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.
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 (? – ?)
Charles Wade Mills was a notable Caribbean-American political philosopher and distinguished professor. He was born in London on January 3, 1951 to Jamaican parents, Winnifred and Gladstone Mills, who were both pursuing their graduate degrees in the city. The couple returned to Kingston shortly after … Read MoreCharles Wade Mills (1951-2021)
Percy Chen, an Afro-Trinidadian Chinese lawyer, businessman, and political activist, was a founding member of the Hong Kong Bar Association. Born in Belmont, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 1901, he was the eldest of his parents’ seven children. His father, Eugene Chen, a Chinese lawyer … Read MorePercy Chen (1901-1989)
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro was an Afro-Peruvian army officer who served as the 41st President of Peru from 1931 to 1933. Sánchez was the person of Afro-Peruvian descent to become the nation’s president. Born on August 12, 1889, to Antonio Sánchez and Rosa Cerro, he … Read MoreLuis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (1889-1933)
Angela Ankomaah Tabiri, a quantum algebra researcher, was born in 1990 in Accra, Ghana. She graduated from Anum Memorial School at Ashaiman Middle East in Accra and then studied business at Accra’s Girls Senior High School. Fluent in Twi (Akan Kasa) as well as English, … Read MoreAngela Ankomaah Tabiri (1990- )
The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as Black Hawk Down, was part of Operation Gothic Serpent. It was fought on October 3 and 4, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia, between United States troops as part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping mission, and Somali militiamen loyal … Read MoreThe Battle of Mogadishu (1993)
In August of 1925, Ladipo Solanke, a Nigerian law student, and Herbert Bankole-Bright, a Sierra Leonean doctor, founded the West African Students’ Union (WASU) in the Camden Town section of London, England. WASU eventually become a powerful influence in both British and West African politics … Read MoreWest African Students’ Union (WASU)
Felix Tshisekedi, the current President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was born Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo on June 13, 1963, in Kinshasa just three years after the DRC gained its independence from Belgium. He identifies with the Luba people. His parents were … Read MoreFelix Tshisekedi (1963– )
Tomás Estrada Palma, an attorney, was born on July 6, 1835, in Bayamo, Oriente Province in then Spanish Cuba, to Dr. Andrés Duque de Estrada y Palma and Maria Candelaria de Palma y Tamayo. Tomás had two sisters, Margarita Duque de Estrada y Tamayo and … Read MoreTomás Estrada Palma (1835-1908)
Joseph Leabua Jonathan was the first Prime Minister of independent Lesotho. He was born on October 30, 1914, in Leribe, Basutoland now Lesotho), one of the many great-grandchildren of the polygamous King Moshoeshoe I, the founder of the Basuto nation. His parents were Jonathan Ramanemane Molapo and ‘Makatiso … Read MoreJoseph Leabua Jonathan (1914-1987)
