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“Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“For 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.'” 1 Peter 3:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Zelda Mavin “Jackie” Ormes (August 1, 1911 - December 26, 1985) is considered the first African American woman cartoonist in the US. She created four comic strips: Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem (1937), Candy (1945), Patty Jo ‘n’ Ginger (1946), and Torchy Brown, Heartbeats (1950).

She was born Zelda Mavin Jackson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to William Winfield and Mary Brown Jackson. Jackson owned and operated a printing business and was the proprietor of a movie theater. Mary was a homemaker who became a single parent when her husband died from a motor vehicle accident in 1917. As a result, she and her sister were briefly raised by their aunt and uncle.

She married Earl Ormes (1936-76). They lost their only child to a brain aneurysm at age 3. They remained married until his death.

She obtained her first job as a proofreader for the Pittsburgh Courier in 1930. She completed freelance pieces on police beats, court cases, and human interest topics. She began to produce comics for the newspaper and established her career as a cartoonist. Her first comic strip, Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem, ran for 12 months. The reason for the abrupt end of the popular cartoon strip is unknown, but it is presumed to be due to the end of her contract.

She returned to cartooning at a new paper, The Chicago Defender, in 1945 with the brief comic strip titled Candy, which ran for four months on the editorial page. She returned to journalism at this time, writing as an occasional special-assignment reporter and a social columnist.

Temetrius Jamel “Ja” Morant (August 10, 1999) is a basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers. He played college basketball for the Murray State Racers, where he was a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2019.

He was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2020. In 2022, he was named to his first NBA All-Star Game as a starter. At the conclusion of the season, he won the NBA Most Improved Player Award and was selected to his first All-NBA Team.

He was born in Dalzell, South Carolina to Tee and Jamie Morant. His mother, Jamie, was a point guard in high school and a softball player in college, while his father was a high school teammate of Ray Allen and played basketball for Claflin University. After playing semi-professionally, Jamie abandoned his basketball career when he became pregnant and stayed home, and instead became a barber.

He trained in his backyard with his father, who taught him step-back jump shots and bought tractor tires for him to practice jumping with a soft landing. He played in the Amateur Athletic Union circuit with the South Carolina Hornets, a small grassroots team based in Columbia, South Carolina. He was a teammate of Zion Williamson, who became one of the top players in his class.

He attended Crestwood High School in Sumter, South Carolina. He left as its all-time leading scorer, with 1,679 points, and scored a career-high 47 points against Sumter High School. He averaged 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game, earning South Carolina Class 3A All-State honors both years. He left high school as a three-time All-Region MVP. He could not dunk until he was a senior.

Michael Anthony Bell II (August 10, 1983) known professionally as Tone Bell, is a stand-up comedian and actor.

He was born in Decatur, Georgia. He attended Savannah State University, where he studied communications with a concentration in radio and television and became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He taught first grade before working on the production of Warm Springs and doing various promo work.

He took a job in San Francisco as a brand manager with Swivel Media for a year before moving back to Atlanta. There, he started doing promotional work for a beer company, which transferred him to Dallas, where he began doing open mics at various comedy clubs.

He won the NBC Stand Up For Diversity Talent Search in 2012 and was awarded a development deal from the network. He was cast as “RJ,” the bartender, in Whitney and as “Tedward” in I’m Bad Judge. He appeared in other TV shows, including Single Ladies, Love You, Mean It, Key & Peele, Survival of the Thickest, and Mind of a Man, and hosted the first season of the hidden-camera show Jerks with Cameras on MTV.

He has a web series on Russell Simmons’ YouTube channel All Def Digital called The Green Room.

In 2018, he was cast in a lead role in Fam after starring in Disjointed.

The Operation PUSH organization, now known as the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, has staged several boycotts against major businesses based on their lack of investment in the African American community. One such boycott took place on August 10, 1981, against Coca-Cola, which led the beverage giant to donate over $34 million to African American-owned businesses and hire more African American workers.

In July of that year, Push launched the “National Withdrawal of Enthusiasm” campaign against Coca-Cola, citing a lack of diversity in its corporate and distribution divisions. It was noted that the company had no African American wholesalers, no African American bottlers, and no African Americans on its board of directors.

In a month, Coca-Cola agreed to funnel millions into African American businesses and their surrounding communities. The company agreed to a $1.8 million fund to provide loans to African American investors, established 32 African American-owned distribution centers, increased advertising in African American media outlets, and worked with minority-owned banks, borrowing up to $2 million from those institutions.

