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.
Zadie Smith, writer and essayist, was born in the London, UK borough of Brent on October 25, 1975. Smith was named Sadie by her mother, a Jamaican immigrant who arrived in London in the late 1970s, and her English father. Smith enjoyed tap dancing as … Read MoreZadie Smith (1975- )
Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, playwright, novelist and activist, was born on April 15, 1958, the first of eight children, in Birmingham, England. Zephaniah grew up in Wandsworth until the age of nine when his mother, a Jamaican nurse, fled his father, a postman from Barbados. Leaving … Read MoreBenjamin Zephaniah (1958- )
Dakar was the political center of French West Africa and is the capital of modern Senegal. Located on Cape Verde, the westernmost point of the African mainland, Ndaxaru, known by its French name, Dakar, has been occupied at least since Europeans began to explore the … Read MoreDakar, Senegal (1857- )
Yelena Khanga is a journalist and writer who was born in 1962 in Moscow, Russia. She is the daughter of Abdulla Khanga, who was the onetime vice president of Zanzibar, and Lily Golden, a Russian woman who was a historian and educator. She was also … Read MoreYelena Khanga (1962- )
Nairobi is the largest city and capital of the modern state of Kenya as well as the former capital of British East Africa. Nairobi was originally a camp for the engineers constructing the Uganda railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria in 1899. Later that year, … Read MoreNairobi, Kenya (1899- )
Born on the 17th of February 1944 in Georgetown, Guyana, Bernie Grant was elected to the British House of Commons in 1987 to serve as one of the country’s first black Members of Parliament (MPs). With a head teacher for a father and a teacher … Read MoreBernie Grant (1944-2000)
Diane Abbott, the first black woman to be elected to the British Parliament, was born to Jamaican immigrant parents in 1953. Growing up in Paddington, London, she attended Harrow County grammar school before pursuing studies in History to Master’s level at Newnham College, Cambridge. Upon … Read MoreDiane Abbott (1953- )
Lieutenant Walter Tull was an English soccer player and the first black British Army infantry officer to die on the battlefield. Tull was one of the earliest professional coloured players. He was born in Folkestone, Kent, England on April 28, 1888, the son of a … Read MoreWalter Daniel John Tull (1888-1918)
Born to a Ghanaian father and a Scottish mother in Hackney, London, Paul Yaw Boateng became one of the first black British Members of Parliament in the general election of 1987. In 2002 he became the first Afro-Briton to serve in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet. … Read MorePaul Yaw Boateng (1951- )
The Gondar College of Medical Sciences is located in Gondar in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. The college, founded in 1954, is the oldest health professional training institute in Ethiopia. The medical college was located in Gondar in 1954 in part because of the malaria … Read MoreThe Gondar College of Medical Sciences (1954- )
