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Colin Powell
(born April 5, 1937, New York, New York, U.S.) U.S. general and statesman. He was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–93) and secretary of state (2001–05), the first African American to hold either position.
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Al Sharpton
(born October 3, 1954, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) American civil rights activist and minister. He began preaching at age four and became an ordained Pentecostal minister at age 10.
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Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase was a U.S. senator, governor of Ohio and Supreme Court chief justice who served as the U.S. secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War.
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Jesse Jackson
Civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson became one of the most influential African-Americans of the late 20th century.
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US representative and social activist. Born Shirley St. Hill on November 30, 1924 in New York City. Chisholm spent part of her childhood in Barbados with her grandmother and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1946. She began her career as a teacher and earned a Master's degree in elementary education from Columbia University. She served as director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center from 1953 to 1959 as an educational consultant to New York City's Bureau of Child Welfare from 1959 to 1964.
In 1969, Chisholm became the first black congresswoman and began the first of seven terms. After initially being assigned to the House Forestry Committee, she shocked many by demanding reassignment. She was placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, eventually graduating to the Education and Labor Committee. She became one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.
Chisholm became the first African American woman to make a bid to be President of the United States when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. A champion of minority education and employment opportunities throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm was also a vocal opponent of the draft. After leaving Congress in 1983, she taught at Mount Holyoke College and was popular on the lecture circuit.
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm from 1949 to 1977. She wed Arthur Hardwick, Jr. in 1986. She is the author of two books, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973).
Biography courtesy of BIO.com
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This Day in History
May 18
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Pope John Paul II born, 1920
On May 18, 1920, Karol Jozef Wojtyla is born in the Polish town of Wadowice, 35 miles southwest of Krakow. Wojtyla went on to become Pope John Paul…
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King (PDF)
Teacher's guide to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
