CNN - Biographies

Rep. Donald Payne, (D) New Jersey

Began career as elementary and high school teacher
Elected 1988 to Congress as first African American member from New Jersey
Elected Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus December, 1994

Rosa Parks

On December 1, 1955, Parks refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus tot a white man, is jailed and fined $14.00. This leads to the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the birth of the modern civil rights movement.

Benjamin Chavis, National Director, Million Man March

Executive Director for the NAACP from 1993-1994. He is accused of sexual harassment and mismanaging funds and is dismissed in August, 1994.
Convicted as one of the "Wilmington 10" for firebombing a Wilmington, North Carolina grocery store during 1972 riots. Convictions were overturned after Amnesty International called them "Prisoners of Conscience."

Louis Farrakhan,Nation of Islam Leader

Born May 11, 1933 in the Bronx, New York
Joined Nation of Islam mid-1950's, becoming its leader in 1977
Father of nine, 23 grandchildren

Maya Angelou, Poet

"Lift up you eyes upon
This day breaking for you
Give birth again
To the dream."

"On the Pulse of Morning" by Maya Angelou, recited for the 1993 inaugural of President William Jefferson Clinton

Dorothy Heights, Civil Rights Activist

Began career as New York City Welfare Department caseworker in 1934
Served on New York State Social Welfare Board, 1958-1968
President, National Council of Negro Women, Inc., 1957- present

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