Teacher. O’Bryant was the first African American to serve as a School Committee President. Born to a Pullman porter in 1931, he graduated from English High School and became a schoolteacher in 1954 and later a guidance counsel at his old high school. In 1979, with educator Mel King they founded the Roxbury Multi-Service Center and the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts. In 1979 he became vice president of student affairs at Northwestern University and in 1981 he was chosen as President of the Committee. His election as president was considered to be a historic event in black history.