"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world." -Harriet Tubman Intended for youngsters, these picture books offer page-turning inspiration, plus a peak at childhood lessons from creative people who are now ancestors.
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)
“The Black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings. I realized that I didn’t see many paintings with Black people in them.”—Jean-Michel Basquiat
Birthday: December 22 Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York Matilde (Andrades) Basquiat (mother) Gérard Basquiat (father) Career: artist Website: Basquiat "Cool" Friend: Andy Warhol
Toni Morrison (1931-2019)
“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction.”—Toni Morrison
Birthday: February 18 Birthplace: Lorain, Ohio Birth Name: Chloe Ardelia Wofford Ramah (Willis) Wofford (mother) George Wofford (father) Career: writer, editor, professor Website: TonyMorrisonSociety "Cool" Friend: Maya Angelou
James Arthur Baldwin (1924-1987)
“I saw my mother’s face again, and felt, for the first time, how the stones of the road she had walked on must have bruised her feet.”—James Baldwin
Birthday: August 2 Birthplace: Harlem, New York Birth Name: James Arthur Jones Emma Berdis Jones (mother) David Baldwin Sr. (stepfather) Career: writer, activist Website: JamesBaldwin Home: France (Paris, Saint-Paul-de-Vence) “Cool”Friend: Miles Davis
Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
“The children to whom we read simple stories may or may not show gratitude, but each boon we give strengthens the pillars of the world.”—Maya Angelou
Birthday: April 4 Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri Birth Name: Marguerite Annie Johnson Vivian (Baxter) Johnson (mother) Bailey Johnson (father) Career: writer, editor, poet, singer Website: MayaAngelou “Cool” Friend: Alvin Ailey
Thank you for reading Great Migration—Donna
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Sources:
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Little Brown and Co., 2016).
And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life in Stories by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Daniel Minter (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025).
Maya Angelou Finds Her Voice by Connie & Peter Roop, illustrated by Noa Denmon (Alladin, 2025).
Go Tell it: How James Baldwin Became a Writer, words by Quartez Harris, Art by Gordon C. James (Little Brown and Co., 2025).
Jame Baldwin: A Biography by David Leeming (Alfred A. Knoff, 1994).
The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs (Flatiron Books, 2021).
Please join in my continued search for information regarding From the Plantation to the Doctor’s Office by Dr. H. Roger Williams, published in the mid-1920s. Contact this great-granddaughter with any tips (from libraries, old media, elders and more).