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 article below, culinary historian Diane M. Spivey describes the centuries-old diaspora of African foods and cooking traditions in North and South America. Africa has been a major contributor to the cuisine of North and South America although this contribution has long been overlooked, … Read MoreTrans-Atlantic Food Migration: The African Culinary Influence on the Cuisine of the Americas
The Second Ivorian Civil War was a five-month conflict in the west African country of the Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d’Ivoire) between 2010 and 2011. The main belligerents of the conflict were the military of the Ivory Coast, led by President Laurent Gbagbo … Read MoreSecond Ivorian Civil War (2010-2011)
Grant Fuhr, a retired ice hockey goalie, was the first black superstar of the National Hockey League. Born on September 22, 1962 in Alberta, Canada to teenage parents who gave him up for adoption. His adoptive white parents—Robert Fuhr, an insurance agent, and Betty Wheeler—raised … Read MoreGrant Scott Fuhr (1962- )
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), The (1915-1918)
The 1919 race riots in Great Britain’s seaport areas such as Liverpool, Cardiff, and Salford were stoked by social, economic, and political anxieties and anger by white union workers and demobilised white servicemen against blacks, Arabs, Chinese, and ethnic minority communities and businesses. It was one of Britain’s … Read MoreBritain’s 1919 Race Riots
Anton de Kom (Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom) was a Surinamese author, anti-colonial activist, trade unionist, and World War IIresistance fighter. De Kom was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, a colony of the Netherlands, on February 22, 1898 to a former slave and farmer Adolf de Kom and a free woman Judith Jacoba … Read MoreAnton de Kom (1898-1945)
Afro-Turkish choreographer, dancer, instructor, and talent agent Saít Sökmen was born in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea, Africa, the sixth child of Mehmet Cemil Sökmen, a successful merchant, and Fatuma Mamady, a resident of Conakry. His father operated a bakery and winery in Conakry until political instability … Read MoreSaít Sökmen (1942– )
In 1983, 25-year-old Euzhan Palcy became the first black woman to direct a filmproduced by a major Hollywood studio. Palcy was born in the French colony of Martinique on January 13th, 1958. Her interest in films began when she was ten as she felt an attraction towards them. At the time, there … Read MoreEuzhan Palcy (1958- )
Michael de Frietas, later known as Michael Abdul Malik and Michael X, was a controversial black revolutionary figure born in Port-au-Spain, Trinidad in 1933. He was mixed-race. Iona Brown, his mother, was working-class and a known African spiritualist in their community in Trinidad. His estranged father, Emmanuel de Frietas, was Portuguese and … Read MoreMichael X (1933-1975)
The Golden Stool (full title, Sika Dwa Kofi) has been the symbol of power in Ashanti Kingdom since the 17th century. According to oral tradition, Okomfo Anokye, a High Priest and one of the two founders of the Ashanti Confederacy, conjured the Golden Stool, decorated with golden bells … Read MoreThe Golden Stool (17th c.- )