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.
Michaelle Jean, the Governor General of Canada, was born in Port au Prince, Haiti in 1957. At an early age Jean and her family fled the Papa Doc Duvalier dictatorship and settled in Montreal, Canada. Jean later attended the University of Montreal where she received … Read MoreMichaelle Jean (1957- )
Utilizing the research of Professor Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, historian William J. Zick in the article below provides vignettes which comprise an overview of various composers and musicians of African ancestry who performed in Europe, North America, and Latin America … Read MoreBlack Composers and Musicians in Classical Music History
José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830) was an Afro-Brazilian composer and organist who was the grandson of slaves. Over 240 works of music by Garcia have survived. Garcia’s mother was Vitória Maria da Cruz and his father was Apolinário Nunes Garcia, a tailor. Garcia was born … Read MoreJosé Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830)
Joseph de Bologne was born December 25, 1745 on a plantation near Basse-Terre, on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. His mother was Anne Nanon, slave-mistress of his father, the nobleman George de Bologne de Saint-Georges. He was educated in France, where his father became … Read MoreJoseph de Bolonge/Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)
Oscar Peterson was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec. He grew up in Place St-Henri, a bustling Montreal district with a small but close knit black community. Considered by many to be one of the great jazz piano players of all time, Peterson … Read MoreOscar Emmanuel Peterson (1925-2007)
Sickle cell anemia is a disease that warps red blood cells into a sickle like shape due to problems with their hemoglobin. Hemoglobin resides inside a red blood cell and carries oxygen from the lungs to all other parts of a body. Healthy hemoglobin stays … Read MoreSickle Cell Anemia
Sold into Turkish slavery, Abram Petrovich Hannibal was brought as a black servant to Czar Peter I, known as Peter the Great. He became one of the royal favorites, a general-in-chief, and one of the best educated men in Russia in his era. His great-grandson … Read MoreAbram Petrovich Hannibal (1696?-1781)
Alessandro de’ Medici, called “Il Moro” (“The Moor”), was born in the Italian city of Urbino in 1510. His mother was an African slave named Simonetta who had been freed. Alessandro’s paternity is uncertain. Most sources name Lorenzo de’ Medici, ruler of Urbino. But Alessandro … Read MoreAlessandro de’ Medici (1510-1537)
Juan Latino, or Juan de Sesa as he was actually named, was an Afro-Hispanic poet in Renaissance Spain who taught at the Cathedral school in Granada and became famous for his epic Latin poems. A native of Berbería, a Spanish term associated with the Northern … Read MoreJuan Latino (ca. 1518-ca. 1594)
