves landed in the British colonies of North America or they were born free in Union states, slavery made it nearly impossible to keep a family unit together. With the change in a slave master’s economic or health status, black families were torn apart, sometimes permanently. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/32047
Emlen “The Gremlin” Tunnell of Pennsylvania was the first black and first defensive player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967. He was known as one of the greatest defensive backs in the history of the game. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/31963
In the 1960s, black teens weren’t freely allowed to join the cast of popular shows like “American Bandstand”, “The Buddy Deane Show” or “Big Beat” in New York. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/31884
In 1984, Sherman White, a former All-American basketball forward, told the New York Times about his shattered dreams of playing in the NBA. His road to the New York Knicks was blocked. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/31394
From the time she was five years old, when she watched the WWII film, “Wing and a Prayer,” alongside her military father, Gail Harris knew she wanted to be in Navy intelligence, a position never held by a woman before. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/30871
Eight weeks ago, a court decision ended the wait for anthropologists to begin digging for Seneca Village, which was formerly inhabited by blacks in New York City’s Central Park. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/30826
Dr. Velma Scantlebury-White is our nation’s first African-American female transplant surgeon. The mother of two currently serves as the associate director of the kidney transplant program at Christiana Care Health System. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/30778
Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell was the nation’s first African-American sportscaster, with special coverage of Negro League baseball. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/30737
Controversy surrounds the placing of monuments dedicated toward Araminta Ross, also known as Harriet Tubman, the conductor of the Underground Railroad. Tubman, who was known to threaten an escaping slave with a bullet if they chose to turn back, was a Maryland native, and 2013 will mark the centennial memorial of her passing. http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_black_diaspora_news/29824
