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.
In the following article novelist and independent historian Amy Sommers briefly outlines the experience of African Americans in Asia between World Wars I and II. She argues that African American influence in Asia was situated in four broad categories: the performing arts, international relations, faith, … Read MoreThe Black Pacific, 1919-1941: African Americans and Asia in the Interwar Period
On April 6, 2020, 26-year-old D’Andre Campbell of Brampton, Ontario, called 911 for help because he was in mental distress and wanted to go to a hospital. Within minutes of Peel Regional Police arriving at his home, two officers tasered him and one shot and … Read MoreD’Andre Anthony Campbell (1993-2020)
Robert Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine” Ssentamu is a Ugandan politician, singer, actor, and businessman. Bobi Wine was born on February 12, 1982 in Nkozi, Uganda. He grew up in the Kamwekya slums in the northeast part of Kampala, Uganda and attended Kitante Hill Senior Secondary School, … Read MoreRobert Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine” Ssentamu (1982- )
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)
Yolanda Guzmán was a young Afro Latina activist in the Dominican Republic who was killed in 1965 at the time of an uprising by supporters of the country’s democratically-installed president Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown by military-backed forces. Guzmán, who had worked for the … Read MoreYolanda Guzmán (1943-1965)
Jamal Derek Jr. Francique, a 28-year-old father of two who was active in the Mississauga music scene, was gunned down by a Peel Regional Police officer on January 7, 2020. He died in hospital three days later. Details of the circumstances surrounding Francique’s death are … Read MoreJamal Francique (1991-2020)
On May 5, 2020, 26-year-old Caleb Tubila Njoko fell from the 15th floor balcony of his mother’s London, Ontario, apartment building during a police intervention. He died in hospital three days later. Born in Toronto to Francophone Congolese immigrants, Nelly Wendo and Guy Tubila, Caleb … Read MoreCaleb Tubila Njoko (1993-2020)
Hundreds gathered in Toronto for the first annual Regis Korchinski-Paquet Memorial Walk for Justice, organized by Black Lives Matter on July 25, 2020, to honor the life of a young African-Canadian woman who fell 24 floors to her death during an encounter with police. Regis … Read MoreRegis Korchinski-Paquet (1990-2020)
Julia López is an established painter whose work is considered an early example of the “breakaway” generation of painters who began to move away from the muralista artistic tradition in Mexico. López was born in the Costa Chica region in the state of Guerrero on … Read MoreJulia López (1936- )
On March 19, 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan became Tanzania’s president following the death of the previous president, John Magufuli, two days prior, on March 17. Hassan, the sixth president of Tanzania, and the first woman to head this nation, was born in the town of … Read MoreSamia Suluhu Hassan (1960- )
