The following are short descriptions of individuals, places and events which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
David R. Williams is a distinguished social scientist and Harvard professor. He works to understand how race, social status, stress, and other social influences relate to health inequalities. Born on June 12, 1954, in the Caribbean Island of Aruba, Williams attended the University of the … Read MoreDavid R. Williams (1954- )
Pamela Ashley Uba is a scientist and model and the first black woman to be crowned Miss Ireland in that nation’s competition. Uba was born in Anambra State, Nigeria in 1995 to Nigerian parents. Her Igbo name is Onyebuchi. The Uba family business fell apart, … Read MorePamela Uba (1995- )
Professional bare-knuckle boxer Peter Jackson, better known as the Black Prince and Peter the Great, was born on July 3, 1861, in Water Gut, Christiansted, Danish West Indies (now the U.S. Virgin Islands) to Peter Jackson Sr., a warehouseman from Montego Bay, Jamaica. Information regarding … Read MorePeter Jackson (1861-1901)
Tacky’s War, also known as Tacky’s Rebellion, was an uprising among Jamaica Akan enslaved people from Ghana that occurred in St. Mary Parish, Jamaica, against the British from 1760 to 1761. Other ethnic groups from Ghana including the Akyem, Nzema, Fanti, and Ashanti took part … Read MoreTacky’s War (1760-1761)
Rita Gertrudis Bosaho is the first person of color, male or female, to be elected to a seat in the Spanish Parliament. She was born Rita Gertrudis Bosaho on May 21, 1965, in Malabo, the capital city of the coastal central African nation of Equatorial … Read MoreRita Gertrudis Bosaho (1965- )
The Zanzibar Révolution of 1964, the most violent outbreak of anti-Arab violence in postcolonial African history, led to the demise of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his Arab government and the merging of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba with the then-British colony of Tanganyika … Read MoreThe Zanzibar Revolution of 1964
Abdulrazk Gurnah is an academic, novelist, and first Tanzanian writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, first African to win the award since 1986 when Wole Soyinka of Nigeria received the prize, and first black writer to receive the prize since 1993 when Toni … Read MoreAbdulrazk Gurnah (1948- )
The details of the birth and appearance of Russian shipbuilder and military general Mikhail M. Egypteos remain uncertain. There are two competing stories: one is that as a teenager from an aristocratic Ethiopian family he was taken, perhaps by force, to the Russian Empire by … Read MoreMikhail Milhailovich Egypteos (1861-1932)
The astonishing appearance of a high-ranking Black military officer in late 18th century Poland who led troops across Europe and in the Caribbean is further evidence of the breadth of the African diaspora. The product of an illicit affair in Paris between British-born Princess Maria … Read MoreWladyslaw Franciszek Jablonowski (1769-1802)
The rapper and record producer best known by his stage name, Slick Rick, was born Richard Martin Lloyd Walters on January 14, 1965, in London, England. His parents were immigrants from Jamaica. His mother’s name is Veronica but his father’s name is unknown. Walters was … Read MoreSlick Rick/Richard Walters (1965- )
