Oprah Gail Winfrey is born in Kosciusko, Miss., to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. She spends her early years living in rural poverty with her grandmother before being shipped off to inner-city Milwaukee to live with her mother. Captions by Lauren Williams Winfrey has always been open about some of the painful details of her…

The late rapper’s alleged right-leaning politics were famously ridiculed in the Game’s 2006 track “Dreams,” with a line about Jheri curl juice “drippin’ on Ronald Reagan’s shoes.” But the GOP had Eazy-E’s back. Three years after he released “F—- tha Police” with N.W.A, the National Republican Senatorial Committee invited him to a 1991 luncheon honoring…

Although Bob Marley was not her biological father, he adopted Sharon, wife Rita’s daughter from a previous relationship, and raised her as his own. Along with three of her siblings, Sharon was a part of the group Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. Also an actress, the oldest Marley had a small role in the…

In an era of undying political correctness, it’s easy to forget that fervent racism still exists. I’m Not Racist but … illustrates that racism’s newest bastion may be on Facebook. Using openly accessible Facebook posts and comments, a lone college student regularly posts the unabashed racist rants of unnamed (but pictured!) Facebook users, many of…

Fleeing the life of a sharecropper in Louisiana, this bright-eyed aspiring actress headed straight for Hollywood. With an impressive 50-plus film credits, Harris is noted for her role in The Flame of New Orleans (1941). You’ll find similarities to Harris’ life in a new off-Broadway play, By the Way, Meet Vera Starks, starring Sanaa Lathan…

Florida Evans lives in the projects, yet sounds as if she’s reciting Shakespeare. Captions by Natalie Hopkinson In Coming to America, Her Majesty, Queen Aoleon of Zamunda, oozes power and checks the husband when necessary: “Put a sock in it, Joffe; the boy’s in love!” Who holds down a law-firm job and has five kids?…

From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, Barack Obama has been smeared as a radical Muslim with terrorist leanings. Such attacks have taken their toll on his image and the truth, and now only a third of Republicans think that the president was born in the U.S., and a sharply increasing number of Americans…

He traveled thousands of miles from Zamunda to find his queen in Queens. But when Lisa McDowell finds out that Prince Akeem isn’t the goat herder she imagined, it seems she won’t forgive him. Lucky for him, she comes around in time for their royal wedding. Captions by Erin E. Evans Our favorite college sweethearts…

Artist, writer and founder of Art in Social Structures “Senam is an international artist and theorist with Ghanaian and American roots and is exemplary of the post-independence generation of politically and culturally savvy intellectuals and artists. We met in 2005 and her friendship has not only influenced my work (she was a contributing writer to…

This Baltimore hip-hop, soul and spoken word duo is comprised of David Ross (Native Son) and Femi Lawal (The Dri Fish). Although the two perform independently, it is their collective energy that has earned them national tours, museum commissions and appearances alongside Saul Williams, KRS-One, Bill Cosby and more. In this performance on BET’s “Lyric…