The company would double its advertising spending in African American-owned newspapers, magazines, and radio stations. The company would hire an African American ad agency to handle the marketing of one of its products. The 32 centers to be created were geared toward fountains and wine distributorships.

Coca-Cola agreed to add more people to its board of directors and to hire several African American workers in varying positions. An educational fund of at least $250,000 was added to support HBCUs and related programs for the year.

Broderick Dornell Smiley (August 10, 1968) is a stand-up comedian, television host, actor, and radio personality, known for his prank phone calls. The calls feature him disguising his voice and carrying on a conversation with the recipient. He is the host of the nationally syndicated Rickey Smiley Morning Show, based in Atlanta, from its flagship affiliate, WHTA “Hot 107.9”. He has starred in the sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show, which aired on TV One. He is a featured columnist on Dish Nation. He started appearing on Rickey Smiley For Real, a reality television series about his life.

He appeared as the host of the 2000 season of the ComicView program. He has appeared on Showtime at the Apollo, Def Comedy Jam, Snaps, The Nashville Network, Uptown Comedy Club, and Comic Escape. His original comedy routines often feature the role-play of fictional characters such as “Bernice Jenkins” (known as Granny Swims, Ms. Johnson, or Mrs. Francis), “Lil’ Daryl”, “Rusty Dale”, and “Beauford”.

He became the morning show personality for radio station KBFB in Dallas. The show features brand prank calls, as well as news, information, and the latest hip-hop music. He signed a deal with Syndication One to take the show nationwide, and The Rickey Smiley Morning Show is now heard on several mainstream urban radio stations.

He has released several humorous songs based on his bits, such as “Roll Tide” featuring his redneck character Buford, and “We Miss Robert”, based on a routine of his in which a friend of a deceased drug dealer performs a rap song called “We Miss Robert” at the funeral, which is a song about a woman, performed in hopes of landing a record deal.

He had a starring role in Friday After Next.

He appeared in All About the Benjamins as an informant of Ice Cube’s character, Snitch Mitch. His appearance can be seen in a deleted scene in the DVD’s special features.

Michael Lamont Bivins (August 10, 1968) is a singer, rapper, and manager, and a founding member of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. He was born in Boston.

He is one of the founding members of New Edition. When the group broke up, he formed Bell Biv DeVoe with Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe. The group is credited with being one of the pioneers of the new jack swing sound. Their debut album, Poison, peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1990.

He discovers, manages, and produces for other acts, most notably Another Bad Creation, MC Brains, Boyz II Men, and 702, all of whom were signed to his Motown-distributed label Biv 10 Records. He serves as the music entrepreneur and A&R man for both of his acts. He has the New Edition Movie that he produced.

Acting credits include the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack in the hit video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He appeared in the basketball film Crossover as the character Heart Attack. He manages Artist Development for Making the Band 4 and is the CEO and founder of the record label Sporty Rich Enterprises.

Riddick Lamont Bowe (August 10, 1967) is a former boxer who competed between 1989 and 2008. He held the undisputed world heavyweight championship in 1992 and won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

He went on to become a two-time world heavyweight champion. In 1992, he became the undisputed heavyweight champion by winning the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, and International Boxing Federation titles by defeating then-unbeaten former undisputed cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield. He was named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers’ Association of America. He vacated the WBC title that year in protest rather than defend it against their #1 contender, Lennox Lewis. This left the undisputed championship fragmented until 1999. In a rematch with Holyfield in 1993, he lost the WBA and IBF titles in what would be his only professional defeat.

He regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship in 1995, defeating Herbie Hide for the World Boxing Organization title. He became the first boxer in history to win the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies: the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO. He vacated the WBO title to fight Holyfield for a third time and won decisively by being the first boxer to defeat Holyfield by knockout. He engaged in two brutal slugfests with Andrew Golota, both of which ended controversially when Golota hit him with low blows.

He retired from boxing after the Golota fights, making low-key comebacks in 2004 and 2008. In a 2010 article by Boxing Scene, he was ranked the 21st greatest heavyweight of all time. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

He joined the Marine Corps (1997).

