Leroy "Nicky" Barnes (1933- )

Born Leroy Nicholas Barnes on October 15, 1933, in Harlem, New York was one of the most powerful New York drug dealers of the 1970s. His career as a drug lord began in 1965 when he was imprisoned for heroin consumption. While in New York Green Haven Penitentiary he met the Italian mafia leader “Crazy” Joe Gallo. After both were released, Gallo helped Barnes form a mass drug-dealing organization.

Despite “Crazy” Joe Gallo’s murder on April 7, 1972, Leroy “Nicky” Barnes continued to expand his business. During this period Barnes acquired the nicknamed “Mr. Untouchable” as New York City police attempts to charge him for his crimes always failed because of absence of evidence or unreliable witnesses. By 1973, Barnes gather together the main drug kingpins in New York City to form for the first time a city-wide organization called “the Council.” Modeled on the similar Italian mafia organizations, the aim of this council was to bring order to the drug dealing market by regulating territories for drug dealing to prevent gang wars between African American drug lords.

As his illicit business grew, so did Barnes’ reputation first in the underground spheres of New York and then increasingly among journalists in the city. One journalistic investigation of Barnes and his organization eventually was published in June 1977 in the New York Times Magazine. Barnes appeared on the front cover after agreeing to be profiled in a photographic shooting session by the magazine. No African American drug lord had ever had garnered such favorable attention in a major New York newspaper or journal.

The photo-shoot and accompanying story of Barnes, however, had unintended consequences as the publicity brought him to the attention of federal authorities. Newly-elected President Jimmy Carter was said to be appalled at the prominent of Barnes and ordered federal law enforcement officials to intensify their efforts to arrest him and bring down his crime organization. President Carter insisted that Barnes be tracked down and arrested by the Justice Department. As a result, later in 1977, Leroy "Nicky" Barnes was arrested by federal and state authorities in New York City. He was tried in a U.S. District Court for interstate drug trafficking, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison on January 19, 1978.

After entering prison, the former drug lord began to cooperate with local and federal authorities. He was an undercover informer and then a prosecution witness, helping to convict his previous associates. Thanks to the information he transmitted, Barnes was released earlier at the request of the United States Attorney in Manhattan. Finally released in August 1998, he was placed under the federal Witness Protection Program.

In 2007, Barnes released his autobiography titled Mr. Untouchable written with the help of filmmaker Tom Folsom, who later created a documentary based on the memoirs. Leroy Nicky Barnes also appeared in a couple of fictional adaptations, such as the 2007 film American Gangster starring Denzel Washington.

Queen Philippa: England's First Black Queen

England's First Black Queen, Mother of the Black Prince Philippa was the daughter of William of Hainault, a lord in part of what is now Belgium. When she was nine the King of England, Edward II, decided that he would marry his son, the future Edward III, to her, and sent one of his bishops, a Bishop Stapeldon, to look at her. He described her thus: "The lady whom we saw has not uncomely hair, betwixt blue-black and brown. Her head is cleaned shaped; her forehead high and broad, and standing somewhat forward. Her face narrows between the eyes, and the lower part of her face is still more narrow and slender than the forehead. Her eyes are blackish brown and deep. Her nose is fairly smooth and even, save that is somewhat broad at the tip and flattened, yet it is no snub nose. Her nostrils are also broad, her mouth fairly wide. Her lips somewhat full and especially the lower lip…a

PHYLLIS LINDA HYMAN (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995)

Phyllis Hyman was born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and grew up in St. Clair Village , the South Hills section of Pittsburgh . Born to an Italian mother, (Louise), and African-American father, (Phillip), Hyman was the eldest of seven children. Through her paternal great-grandparents Ishmael and Cassandra (Cross) Hyman, she was also the first cousin once removed of actor Earle Hyman (best known for his recurring role on The Cosby Show as Cliff's father, Russell Huxtable). After leaving Pittsburgh, her music training started at a music school. On graduation, she performed on a national tour with the group New Direction in 1971. After the group disbanded, she joined All the People and worked with another local group, The Hondo Beat. At this time, she appeared in the film Lenny (1974). She also did a two-year stint leading a band called "Phyllis Hyman and the P/H Factor". She was discovered in 1975 by music industry veteran Sid Maurer, and former Epic Re

Elizabeth Key Grinstead (b. 1630 - d. c. after 1665)

Elizabeth Grimstead was one of the first women of African ancestry in the North American colonies to sue for her freedom from slavery and win. Elizabeth Key won her freedom and that of her infant son John Grinstead on July 21, 1656 in the colony of Virginia. She sued based on the fact that her father was an Englishman and that she was a baptized Christian . Based on these two factors, her English attorney and common-law husband William Grinstead argued successfully that she should be freed. The lawsuit in 1655 was one of the earliest " freedom suits " by a person of African ancestry in the English colonies. In response to Key's suit and other challenges, in 1662 the Virginia House of Burgesses passed a law that the status of children born in the colony would follow the status of the mother, "bond or free", rather than the father, as had been the precedent in English common law and was the case in England. This was the principle of partus seq

Enlightened Free Thinking Nubian Kings And Queens

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