Birthday Celebrations — September 7

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on September 7 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

John Merrick

Born September 7, 1859 — died August 6, 1919

Entrepreneur and cofounder of North Carolina Mutual Life.

Born enslaved, the Durham barber cofounded NC Mutual Life Insurance in 1898 — for decades the largest Black-owned business in the world — helping build Durham’s famed Black Wall Street.

Jacob Lawrence

Full name: Jacob Armstead Lawrence

Born September 7, 1917 — died June 9, 2000

Painter, educator, and visual storyteller.

Lawrence’s sixty-panel Migration Series, completed at 23, told the Great Migration in bold color and made him the first Black artist represented by a major New York gallery.

Louise Bennett-Coverley ("Miss Lou")

Full name: Louise Simone Bennett

Born September 7, 1919 — died July 26, 2006

Jamaican poet, folklorist, and broadcaster.

Miss Lou made Jamaican patois a language of literature through poems like "Colonization in Reverse," becoming the beloved mother of Caribbean performance poetry.

Sonny Rollins

Birth name: Walter Theodore Rollins (later reversed to Theodore Walter)

Born September 7, 1930 — died May 25, 2026

Jazz saxophonist and composer.

The "Saxophone Colossus" recorded landmarks including "St. Thomas," famously woodshedding on the Williamsburg Bridge, and stood with Coltrane and Parker among the most influential saxophonists ever; he died at 95 at his home in Woodstock, New York.

Little Milton

Full name: James Milton Campbell Jr.

Born September 7, 1934 — died August 4, 2005

Blues and soul singer, guitarist, and songwriter.

Recording for Sun, Chess, Stax, and Malaco, Milton bridged deep blues and Southern soul with "We’re Gonna Make It" and "The Blues Is Alright."

Abdou Diouf

Born September 7, 1935

Former president of Senegal.

Diouf led Senegal from 1981 to 2000, conceding defeat in a peaceful transfer of power that strengthened African democracy, then headed the Francophonie.

Gloria Gaynor

Full name: Gloria Fowles

Born September 7, 1943

Grammy-winning singer and songwriter.

"I Will Survive" won the only Grammy ever given for Best Disco Recording and endures as a global anthem of resilience.

Eazy-E

Full name: Eric Lynn Wright

Born September 7, 1964 — died March 26, 1995

Rapper, entrepreneur, and Ruthless Records founder.

Eazy-E turned Compton street experience into N.W.A and Ruthless Records, changing the sound and politics of hip-hop before his death from AIDS-related illness at 30.

Leslie Jones

Full name: Annette Leslie Jones

Born September 7, 1967

Comedian, actress, and television host.

Jones ground through decades of stand-up before becoming an Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live force in her forties.

Marcel Desailly

Born Odenke Abbey

Born September 7, 1968

Ghanaian-born French World Cup champion.

Born in Accra, Desailly won back-to-back Champions League titles, the 1998 World Cup, and Euro 2000 as the rock of France’s golden generation.

Briana Scurry

Full name: Briana Collette Scurry

Born September 7, 1971

Hall of Fame goalkeeper and two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Scurry made the decisive save in the 1999 World Cup final shootout and became a leading advocate on concussion in sports.

Donovan Mitchell

Full name: Donovan Malik Mitchell Jr.

Born September 7, 1996

NBA All-Star guard.

"Spida" became a perennial All-Star for Utah and Cleveland, including a 71-point game in 2023.