Birthday Celebrations — October 3

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on October 3 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

James Theodore Holly

Full name: James Theodore Augustus Holly

Born October 3, 1829 — died March 13, 1911

Episcopal bishop, missionary and emigration advocate.

Episcopal bishop, missionary and emigration advocate who became the first Black bishop in the Protestant Episcopal Church.

T. Thomas Fortune

Full name: Timothy Thomas Fortune

Born October 3, 1856 — died June 2, 1928

Journalist, editor, writer and civil-rights leader.

Journalist, editor, writer and civil-rights leader who used the Black press to challenge racial injustice.

Prince Spencer

Full name: Prince C. Spencer

Born October 3, 1917 — died October 29, 2015

Tap dancer and entertainer associated with the celebrated Four Step Brothers, helping carry Black tap traditions to national stages.

Chubby Checker

Full name: Ernest Evans; professional name: Chubby Checker

Born October 3, 1941

Rock and roll singer, dancer, and 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

Checker turned ‘The Twist’ into a worldwide dance phenomenon and helped make participatory dance central to youth culture. The recording reached number one in two separate chart runs, and his career expanded the reach of Black rock and roll performance.

Ronnie Laws

Full name: Ronald Wayne Laws

Born October 3, 1950

Jazz, funk, and R&B saxophonist, singer, and composer.

Laws moved from Earth, Wind & Fire into a major solo career that blended jazz improvisation with funk and R&B accessibility. Albums such as Pressure Sensitive helped define the crossover jazz sound of the 1970s and beyond.

Dave Winfield

Full name: David Mark Winfield

Born October 3, 1951

Baseball Hall of Famer, 12-time All-Star, and philanthropist.

Winfield was drafted by teams in four professional sports leagues before choosing baseball. He finished his Major League career with 3,110 hits and 465 home runs, won the 1992 World Series with Toronto, and established an early athlete-led charitable foundation.

Keb’ Mo’

Full name: Kevin Roosevelt Moore; professional name: Keb’ Mo’

Born October 3, 1951

Blues singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer.

Keb’ Mo’ renewed country blues for contemporary audiences by combining Delta traditions with folk, soul, and modern songwriting. His recordings have earned multiple Grammy Awards and helped keep the blues a living, evolving Black art form.

Al Sharpton

Full name: Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr.

Born October 3, 1954

Civil rights activist, Baptist minister, broadcaster, and founder of the National Action Network.

Sharpton has spent decades organizing around racial violence, policing, voting rights, economic justice, and civil rights cases. His public work reflects both the endurance and the media transformation of Black protest leadership after the classic civil rights era.

Black Thought

Born October 3, 1971

Rapper, songwriter and co-founder/lead MC of The Roots.

Rapper, songwriter and co-founder/lead MC of The Roots, known for complex lyricism and live performance.

India.Arie

Full name: India Arie Simpson; professional name: India.Arie

Born October 3, 1975

Singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and actress.

India.Arie’s Acoustic Soul introduced a widely influential form of introspective, guitar-centered neo-soul. Songs such as ‘Video’ and ‘Brown Skin’ challenged narrow beauty standards and made self-definition, spirituality, and Black womanhood central to mainstream R&B.

Talib Kweli

Full name: Talib Kweli Greene

Born October 3, 1975

Rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur and activist.

Rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur and activist known for Black Star, Reflection Eternal and socially conscious hip-hop.

Anquan Boldin

Full name: Anquan Kenmile Boldin Sr.

Born October 3, 1980

NFL wide receiver, Super Bowl champion and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year recognized for both athletic and humanitarian impact.

Tessa Thompson

Full name: Tessa Lynne Thompson

Born October 3, 1983

Actress.

Actress known for film and television roles including Creed, Thor: Ragnarok, Passing and Westworld.

A$AP Rocky

Born October 3, 1988

Rapper, producer and fashion figure whose work helped shape 2010s hip-hop aesthetics and sound.

Ayo Edebiri

Born October 3, 1995

Actress, comedian and writer acclaimed for The Bear and for work across television, film and animation.