Birthday Celebrations — September 5

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on September 5 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

Frank Yerby

Full name: Frank Garvin Yerby

Born September 5, 1916 — died November 29, 1991

Novelist.

The Foxes of Harrow made Yerby the first Black American to write a bestseller and have a book bought by Hollywood; his 33 novels sold in the tens of millions.

Claudette Colvin

Born Claudette Austin; raised as Claudette Colvin

Born September 5, 1939 — died January 13, 2026

Civil rights pioneer and Browder v. Gayle plaintiff.

At 15, nine months before Rosa Parks, Colvin refused to give up her Montgomery bus seat and was arrested; as a plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle she helped win the Supreme Court ruling that ended bus segregation. She died in hospice care at 86.

Buddy Miles

Full name: George Allen Miles Jr.

Born September 5, 1947 — died February 26, 2008

Drummer, singer, and member of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys.

Miles powered the Band of Gypsys’ landmark live recordings and wrote the funk-rock classic "Them Changes."

Willie Gault

Full name: Willie James Gault

Born September 5, 1960

Super Bowl champion receiver and world-class sprinter.

One of the fastest men ever to play football, Gault stretched defenses for the 1985 champion Bears and made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team as a hurdler.

Terry Ellis

Full name: Terry Lynn Ellis

Born September 5, 1963

Singer and founding member of En Vogue.

The Houston native and Prairie View A&M graduate brought vocal precision to "Hold On," "My Lovin’," and "Free Your Mind," hits that made En Vogue one of the most successful girl groups ever.

Tommy Ford

Full name: Thomas Mikal Ford

Born September 5, 1964 — died October 12, 2016

Actor and comedian.

Ford became beloved as the ever-employed-but-unexplained Tommy on Martin, with further runs on New York Undercover and The Parkers.

Francis Ngannou

Full name: Francis Zavier Ngannou

Born September 5, 1986

Cameroonian mixed martial artist, boxer, and philanthropist.

Ngannou rose from the sand mines of Batié to become UFC heavyweight champion — owner of the hardest recorded punch in sports — before a headline boxing career and foundation work in Cameroon.

Kat Graham

Full name: Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham

Born September 5, 1989

Actress, singer, producer, and humanitarian.

Graham played Bonnie Bennett across eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries and serves as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, honoring her Liberian roots.

Jada Kingdom

Full name: Jada Ashanti Murphy

Born September 5, 1998

Jamaican singer and songwriter.

Kingdom emerged from East Kingston as one of dancehall-R&B fusion’s most distinctive new voices.

Bukayo Saka

Full name: Bukayo Ayoyinka Temidayo Saka

Born September 5, 2001

British-Nigerian footballer.

Arsenal’s academy jewel became one of the Premier League’s most electrifying attackers and an England mainstay, meeting racist abuse after Euro 2020 with a dignity that made him a standard-bearer.