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.
Site of some of the oldest hominid fossils, The Great Rift Valley in East Africa refers to a massive land depression, formed approximately twenty million years ago when two parallel fault lines pulled apart. The rift stretches along East Africa from the Jordan River Valley in southwest … Read MoreRift Valley in East Africa
Lalibela, a small city of approximately 15,000 people located in the Wollo Province of the Amhara Region of Northern Ethiopia, is considered one of the nation’s holiest cities and is the destination for pilgrimages by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians from around the nation. It was envisioned … Read MoreLalibela, Ethiopia (ca. 1200- )
The first black person elected to the Nicaraguan National Assembly, Loria Raquel Dixon Brautigam was elected to represent the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua in 2006. Before entering politics, Brautigam worked as a nurse in Bilwiskana, Río Coco and served as director of the Unidad Policlínica de Puerto … Read MoreLoria Raquel Dixon Brautigam ( ? – )
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, longtime dictator and military leader of the Central African Republic, was born in Bobangui, Oubangui-Chari, French Equatorial Africa (present-day Central African Republic) on February 22, 1921. Bokassa’s father, a village chief of the Mbaka people, was murdered in November 1927 for refusing to … Read MoreJean-Bédel Bokassa (1921-1996)
The Tukulor Empire was a Muslim theocracy established during the mid-19th century major jihads (holy wars) in Western Africa. At its apogee, the empire extended from Senegal eastward to Timbuktu, a distance of 1,500 miles. The empire’s founder, Al Hajj Umar, a Senegalese Islamic scholar … Read MoreTukulor Empire (1852-1864)
From approximately 1000 to 1500 AD, a number of city-states on the eastern coast of Africa participated in an international trade network and became cosmopolitan Islamic cultural centers. The major autonomous, but symbiotic, city-states stretched over 1,500 miles from Mogadishu (in modern day Somalia) in … Read MoreEast African City States (1000-1500)
The city of Entebbe, Uganda, is located on the shores of Lake Victoria about 22 miles south of Kampala, the nation’s capital. In addition to being the official residence of the president of Uganda, Entebbe is the site of the nation’s only international airport. On … Read MoreEntebbe Raid (June 28, 1976)
A city at the mouth of the Escondido River and the Caribbean Sea, Bluefields is home to a large black settlement on the east coast of Nicaragua and is strongly associated with Black Creole culture. Nicaragua has the largest population of African descent in Central … Read MoreBluefields, Nicaragua (ca. 1650- )
The legend of Prester John, a wealthy Christian king with a kingdom somewhere outside of the Western European realm, pervaded European thought throughout the Middle Ages. The limited understanding of the unexplored regions of the world and the inability to find his kingdom resulted in … Read MorePrester John
In the following article historian Omar H. Ali explores a lesser-known aspect of the global African Diaspora, the spread of African peoples and their cultures throughout the Indian Ocean basin. Africans had become a visible part of the Indian Ocean world long before the advent … Read MoreIslam and the African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean World
