Birthday Celebrations — September 12

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on September 12 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

Jesse Owens

Full name: James Cleveland Owens

Born September 12, 1913 — died March 31, 1980

Track and field legend.

Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, demolishing Hitler’s mythology of Aryan supremacy in front of the world.

Cat Anderson

Full name: William Alonzo Anderson

Born September 12, 1916 — died April 29, 1981

Jazz trumpeter.

Raised in Charleston’s Jenkins Orphanage bands, Anderson spent decades as Duke Ellington’s stratospheric high-note specialist.

Amílcar Cabral

Full name: Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral

Born September 12, 1924 — died January 20, 1973

Agronomist, writer, and African liberation leader.

Cabral led the movement that freed Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, assassinated months before the independence he made inevitable.

Barry White

Full name: Barry Eugene Carter

Born September 12, 1944 — died July 4, 2003

Singer, composer, and maestro of romantic soul.

White’s subterranean voice and Love Unlimited Orchestra sold over 100 million records.

2 Chainz

Birth name: Tauheed Epps

Born September 12, 1977

Rapper and entrepreneur.

The college-basketball-player-turned-Grammy-winner became one of Atlanta rap’s most charismatic and durable stars.

Jennifer Hudson

Full name: Jennifer Kate Hudson

Born September 12, 1981

Singer, actress, and talk show host.

Hudson went from American Idol elimination to an Oscar for Dreamgirls and one of the youngest EGOTs ever.

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Wear the history: Barry White — from the Black Knowledge Wear collection.