The following are short descriptions of the groups and organizations which have contributed to the shaping of Global African 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 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)
The legendary Jamaican ska and reggae group, Toots and the Mayhils was founded by Frederick Nathaniel “Toots” Hibbert, born on December 8, 1942. He teamed with Henry “Raleigh” Gordon, born in 1945, and Nathaniel “Jerry” Mathias, born 1946 to form a Reggae trio in Kingston, … Read MoreToots and the Maytals (1962-2020)
Rappers Nico & Vinz are a duo born Kahouly Nicolay “Nico” Sereba on December 1, 1990, from Holmlia, Oslo. He is biracial with a father from Ivory Coast and Vincent “Vinzy” Dery, born on August 24, 1990, from Lambertseter, Oslo, of Ghanaian parents. The Polylingual … Read MoreNico & Vinz (2010- )
Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, an interracial and international R&B band, began when Thomas (Tommy) Chong invited Bobby Taylor, whom he had met in San Francisco, California, to become the lead singer for the Canadian group the Calgary Shades in 1961. The ensemble included Chong … Read MoreBobby Taylor & the Vancouvers (1966-1988)
On August 4, 1914, Britain joined the Great War. The First World War, 1914-1918, is usually viewed as a predominantly white European conflict. In fact, many Africans, Asians, black Britons, and Caribbeans fought for the British Empire. At the beginning of the war, the British War Office, however, was reluctant to allow blacks to enlist … Read MoreBritish West Indian Regiment (BWIR) (1915-1918)
Educated youth from the slums of Mumbai, India started the Dalit Panther Movement (DPM) in June 1972, inspired by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and the U.S. Black Panthers. Dalits (“downtrodden”) are the lowest “untouchable” caste in Hinduism. Hinduism views Dalits as sinners in their prior lives who can only redeem themselves … Read MoreDalit Panther Movement (1972-1977)
Inspired by the Black Power movement in the U.S., the Nigerian playwright, Obi Egbuna, founded the British Black Panthers (BBP) in 1968 in London’s Notting Hill. In Britain, people of Caribbean, African, or South Asian descent, who were mainly immigrants from former British colonies, were considered to be “black.” The tripling of Britain’s black population from … Read MoreBritish Black Panther Party (1968-1973)
In 1969, Sa’adia Marciano and Charlie Biton—along with four other Moroccan-Jewish youth living in the poor Moroccan-Jewish section of Jerusalem, Israel—started meeting to discuss North African Jews’ experiences of joblessness, police beatings, housing and education discrimination, and exclusion from government political offices and positions. When they read … Read MoreIsraeli Black Panther Party (1971-1977)
Interahamwe, translated from Kinyarwanda to English as “those who work/ fight together,” is an African paramilitary and terrorist group currently based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Composed mainly of young Hutu men, Interahamwe was one of the major belligerents against the Tutsi in Rwanda, leading … Read MoreInterahamwe (1992- )
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought in the Sierra Leone Civil War, 1991–2002. The RUF was created by Foday Sankoh along with allies that included Abu Kanu, Rashid Mansaray, and most of the Mende ethnic group in the southern and … Read MoreRevolutionary United Front (1991–2002)