Attorney Cassandra Quin Butts (August 10, 1965 – May 25, 2016) was a lawyer, policy expert, and Deputy White House Counsel. On December 23, 2008, she was selected by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as Deputy White House Counsel, focusing on domestic policy and ethics. She was on the advisory board for President-elect Barack Obama’s presidential transition team.

Aaron Robin Hall III (August 10, 1964) is a singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in 1988 as a member of the R&B and new jack swing group Guy, which he founded in the late ‘80s along with Teddy Riley and Timmy Gatling, who was replaced by his brother Damion Hall. In 1988 Guy released their debut album, which went on to sell over a million copies and was certified platinum. He provided lead vocals on songs like “Groove Me,” “I Like,” and “Piece of My Love.” He resides in Los Angeles and is a personal dog trainer. He is on tour with Guy.

He was born in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn. His father, Aaron Hall II, was a prominent New York pastor of the church where he learned the African American traditions of gospel music styling and performance. He is the second-oldest son of the Hall family, along with prominent brothers Damion Hall and minister Todd Hall. He explored his vocal talent and began singing in a Baptist church from a young age.

Dr. Carla Diane Hayden (August 10, 1952) is a librarian who served as the 14th Librarian of Congress. She was both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post. Appointed in 2016, she was the first professional librarian to hold the post since 1974. In May 2025, she was dismissed from the post by President Donald Trump without explanation. On July 7, 2025, she was appointed senior fellow at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

She was born in Tallahassee. She received her BA from Roosevelt University. Both the MA and Ph.D. in Library Science are from the University of Chicago’s Graduate Library School.

Her career began with the Chicago Public Library, where she served as the children’s librarian and library associate. She moved up to the young adult services coordinator. The University of Pittsburgh hired her as an assistant professor for Library and Information Science. She was the deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library. Her last position before being nominated as Librarian of Congress was CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. She served as the president of the American Library Association.

She became the first African American to receive the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award. This award was given for the outreach services she made available at Pratt Library. The services included an after-school center for Baltimore teens, offering homework assistance and college and career counseling.

Patricia “Patti” Austin (August 10, 1950) is an R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter.

James Reynolds (August 10, 1946) is an actor. He is known for portraying the role of Abe Carver on Days of Our Lives, for which he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

He was born in Oskaloosa, Kansas. At Oskaloosa High School, the subjects he enjoyed most were English and history. With a small student body, there was never any shortage of extracurricular activities and, in addition to performing in many school plays, he became very active in sports, playing football, basketball, and track.

He joined the Marines. After boot camp, he was assigned to the Information Service Office, where, first stationed in Hawaii, he became a reporter for the service newspaper, the Windward Marine. He was sent to Vietnam and served for almost a year with a variety of units in and around Chu Lai, adding battlefield reporting to his combat duties.

He enrolled in Washburn University, majoring in Prelaw and Journalism. He began auditioning and performing in plays. He reaped another unexpected benefit: he discovered a passion for acting. He went on to appear not only in regular campus productions of musicals and dramatic plays but also with local theater groups.

He had appeared in Time Express. He moved to Generations to play powerful business tycoon Henry Marshall. He was rewarded for his powerful portrayal with an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He was invited to return to Days, where his character was promoted to Chief and named Salem’s top law enforcement official.

One of his greatest honors is being named to the Kansas Historical Society’s list of famous Kansans. He has been involved in more than 300 fundraising events in the last ten years. He hosts an annual “bowl-a-thon” in Los Angeles to benefit the National Asthma Center and a celebrity basketball game in South Pasadena for the city’s schools.

He married Laura Toffenetti (1978 -1984). They welcomed a son. He married Lissa Layng (1985).

Alkin Roosevelt Hepburn II (August 10, 1929 - October 14, 1994) was A 1948 graduate of Miami’s Booker T. Washington High School; he starred as a quarterback at Florida A&M (1949-52). Nicknamed “Mr. Cool,” he was considered one of the best passers in HBCU football. He was named Black College All-American by the Pittsburgh Courier as a senior in 1952. He had some of his finest performances playing in the Orange Blossom Classic, a postseason game hosted by Florida A&M at the Orange Bowl. In his final game, he completed 8 of 11 passes efficiently. He threw 3 touchdown passes to lead the Rattlers to victory over Virginia State to win the Black College National Championship in the 1952 Orange Blossom Classic.

