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.
Sidi Mubarak Bombay, one of the most extensive travelers in sub-Saharan Africa in the 19th century, was honored for his assistance to British explorers and adventurers. Bombay, of waYao/Bantu ethnicity, was born in the Ruvuma Region of southern Tanzania around 1820. Separated from his parents … Read MoreSidi Mubarak Bombay (a.k.a. Mbarak Mombée, 1820?-1885)
National heroine and revered freedom fighter Juana Ramírez, popularly known as “La Avanzadora” (The Advancer), was born January 12, 1790 in Chaguaramal, Monagas State, Venezuela. Her enslaved African mother, Guadalupe, was purchased by her putative father, Spanish army general Andrés Rojas. As a child she … Read MoreJuana Ramírez (1790 -1856)
Afro-British micro artist Willard Wigan’s journey to international recognition and financial security began with an unhappy childhood. Born in Wednesfield, England, in June 1957 to Jamaican immigrants, he was afflicted with undiagnosed Asperger’s disorder. Uninformed, impatient teachers reacted to his dyslexia and struggle to read … Read MoreWillard Wigan (1957- )
In 1564 Lope Martin, an Afro-Portuguese mariner, navigated the first round-trip voyage in the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Philippines and back to Mexico during the sixteenth-century Age of Exploration. Details about Martin’s parents or his childhood as a mulatto growing up in Lagos, … Read MoreLope Martin (1520?-?)
Afro-British musician, composer, and orchestra leader Joseph Antonio Emidy is believed to have been born sometime in the year 1775 in Guinea, West Africa. Enslaved at age 12, Portuguese traders brought him to Brazil, where Jesuit priests, recognizing his natural talent and intelligence, taught him … Read MoreJoseph Antonio Emidy (a.k.a. Joseph Emedy and Joseph Emedee, 1775-1835)
Hilarius Gilges is the most well-known Afro-German activist who fought against the rise of the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party in the early interwar period. The son of a textile worker named Maria Stüttgen and an African boatman working on the Rhine, Gilges was … Read MoreHilarius Gilges (a.k.a. Lari Gilges, 1909-1933)
Clémence Botino, born to an Indo-Caribbean mother, Katia Botino, and an Afro-Caribbean father, Oliver Botino, on January 22, 1997, in Baie-Mahault on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was named Miss France 2020. Her parents encouraged her interest in fashion, dance, music (she plays piano), … Read MoreClémence Botino (1997- )
Dr. Guillermo Ameer is the Daniel Hale Williams Professor of Biomedical engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering, Professor of Surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, and the director of the Center for Advanced Regenerative Engineering (CARE). Dr. Ameer joined the … Read MoreGuillermo Ameer (?- )
