Enlightened Free Thinking Nubian Kings And Queens

Mary Jane McLeod was born in 1875 in a small log cabin near  Mayesville, South Carolina , on a rice and cotton farm in  Sumter County . She was the fifteenth of seventeen children born to Sam and Patsy (McIntosh) McLeod, both former slaves.   Most of her siblings had been born into slavery. Her mother worked for her former master, and her father farmed cotton near a large house they called "The Homestead." Her parents wanted to be independent so had sacrificed to buy a farm for the family. As a child, Mary would accompany her mother to deliver "white people’s" wash. Allowed to go into the white children’s nursery, Mary became fascinated with their toys. One day she picked up a book and as she opened it, a white child took it away from her, saying she didn’t know how to read. Mary decided then that the only difference between white and colored people was the ability to read and write. She was inspired to learn. McLeod attended Mayesville's one-room bl...

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...

Nikki Giovanni was born in  Knoxville, Tennessee ,   to Yolande Cornelia, Sr. and Jones "Gus" Giovanni. She grew up in  Lincoln Heights , a suburb of  Cincinnati, Ohio , though she returned to Knoxville to live with her grandparents in 1958, and attended the city's  Austin High School . In 1960, she began her studies at her grandfather's alma mater,  Fisk University  in  Nashville, Tennessee . She had a difficult time adjusting to college life and was subsequently expelled. However, she realized that she needed an education, drove back to Nashville, spoke with the Dean of Women, and was readmitted. In 1967, she graduated with honors with a B.A. in History. She returned to Cincinnati and established the city's first Black Arts Festival. Giovanni also began writing the poems that are included in her first self-published volume,  Black Feeling, Black Talk  (1968). Afterward she went on to attend graduate school at the  University o...