brown was born on the campus of howard university in washington d.c., where his father, sterling n. brown, a former slave, was a prominent minister and professor at howard university divinity school. his mother grace adelaide brown, who had been the valedictorian of her class at fisk university, taught in d.c. public schools for more than 50 years. both his parents grew up in tennessee and often shared stories with brown, their only child, who heard his father's stories about famous leaders such as frederick douglass and booker t. washington.