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.
The city of Gao, situated near the north bend of the Niger River, served as the capital city of the Songhai state in West Africa from the 11th century until the fall of the Songhai Empire at the end of the 16th century. Gao emerged … Read MoreGao, West Africa (ca. 1450- )
Rev. Samuel Johnson was a nineteenth-century Anglican priest and historian of the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria. Samuel Johnson is most noted for his manuscript The History of the Yorubas, which was posthumously published in 1921. Born to Henry and Sarah Johnson, in Hasting, Freetown, … Read MoreSamuel Johnson (1846-1901)
Eric Walrond was an Afro–Caribbean-American fiction writer and journalist of the Harlem Renaissance era. Born December 18, 1898, in Georgetown, British Guyana, Walrond would write short stories with the interwoven themes of immigration, racial pride, and discrimination as he captured the early urban experience of … Read MoreEric Walrond (1898-1966)
The schooner Clotilda is the last known United States slave ship to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States. Constructed in 1855 by the Mobile, Alabama captain and shipbuilder William Foster, the Clotilda was originally intended for the “Texas trade.” It was eighty-six … Read MoreClotilda (Slave Ship)
TransAfrica was organized on July 1, 1977, as a non-profit organization that sought to give aid to predominantly black nations. Any concerns that dealt with the economy, politics, and society in nations, including Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America, were monitored by the organization. It … Read MoreTransAfrica Forum (1977- )
Cape Coast Castle is a European-built fortress situated on the central coastline of Ghana. Since its initial construction in 1652, the Castle served as a trading post for European nations and as the headquarters of British colonial administration for the Gold Coast Colony. Today the … Read MoreCape Coast Castle (1652- )
Muhammad Toure, also known Askia Muhammad I and Askia the Great, was a ruler of the Songhay (or Songhai) Empire of West Africa in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Though Muhammad’s origins are debated, it is accepted that he was a descendant of … Read MoreMuhammed Toure / Askia Muhammad I (c. 1442-1538)
John Chilembwe was a Baptist educator and political leader who organized an uprising against British colonial rule in Nyasaland (today Malawi). Though details about Chilembwe’s early life are largely undocumented, it is believed that he was born in the Chiradzulu region of Nyasaland sometime around … Read MoreJohn Chilembwe (ca. 1871-1915)
Thomas Sankara, political leader of Burkina Faso in the 1980s, was born on December 21, 1949 in Yako, a northern town in the Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso) of French West Africa. He was the son of a Mossi mother and a Peul father, and … Read MoreThomas Sankara (1949-1987)
Born in St. Catherine, Jamaica on April 1, 1948 as James Chambers, the ska-reggae musician Jimmy Cliff proved to be an accomplished performer at an early age. At age 14, Chambers moved to Kingston and took the surname Cliff as a proclamation of the heights … Read MoreJimmy Cliff (1948- )
