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.
Marie-Joseph dite Angelique was born around the year 1700 in the colony of Madeira, Portugal. It is unclear if she was born a slave or sold into slavery but she was first sold to Nichus Block (Nicholas Bleeker) who took her to North America sometime … Read MoreMarie-Joseph dite Angelique (1700-1734)
Carlota Lucumi, a kidnapped African woman, is known as one of the leaders of the slave rebellion at the Triunvirato plantation in Mantanzas, Cuba. Carlota was an African-born free woman from the Kingdom of Benin, West Africa. Her last name, Lucumi, comes from her ethnic … Read MoreCarlotta Lucumi, “La Negra Carlota” (?- 1844)
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the current Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the first non-physician to hold the position. Ghebreyesus was born in 1965 in Asmara, Eritrea, East Africa, to Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Melashu Weldegabir. He attended the University of Asmara … Read MoreTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (1965- )
Miguel I de Buría, also known as King Miguel and Miguel the Black, was a formerly enslaved man from San Juan, Puerto Rico who ruled as the King of Buría in the modern-day state of Lara, Venezuela from 1552 to 1555. He is best known … Read MoreMiguel I de Buría (1510-1555)
Juan José Nieto Gil, a Colombian politician, writer, and army general was the first president of African descent in Colombia. Nieto Gil was born on June 24, 1805 in Loma del Muerto, Colombia to Tomas Nicolas Nieto and Benedicta Nieto. He had three siblings, Francisca … Read MoreJuan José Nieto Gil (1805-1866)
Breffu, an African woman from what is now the nation of Ghana, who was enslaved in the Danish West Indies, is credited with leading one of the longest recorded slave revolts in North American history. Denmark began its involvement in the African slave trade in … Read MoreBreffu (?- 1734)
Olive Elaine Morris was a member of the British Black Panther Party and a grassroots activist in Great Britain. Morris was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica on June 26, 1952. Her parents migrated to post-World War II Great Britain while Morris and her siblings were … Read MoreOlive Elaine Morris (1952-1979)
A professor, poet, and playwright of English, Dutch, and African descent, Derek Walcott was a 1981 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant recipient who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. Born on January 23, 1930 to Warwick, a civil servant, and Alix Maarlin Walcott, an … Read MoreDerek Walcott (1930-2017)
Rotimi Adebari is a Nigerian-Irish Politician who was elected the first black mayor in Ireland. Adebari was born in 1964 to unnamed parents in Okeodan, Ogun State, Nigeria. Although much of his early life is unknown, Adebari did receive a bachelor’s degree in economics from … Read MoreRotimi Adebari (1964- )
Professional basketball player Rui Hachimura was born on February 8, 1998 to a Japanese mother, Makiko Hachimura, father, Zakari Jabil, an African immigrant from Benin, in Toyama Prefecture of Japan. Hachimura also has three younger siblings, one brother and two sisters. He got involved playing … Read MoreRui Hachimura (1998- )
