Birthday Celebrations — July 2

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on July 2 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

Thurgood Marshall

Birth name: Thoroughgood Marshall

Born July 2, 1908 — died January 24, 1993

Civil rights lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, and first Black Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Marshall spent his early career fighting segregation through the courts, becoming a central legal force behind Brown v. Board of Education. He later made history as the first Black Supreme Court Justice, carrying civil rights law into the highest court in the country.

Medgar Evers

Full name: Medgar Wiley Evers

Born July 2, 1925 — died June 12, 1963

Civil rights activist, NAACP field secretary, voting rights organizer, and U.S. Army veteran.

Evers fought segregation and voter suppression in Mississippi, becoming the NAACP’s first field secretary in the state. His work challenged Jim Crow violence and discrimination, and his assassination made him one of the most remembered martyrs of the civil rights movement.

Brock Peters

Birth name: George Fisher

Born July 2, 1927 — died August 23, 2005

Actor, singer, stage performer, film trailblazer, and powerful dramatic voice.

Peters built a long career across theater, film, and television. He is widely remembered for his role as Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, a performance that helped give emotional weight to one of American film’s most famous stories about race, injustice, and moral courage.

Ahmad Jamal

Birth name: Frederick Russell Jones

Born July 2, 1930 — died April 16, 2023

Jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and American classical music innovator.

Jamal brought elegance, space, rhythm, and restraint to jazz piano. His approach influenced generations of musicians, including Miles Davis, and his long career helped reshape how listeners understood the power of silence, timing, and musical conversation.