CHANGEMAKERS

Bishop Donald Green was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, before moving to San Francisco at the age of four. During his adolescence, Green often saw his classes and the social pressures around him as increasing burdens. It was not until 1959 that Donald Green found his love for God and began his early stages of preaching the ways of Evangelical Christianity. Continue reading “BISHOP DONALD GREEN”

Wilbur Wyatt Hamilton was born on January 28, 1931, in San Antonio, Texas to E. E. Hamilton and Bessie Fields. Growing up, both of his parents played active roles for the Church of God in Christ, which was the primary factor in moving them to Hearne, Texas, so that his parents could work for the Church’s first school. After a few years they settled in San Francisco. Continue reading “BISHOP WILBUR HAMILTON”

Nathan Hare, widely regarded as the father of Black Studies, was born in Slick, Oklahoma, on April 9, 1933. He was one of five siblings. As a child, he spent some years with his aunt in Oklahoma City before returning to his family farm where he worked as a sharecropper and tenant farmer. At the age of 11, Hare migrated with his family to San Diego, California, for the war effort during the Great Migration. Continue reading “DR. NATHAN HARE”

“If the mountain can’t come to you,” Sylvia Harper said, “you go to the mountain.” Sylvia Harper’s go-get-’em attitude is exemplified by the mountainous challenges she overcame throughout her life. Not only did she break down racial barriers, but she also became a symbol for strong females in the workplace. Continue reading “CAPTAIN SYLVIA HARPER”

Brenda Harris was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Growing up she looked up to her parents as role models, both of whom were active participants in the civil rights movement and had participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the mid-1950s. Continue reading “BRENDA HARRIS”

Leola Havard was born on April 3, 1920, in Ethel Louisiana (Obituary). Leola moved to California after graduating from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She followed after her father and brother and moved to San Francisco where she would spend her life and raise her family. Continue reading “LEOLA HAVARD”

Reverend Frederick Douglass Haynes was born in 1899 in Talcott, West Virginia. At four years old he was orphaned and then raised by his sister in Pennsylvania where he began working at age 10 at a bakery, which allowed him to support himself through high school. In the early 1920s Haynes moved to Los Angeles to attend the Biola Institute and Baptist Bible College. He became licensed as a preacher by the time he was 17 and organized the first junior church in California while serving as an assistant pastor. Continue reading “REV. FREDERICK DOUGLASS HAYNES”

Willie Hector was a phenomenal football player, but more importantly he was a role model. He and his wife, Ollie Hector, would serve as pillars of the Western Addition community and represented strength and commitment within the neighborhood. Willie was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on December 23, 1939, but later immigrated with his parents to Mill Valley in Northern California. Continue reading “OLLIE AND WILLIE HECTOR”