WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS (1868 – 1963) “It is, then, the strife of all honorable men and women… to see that in the future competition of the races the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of the good, the beautiful, and the true.” William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B.) Du Bois…
RODOLPHE LUCIEN DESDUNES (1849 – 1928) “The truth of history is the nourishing mother of justice.” From Desdunes’s book Our People and Our History: Fifty Creole Portraits Rodolphe Lucien Desdunes was one of the leading civil rights activists behind the landmark 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which unsuccessfully challenged the 1890 Separate…
RICHARD HOWELL GLEAVES (1819 – 1907) “He helped form the South Carolina Union League and was instrumental in the organization of the Republican Party in South Carolina, serving as president of the party’s state convention in 1867 and as a state executive committeeman in 1874.” – South Carolina Encyclopedia Richard Howell Gleaves was a…
REGINALD FILS-AIMÉ “I push people really hard…What I think folks respect is that I do what I’m asking them to do — long nights, weekends, whatever it takes to get the job done.” Reginald “Reggie” Fils-Aimé is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, the North American division of the Japanese…
JOSEPH EDOUARD GAETJENS (1924 – 1964) “One of the biggest shocks in World Cup history happened in 1950, when the US beat England, thanks to a goal scored by Haitian Joe Gaetjens.” – BBC News Joseph Edouard Gaetjens was a Haitian soccer player who played for the United States national team in the 1950…
CHARLES L. REASON (1818 – 1893) O Freedom! we loud praises give, That on Thine altar in the sea, For us Thy hallowed fires live. O! grant! unto our parent home, Thy constant presence and Thy shield! That when again rude hirelings come, Though starr’d from every battle field, The spirit of the patriot…
JEAN BAPTISTE POINTE DU SABLE (1745 – 1818) “He grew up at a time when, as a black man, he shouldn’t have been thinking about founding a city or being an entrepreneur, but that’s what he set his mind to do. This is a perfect example of how we’re not prisoner to our immediate…
GERARD A. ALPHONSE “With his indomitable drive and desire which have led him to accomplish pioneering work in his field, Dr. Alphonse has demonstrated himself as a paragon of excellence…his ingenuity has served as an inspiration to many around our globe.” – Ambassador Paul Altidor Dr. Gerard A. Alphonse is a prominent engineer, physicist…