John Edmonstone was a Guyanese-born enslaved person and taxidermist who later became a taxidermy teacher in Edinburgh, Scotland. Edmonstone was best known as a mentor of young Charles Robert Darwin, who would become a renowned naturalist and geologist. Edmonstone was born into slavery on a … Read MoreJohn Edmonstone (? – ?)
Irfaan Ali was born Mohamed Irfaan Ali on April 25, 1980, in Leonora, Guyana, to Mohamed Osman Ali and Bibi Shariman. He has one brother. Ali was reared near Demerara village, and his early education began at the Cornelia Ida Primary School there. He completed … Read MoreIrfaan Ali (1980- )
Arthur Chung was the first President of Guyana from 1970 to 1980. He was the first ethnic Chinese (Hakka) head of state in a non-Asian country. During his time as President of Guyana, the office was that of a ceremonial Head of State, with actual … Read MoreArthur Chung (1918–2008)
Composer, guitarist, and Reggae singer Eddy Grant was born Edmond Montague Grant on March 5, 1948, in Plaisance, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana, to Patrick Alexander Grant, a trumpeter. He has one brother, Rudy Grant. In 1960, he emigrated to London where he studied at Acland Burghley Secondary … Read MoreEddy Grant (1948- )
Conductor, clarinetist, and composer W. Rudolph Dunbar was born on November 26, 1907, in Nabaclis, Guyana. At the age of nine, his musical genius apparent, he was invited to serve as a clarinetist in the British Guiana Militia Band. After a brief apprenticeship for stellar … Read MoreW. Rudolph Dunbar (1907-1988)
Throughout his career as a scholar and author, Ivan Van Sertima worked to transform the way people viewed and taught African history. Van Sertima was born on January 26, 1935, in Kitty Village, Guyana when it was still a British colony. After completing high school, he worked as a Press and Broadcasting … Read MoreIvan Van Sertima (1935-2009)
Major General Errol R. Schwartz, the first black adjutant general for the District of Columbia, was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1952. In 1972 Schwartz arrived in the United States, following his brother and sister who emigrated from Guyana to enroll at Howard University. Their own quest for higher education … Read MoreErrol R. Schwartz (1952- )
Former Naval officer Gerald Eustis Thomas served as United States Ambassador to Guyana and Kenya. Born in Natick, Massachusetts on June 23, 1929 to Walter and Leila Thomas, President Ronald W. Reagan appointed Gerald E. Thomas to both ambassadorships. Thomas began his undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. He transferred to Harvard University … Read MoreGerald E. Thomas (1929- )
Bussa Emancipation Statue, Bridgetown, Barbados Image Ownership: Public domain The Bussa Rebellion was the largest slave revolt in the history of Barbados. The rebellion took its name from the African-born slave, Bussa, who led the uprising. The Bussa Rebellion was the first of the three … Read MoreBussa Rebellion (1816)
The Baptist War, also known as the Christmas Rebellion, was an eleven-day rebellion that mobilized as many as sixty thousand of Jamaica’s three hundred thousand slaves in 1831–1832. It was considered the largest slave rebellion in the British Caribbean. The name Christmas Rebellion came from … Read MoreThe Baptist War (1831-1832)
