Dennis Brutus (1924-2009)

Dennis Brutus (1924-2009)

Dennis Brutus was a South African poet, organizer, and activist perhaps most notable for his use of sports as a weapon against apartheid. Dennis Vincent Brutus was born to South African parents of French, Italian and African descent in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia...
Alex Haley (1921-1992)

Alex Haley (1921-1992)

Pulitzer-prize-winning author Alex Haley was best known for his historical work, including the widely acclaimed Roots. Alexander Palmer Haley was born in Ithaca, New York, on August 11, 1921. He soon moved with his mother to Henning, Tennessee, while his father...
Yusef Komunyakaa (1947- )

Yusef Komunyakaa (1947- )

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and educator Yusef Komunyakaa was born James Willie Brown, Jr., in 1947 in Bogalusa, Louisiana, a segregated mill town. Although Komunyakaa described Bogalusa as “culturally desolate,” he loved to read and discovered poetry in elementary...