Birthday Celebrations — November 2

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

Alexander Asberry

Born November 2, 1861 — died date unknown

Texas state legislator during the post-Reconstruction era.

Alexander Asberry, a grocer and Baptist deacon from Calvert in Robertson County, was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1888 as a Republican. In the Twenty-first Legislature he opposed segregated railroad cars and backed replacing the convict-lease system, and he was a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1888 and 1892. He died before February 1903.

Grace Baxter Fenderson

Born November 2, 1883 — died March 21, 1962

Educator and co-founder of the Newark NAACP.

Grace Baxter Fenderson taught at Newark’s Monmouth Street School from 1907 to 1948, one of the first Black teachers in the city’s public schools, and in 1914 helped found the Newark chapter of the NAACP. In 1922 she organized a Newark parade for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, and in 1936 she joined the NAACP’s national board.

Helen LaFrance [Q]

Full name: Helen LaFrance Orr

Born November 2, 1919 — died November 22, 2020

Self-taught memory painter of rural Black Kentucky life.

Helen LaFrance painted scenes of church gatherings, farm work and small-town life in western Kentucky from memory, working for years in near obscurity. She painted full time from 1986, and her work was later collected by museums and by collectors including Oprah Winfrey. She died in Mayfield, Kentucky, at 101.

Earl ‘Speedo’ Carroll [Q]

Full name: Earl Carroll

Born November 2, 1937 — died November 25, 2012

Lead singer of doo-wop group the Cadillacs (‘Speedoo’).

Earl Carroll led the Harlem doo-wop group the Cadillacs, whose 1955 hit ‘Speedoo’ gave him his lifelong nickname. He later sang with the Coasters for two decades. From 1982 to 2005 he also worked as a custodian at a Manhattan public elementary school.

Larry Little

Full name: Larry Chatmon Little

Born November 2, 1945

Hall of Fame guard on the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Larry Little anchored the Miami Dolphins’ offensive line during their Super Bowl wins in the 1972 and 1973 seasons, including the only perfect season in NFL history. A Bethune-Cookman product signed as an undrafted free agent, he was a six-time first-team All-Pro and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He later coached at Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central.

Vikki Buckley

Full name: Victoria ‘Vikki’ Buckley

Born November 2, 1947 — died July 14, 1999

Colorado Secretary of State, first Black woman elected statewide in Colorado.

Vikki Buckley rose from a clerk in the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to win election as Secretary of State in 1994, the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Colorado. A Republican, she was re-elected in 1998 and died in office the following year. She had been a welfare recipient as a young single mother before her government career.

Kenneth Mapp

Full name: Kenneth Ezra Mapp

Born November 2, 1955

Eighth elected governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Kenneth Mapp served as lieutenant governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands from 1995 to 1999 and as governor from 2015 to 2019, leading the territory through Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. He was raised on St. Croix and began his career as a police officer. He ran as an independent and lost his 2018 re-election bid.

Willie McGee

Full name: Willie Dean McGee

Born November 2, 1958

1985 National League MVP and two-time batting champion.

Willie McGee won the 1985 National League MVP award with the St. Louis Cardinals, batting .353 with 56 stolen bases, and won a second batting title in 1990. He was a four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and a 1982 World Series champion. He remains a coach and special assistant with the Cardinals and is in the team’s Hall of Fame.

Lynn Nottage

Born November 2, 1964

Playwright and only woman to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.

Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for ‘Ruined’ in 2009 and for ‘Sweat’ in 2017, the first woman to win the award twice. Her other works include ‘Intimate Apparel,’ ‘Clyde’s’ and the book for the musical ‘MJ.’ She is a MacArthur Fellow and teaches at Columbia University.

Nelly

Full name: Cornell Iral Haynes Jr.

Born November 2, 1974

St. Louis rapper whose debut ‘Country Grammar’ was certified diamond.

Nelly rose from the St. Lunatics to release ‘Country Grammar’ in 2000, a diamond-certified debut. His hits ‘Hot in Herre,’ ‘Dilemma’ and ‘Ride wit Me’ made him one of the best-selling rappers of the 2000s, and he won three Grammy Awards. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, which he has made central to his public identity.

Prodigy

Full name: Albert Johnson

Born November 2, 1974 — died June 20, 2017

Rapper and one half of Mobb Deep.

Prodigy formed Mobb Deep with Havoc in Queensbridge, and their 1995 album ‘The Infamous,’ with ‘Shook Ones (Part II),’ became a landmark of East Coast hardcore rap. He released solo albums including ‘H.N.I.C.’ and wrote the memoir ‘My Infamous Life.’ He lived with sickle-cell anemia and died in Las Vegas in 2017 at 42.

Karamo Brown [Q]

Full name: Karamo Karega Brown

Born November 2, 1980

Television host, ‘Queer Eye’ culture expert and author.

Karamo Brown first appeared on MTV’s ‘The Real World: Philadelphia’ in 2004, the show’s first gay African American cast member. From 2018 he was the culture expert on Netflix’s ‘Queer Eye’ through its final season, and from 2022 to 2026 he hosted the syndicated daytime talk show ‘Karamo.’ He is a former social worker and the author of a memoir and children’s books.

Roddy White

Full name: Sharod Lamor ‘Roddy’ White

Born November 2, 1981

Atlanta Falcons all-time leading receiver and four-time Pro Bowler.

Roddy White played his entire 11-season NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons and holds the franchise records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He made four straight Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2011 and was first-team All-Pro in 2010. He played college football at UAB.

Fred Rosser (Darren Young) [Q]

Full name: Frederick Douglas Rosser III

Born November 2, 1983

Pro wrestler, first openly gay active WWE performer.

Fred Rosser wrestled in WWE as Darren Young from 2010 to 2017, winning the tag team championship with Titus O’Neil as the Prime Time Players. In 2013 he became the first active WWE wrestler to come out as gay. He later won the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Jordan Love [Q]

Full name: Jordan Alexander Love

Born November 2, 1998

Green Bay Packers starting quarterback.

Jordan Love was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round in 2020 and became the starter in 2023 after succeeding Aaron Rodgers, leading the team to a playoff win in his first season as a starter. He played college football at Utah State.