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.
On December 10, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King became only the second African American (after Ralph Bunche) to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. His acceptance speech given in Oslo, Norway, appears below. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: I accept … Read More(1964) Dr. Martin Luther King, “Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize”
David Kato was founding father of Uganda’s emergent gay rights movement, the first openly gay man in the country, and an international gay rights activist. He was brutally murdered in January 2011. Born around 1964, Kato joined his twin brother John Wassawa Mulamba and family … Read MoreDavid Kato (c1964 – 2011)
Scholar, playwright, journalist, and African nationalist, Duse Mohamad Ali was born in Alexandria, Egypt on November 24, 1866 to an Egyptian father, Ali Abdul Salam and a Sudanese mother, whose name is unknown. At a very young age Ali was sent to study in England … Read MoreDuse Mohamad Ali (1866-1945)
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), founded in 1990, is one of the earliest and highly regarded LGBTI (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Intersex) advocacy organizations in Southern Africa. GALZ is the country’s only gay rights group and the first one in the nation to start HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns. The … Read MoreGays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) (1990- )
Casablanca (al-Dar al-Bayda in Arabic; “white house” in English) is Morocco’s center of cultural and commercial activity and one of the largest metropolises in contemporary Africa. A port city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, it is the center of the nation’s rail and … Read MoreCasablanca, Morocco (circa 13th Century)
Image Ownership: Matthieu Riegler (CC BY-SA 3.0) George Pau Langevin is a French lawyer, politician, and author who was born October 19, 1948, in Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe of parents who were teachers. At the age of 17 she journeyed to Paris where she studied … Read MoreGeorge Pau Langevin (1948- )
Image Ownership: Claude Truong-Ngoc (CC BY-SA 4.0) Christiane Taubira is an economist, politician, and writer who was born on February 2, 1952 in Cayenne, Guyana. Founding president of the Guyanese Walwari Party, she is also an author of a number of writings on the topic of … Read MoreChristiane Taubira (Taubira-Delannon, Christiane) (1952- )
Godwin Ajala is remembered as a U.S. national hero who fought to save the lives of countless people as they escaped from the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001. He is also the only Nigerian listed among the nearly 3,000 people who died … Read MoreGodwin O. Ajala (1968-2001)
Desmond Power, a third-generation British subject born in Tientsin (now Tianjin), China in 1923, was incarcerated along with 1,500 other foreign nationals in 1943 in Weihsien, a Japanese Prisoner of War camp in North China during World War II. In the article below, Power recalls … Read MoreJazz in Occupied China: Black Jazzmen at the Japanese Prison Camp in Weihsien, China during World War II
Roger Sauvage was one the few pilots of African descent to fly in both the French and Russian Air Forces in World War II. Sauvage was born in Paris on March 26, 1917, the son of a white Frenchwoman, Marie Sauvage, and a black soldier … Read MoreRoger Sauvage (1917-1977)
