Everyday People, Extraordinary Heroes Week 1 2 3 4

For that person that is first to lend a helping hand, yet last to accept an award. For the one that gives from the heart, then rejects to being on the front page of the newspaper. For the one that will work even when no one is around because it is important to get the job done... not who's watching you get the job done. We celebrate those every day individuals that have made an impact in our communities, changed our history, and left behind a revolutionary roadmap for all to follow. For each week we will highlight five influential individuals and their story, giving you a glimpse of what we mean when we say, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Heroes."

James Weldon Johnson 1871-1938 Writer of the Black National Anthem, Novelist, Poet, Songwriter Not just an influential and notable novelist, poet, and songwriter, James Weldon Johnson, was a lawyer, a United States consul in a foreign nation, and served an important role in combating racism through his position in the NAACP. James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended high school and college at Atlanta University. He received his bachelor’s in 1894. After college, Johnson pursued several endeavors. He became the principal of Stanton School, and expanded the school to include a high school. He also began studying the law under the instruction of a white attorney. In 1898, he was admitted to the Florida Bar. Johnson continued to serve as principal, but he also began practicing law. While balancing his dual career, Johnson found time to write poetry and songs. In 1901, Johnson decided to pursue a career in writing. Johnson and his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, left for New York City to write songs for musicals. They achieved success with the composition of around two hundred songs for Broadway. While in New York, Johnson also became involved in politics. Johnson anonymously published his novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (1912). Johnson developed his own philosophy on lessoning racism in America. While W.E.B. Du Bois advocated intellectual development and Booker T. Washington advocated industrial training to combat racism, Johnson believed that it was important for blacks to produce great literature and art. By doing so, Johnson held that blacks could demonstrate their intellectual equality and advance their placement in America. Throughout Johnson’s life, he was able to continue writing. Johnson wrote several notable works before and during the Harlem Renaissance. One of his more popular works was, God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (1927). In 1927, he also reissued his novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, in his name. Johnson died in 1938, after a train hit the car he was in.

Cathay Williams 1842 – 1924 Buffalo Soldier (first and only known), House Girl, Paid Servant Cathay Williams was born into slavery in 1842 outside of Independence, MO. She worked as a house girl for a wealthy Jefferson City planter. When the Civil War began, Union soldiers liberated her from the plantation. Thereafter, she worked with the Army as a paid servant. During the Army, she experienced military life to the extent that a woman could. Since she was highly favored for being responsible and dependable, she was recruited by Colonel Benton and by General Sheridan to serve as a cook and laundress for the soldiers. While with General Sheridan, she was on the front lines with the troops as they raided the Shenandoah Valley and finally went to St. Louis for an extended stay. After the war, Williams wanted to be financially independent. Therefore, in November of 1866, she enlisted as William Cathay in the 38th US Infantry, Company A. This infantry, along with others, were named the “Buffalo Soldiers,” by the Plains Indians because of their fighting ability and short curly hair. Since medical examinations weren’t required, she was able to pose as a man, and would eventually become the first and the only known female Buffalo Soldier. During her duty, she performed all required assignments, such as learning to use a musket and guard duty , which were essential skills as her unit was soon deployed to Fort Cummings in 1867. In 1868, she grew tired of military life and reported that she was ill. When she was examined by the post surgeon, her true identity was discovered. She was honorably discharged October 14.

Oscar Micheaux 1885 - 1951 Cinematographer Born in 1885 in Metropolis, Illinois. Not only did he run his own production company, he also wrote, directed, filmed, and edited his own films. With the latest technology in his hands, Micheaux released over forty-three dramas – twenty seven silent movies and sixteen sound films, only ten which have survived. In these films he sought not only to counter the cruel stereotypes of the day, but to dramatize his generation’s aspirations of social acceptance and assimilation. In 1915, Micheaux represented in his novels and films the positive effects of black migration to the Great West. At age twenty-four, he wrote his first book, The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer (1913). In 1919, he founded the Micheaux Film Company in Sioux City and Chicago . Reworking the plot of The Conquest, Micheaux released his first feature film, The Homesteader, later that year. An annual Oscar Micheaux Award, presented by the Black Fimmaker’s Hall of Fame to promising young black filmmakers, underscores Micheaux’s pioneering role in the history of African American cinematography.

Toni Morrison 1931- Nobel Laureate 1993 With a B.A. from Howard University and an M.A. from Cornell University, Morrison taught at Texas Southern University, Howard University, State University of New York at Albany and at Princeton. Her first novel was published in 1970, The Bluest Eye . She followed with Sula in 1973, Song of Solomon in 1977, Tar Baby in 1981, Beloved in 1987, Jazz in 1992 and Paradise in 1998. Beloved won a Pulitzer Prize; Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993 . In her novels, she focuses on the experience of black Americans, particularly emphasizing black women's experience in an unjust society and the search for cultural identity. She uses fantasy and mythic elements along with realistic depiction of racial, gender and class conflict.

Dorothy Height 1912 - Social activist Dorothy Height was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 24, 1912. At an early age, she moved with her family to Rankin, Pennsylvania. While in high school, Height was awarded a scholarship to New York University for her oratory skills, where she studied and earned her master's degree. Height began her career working as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department, but at the age of twenty-five, she began her career as a civil rights activist when she joined the National Council of Negro Women. She fought for equal rights for both African Americans and women , and in 1944 she joined the national staff of the YWCA. She remained active with the organization until 1977, and while there she developed leadership training programs and interracial and ecumenical education programs. In 1957, Height was named president of the National Council of Negro Women, a position she held until 1997. During the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Height organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi," which brought together black and white women from the north and South to create a dialogue of understanding . Leaders of the United States regularly took her counsel, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Height also encouraged President Dwight D. Eisenhower to desegregate schools and President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint African American women to positions in government. She has also been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Thank you for visiting! Be sure to visit this site next week as week highlight more everyday people turn extraordinary heroes. More poster and flyers can be found throughout 4C, 5C and CTV kiosk. top