About Toni Cade Bambara
Toni Cade Bambara, born Miltona Mirkin Cade, was an African-American author, documentary film-maker, social activist and college professor. Bambara was among those who participated in folk singing when it first emerged in the 1950s, when the songs had a political message inscribed in them. With her new name, she felt it represented "the accumulation of experiences", in which she had finally discovered her purpose in the world. At first, she planned to become a doctor, but her passion for arts directed her to become an English major. In 1970, Bambara changed her name to include the name of a West African ethnic group, Bambara, after finding the name written as part of a signature on a sketchbook discovered in a trunk among her great-grandmother's other belongings.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.