Sandra K. Yocum has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Bradley University and an Education K-12 certification. She is the Founder/President of the Yocum African-American History Association (YAAHA), a Section 501 (c) (3) educational organization. The experiences she gained in the late 1960s as a recent college graduate, teaching second grade students in Watts, the predominately black community in Los Angeles, was eye-opening. Over the years, she has helped minority students as a tutor, mentor, art instructor and program coordinator with a variety of non-profit organizations, including Let’s Make a Difference, Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop and Students with a Goal.

As a result of her experiences, she became aware of how little black students knew about their own history, or how African-Americans for centuries overcame obstacles and achieved success. This realization caused her to delve deeply into civil rights history and become a student of this history. While reviewing history books, she found omission and revisionism that prevent students from knowing the truth about the history of civil rights in particular and black history in general. This discovery caused her to compile her extensive research and write the book "Black History 1619 to 2019: An Illustrated and Documented African-American History.”