1897-1975  Elijah Muhammad guided the Nation of Islam from its modest beginnings during the Great Depression, when a handful of African Americans met in a Detroit storefront, to its meteoric rise after World War II. Under his leadership, it became one of the most powerful religious and social institutions in the country. A Mysterious Messenger
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1926-1990  Ralph David Abernathy was an inspirational church pastor and an important activist in the struggle for civil rights. His leadership role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and his alliance with Martin Luther King, Jr., helped spur desegregation and create a more promising future for African Americans in the United States. An Ambitious Beginning Abernathy
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1941 -  Ron Karenga’s early work as an activist and Black Nationalist leader grew into a career as an academic specializing in African American studies. His interest in promoting black culture and identity led to his creation of Kwanzaa, a weeklong celebration of African culture and heritage. Farm to City Karenga was born Ronald McKinley
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1760-1831 Richard Allen was raised as a slave in the century leading to the American Civil War, but managed to obtain his freedom and went on to a religious career as an itinerant preacher. Later, after an experience with racism in a Philadelphia church, he embarked on a path of activism and devotion that led
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