President Hubert Coutoucou Maga (August 10, 1916 - May 8, 2002) was the first president of Dahomey (Benin). He was born in Parakou, a city in northern Dahomey, a French colony, and attended local primary schools in Parakou. He attended the prestigious school Normale William Ponty in Dakar, Senegal.

He taught at a secondary school in Natitingou, Dahomey. In 1945, he became headmaster of the school. He became involved in local politics, and in 1947 he was elected to the local assembly in Dahomey. He was elected to the French National Assembly as a representative from French West Africa. He served in the national assembly for much of the 1950s. He served in the French national government as the Secretary of State for Labor.

He was elected head of the transitional government, and when the Republic of Dahomey became independent on August 1, 1960, he became president. He declared Dahomey would be a one-party state. The Dahomian army placed him under house arrest and charged him with corruption and embezzlement of public funds, but he was never prosecuted. He left Dahomey and lived for a short time in Togo and Paris.

By 1970 he had returned to Dahomey and run for the presidency. The results were contested between him and two other candidates. After negotiations, it was decided to establish a rotating presidency between the men. This arrangement proved cumbersome and unproductive, and in October 1972 the army took action. A coup led by Major Matthieu Kerekou resulted in the arrest of Kerekou and other politicians. He was imprisoned until 1983. After his release, he lived in France and Benin. He sat as a judge on Benin’s Constitutional Court and as an advisor to the president.

Judge George William Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1909 - September 7, 1997) was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida to George William Crockett Sr. and Minnie Amelia Jenkins. His father was a Baptist minister and railroad carpenter, and his mother was a Sunday School teacher and poet. He graduated from Morehouse College with a BA in History and from the University of Michigan, where he received his JD. He was admitted to the Florida bar in 1934.

In 1937, he helped found the National Lawyers Guild. He became the first African American lawyer hired by the US Department of Labor. During WWII, he became a hearing officer for the Federal Fair Employment Practices Committee. He became the director of the Fair Employment Practices Department of the International United Auto Workers Union.

He became a member of the legal team that defended eleven Communist leaders who were charged with violating the Smith Act. He and four other defense attorneys were sentenced to the US Penitentiary in Ashland, Kentucky, for contempt of court. He served four months in prison before being released. He represented future Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, who the House Un-American Activities Committee investigated.

He led a team of lawyers in Jackson, Mississippi, who defended civil rights workers participating in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project.

He was elected a judge of the Recorder’s Court in Detroit. He was elected Chief Judge of the Court for a four-year term before retiring. He declared his candidacy for Michigan’s 13th District Congressional seat left vacant. He won the special election. His wife, Dr. Harriett Clark Crockett, and son were at the ceremony.

As a member of the House Africa Subcommittee, he authored the Mandela Freedom Resolution, which called on the South African government to free Nelson Mandela.

He criticized President Ronald Reagan for failing to appoint African American ambassadors. He was appointed to the UN delegation by President Ronald Reagan.

King Mohammed ben Youssef (August 10, 1909 - February 26, 1961) the third son of Sultan Moulay Youssef, was born in Fez, Morocco. He became King Mohammed V of independent Morocco. When his father died, the French selected him to succeed his father. On November 18, 1927, he was given the title Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco.

In 1934, he encouraged the French to abandon the policy of having two distinct legal systems. The French rescinded this policy that year. Protests against the policy had led nationalists to organize and demand independence from France. He maintained discreet contacts with the nationalists; secretly collaborating with them on some issues. The nationalists worked to make the Sultan a national symbol and to organize an annual Throne Day to commemorate his accession to power.

By 1947 he was siding with the nationalist cause. The French reacted by verbally attacking him and limiting his power. These actions increased his popularity. In 1951 the French surrounded his palace with troops to “protect” him, and he was made to denounce the nationalist movement.

He continued to infuriate the French, and in 1953, he was exiled to Corsica and Madagascar. His popularity soared among the Moroccan people and nationalist violence spread throughout the country. He returned to rapturous crowds welcoming him home. The French changed tactics and began negotiating with him and the nationalist parties for Moroccan independence. On March 2, 1956, a treaty was signed recognizing Moroccan independence. He was Chief of State and his son, Moulay Hassan, was Commander of the Army.

He preferred to serve as an arbiter among various political and ethnic factions. Revered for his efforts to unify Morocco’s various interest groups, he took the title “King”. His son, Hassan, was appointed deputy prime minister in addition to serving as head of the army. He withdrew from politics.