The following are short descriptions of the women and men who have contributed to the shaping of Global African 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.
Pedro Camejo also known as Negro Primero (The First Black in Spanish) was a Venezuelan soldier who fought with the Royal Army and then the Rebel Army during the Venezuelan War of Independence between 1810 and 1823. He was the only officer of African descent … Read MorePedro Camejo (1790-1821)
Joseph Auguste Anténor Firmin was a Haitian scholar, politician and civil servant who is best known for his anthropological text published in 1885, De l’égalité des races Humaines (On the Equality of Human Races). Born in Cap-Haitien to a working-class family on October 18, 1850, … Read MoreAnténor Firmin (1850-1911)
David Lubega “Lou Bega” Balemezi is a singer who is best known for his 1999 song “Mambo No.5 (A Little Bit of… ). Balemezi was born on April 13, 1975, to a Sicilian mother and a Ugandan father in Munich, Germany. After his parents separated, … Read MoreLou Bega/ David Lubega Balemezi (1975- )
Choreographer, dancer, artistic director and LGBTQ community activist Alexander Emanuel Simon was born on November 27, 1980, in Christiansted, United States Virgin Islands, to Rufus Emanuel Simon from Basseterre which is part of the Caribbean Island federation of Nevis St. Kitts, and Martha Maria Santiago … Read MoreAlexander Emanuel Simon (1980- )
Composer, guitarist, and Reggae singer Eddy Grant was born Edmond Montague Grant on March 5, 1948, in Plaisance, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana, to Patrick Alexander Grant, a trumpeter. He has one brother, Rudy Grant. In 1960, he emigrated to London where he studied at Acland Burghley Secondary … Read MoreEddy Grant (1948- )
David R. Williams is a distinguished social scientist and Harvard professor. He works to understand how race, social status, stress, and other social influences relate to health inequalities. Born on June 12, 1954, in the Caribbean Island of Aruba, Williams attended the University of the … Read MoreDavid R. Williams (1954- )
Pamela Ashley Uba is a scientist and model and the first black woman to be crowned Miss Ireland in that nation’s competition. Uba was born in Anambra State, Nigeria in 1995 to Nigerian parents. Her Igbo name is Onyebuchi. The Uba family business fell apart, … Read MorePamela Uba (1995- )
Professional bare-knuckle boxer Peter Jackson, better known as the Black Prince and Peter the Great, was born on July 3, 1861, in Water Gut, Christiansted, Danish West Indies (now the U.S. Virgin Islands) to Peter Jackson Sr., a warehouseman from Montego Bay, Jamaica. Information regarding … Read MorePeter Jackson (1861-1901)
Rita Gertrudis Bosaho is the first person of color, male or female, to be elected to a seat in the Spanish Parliament. She was born Rita Gertrudis Bosaho on May 21, 1965, in Malabo, the capital city of the coastal central African nation of Equatorial … Read MoreRita Gertrudis Bosaho (1965- )
Abdulrazk Gurnah is an academic, novelist, and first Tanzanian writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, first African to win the award since 1986 when Wole Soyinka of Nigeria received the prize, and first black writer to receive the prize since 1993 when Toni … Read MoreAbdulrazk Gurnah (1948- )
