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.
Frances Elizabeth Williams was an actress, activist, organizer, and community worker. She served on the board of Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity, and because of her efforts helped open doors for many people of color in the film industry. Born in East Orange, New … Read MoreFrances E. Williams (1908-1995)
Hannibal Barca stands as one of the great military leaders of the pre-Christian era. He was born in Carthage (present day Tunisia) in 247 B.C.E. His father Hamilcar was the political leader of Carthage and led the city-state in the 23-year first Punic War (264-241 … Read MoreHannibal Barca (247 B.C.E.-183 B.C.E.)
Rapelang Rabana, telecommunications entrepreneur, was born in Gaborone, Botswana in 1982. Her early school years were spent in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, before moving to Johannesburg, South Africa where she attended Roedean School. Rabana graduated with honors from the University of Cape Town in … Read MoreRapelang Rabana (1982- )
Yaa Asantewaa was an influential Ashanti queen at the beginning of the twentieth century who remains a powerful symbol today. Her birthdate is contested; she is generally believed to be born between the 1840s to 1860s in the Ashanti Confederacy in present-day Ghana. She was a skilled farmer before ascending … Read MoreYaa Asantewaa (mid-1800s-1921)
Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian businesswoman who is involved in various industries such as fashion, oil, and printing. She is best known for being one of the richest black women in the world. Alakija was born in Ikorodu, Lagos State on July 15, 1951. She … Read MoreFolorunso Alakija (1951- )
Paulette Nardal was one of the founders of the Negritude intellectual movement. Nardal was born on October 12, 1896 in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, to Paul Nardal, the first black engineer in Public Works on the island, and Louise (Achille) Nardal. Paulette was the eldest of seven … Read MorePaulette Nardal (1896-1985)
Franciscus “Franc” Max Weerwind is the first black mayor of a major city in the Netherlands; moreover, he has been the mayor of three cities in that nation. The younger of the two sons of immigrant parents who arrived in the Netherlands in 1959, his … Read MoreFranc Weerwind (1964- )
Richard L. Davis is a distinguished historian of middle-period and late imperial China. He was born in Buffalo, New York to Darcy Raymond Williams, a minister of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, and Jessie Mae Belton Davis. In 1973, he earned bachelor’s degrees in both political … Read MoreRichard Lee Davis (1951?- )
Grant Fuhr, a retired ice hockey goalie, was the first black superstar of the National Hockey League. Born on September 22, 1962 in Alberta, Canada to teenage parents who gave him up for adoption. His adoptive white parents—Robert Fuhr, an insurance agent, and Betty Wheeler—raised … Read MoreGrant Scott Fuhr (1962- )
Anton de Kom (Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom) was a Surinamese author, anti-colonial activist, trade unionist, and World War IIresistance fighter. De Kom was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, a colony of the Netherlands, on February 22, 1898 to a former slave and farmer Adolf de Kom and a free woman Judith Jacoba … Read MoreAnton de Kom (1898-1945)