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.
Allan Glaisyer Minns, an early black physician and civic leader, was the first elected mayorof African-descent in Great Britain. Minns was born on October 19, 1858 on Inagua island, Bahamas to John Minns and Ophelia Elizabeth Bunch. His paternal grandfather, also named John Minns, emigrated from England to the Bahamas in … Read MoreAllan Glaisyer Minns (1858-1930)
Born in Jamaica in 1935, Dorrel Dixon began weightlifting in his teens which slowly became his introduction into the realm of athletics. Through weightlifting, Dixon widened his physical stature. His physique and strength led him to win his first accolade as Mr. Jamaica in 1954. Later in the … Read MoreDory Dixon (1935- )
International rowing champion Angel Fournier Rodriguez was born in Guantanamo, Cuba on December 31, 1987. Rodriguez was raised playing the most popular Cuban sport, baseball, as well as basketball. At age 12 he was spotted by a coach who introduced him to the sport of rowing. Rodriguez began his international rowing … Read MoreAngel Fournier Rodriguez (1987- )
Born in 1980 in apartheid-dominated Johannesburg, South Africa, Sizwe Lawrence Ndlovu was a member of a family of seven. His interest in athleticsbegan when he was exposed to the typical South African sports, cricket, European football, and rugby. Once he became older, he discovered rowing, which would become his major sport. Ndlovu began … Read MoreSizwe Lawrence Ndlovu (1980- )
Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol, England, population 454,000, is the person of African descent who currently leads the largest city in Europe. Born in April 1972, he and his younger sister were raised in Lawrence Weston and Eastern, two of the poorer wards in the city, by his single mother, Janet … Read MoreMarvin Johnathan Rees (1972- )
John Richard Archer was a British politician, Pan-Africanist, and civic leader who became the first mayor of African-descent to be elected of Battersea, a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. Archer was born in Liverpool on June 8, 1863 to Richard Archer, a ship steward from … Read MoreJohn Richard Archer (1863-1932)
Paula-Mae Weekes is the current and sixth President of Trinidad and Tobago. With Weekes’ inauguration, Trinidad and Tobago becomes the only nation in Latin Americaand the Caribbean to currently have a woman head of state. Paula Mae Weekes was born in Trinidad and Tobago on December 23, 1958. She attended Tranquility … Read MorePaula Mae Weekes (1958- )
Saartjie (Sara) Baartman was one of the first black women known to be subjugated to human sexual trafficking. She was derisively named the “Hottentot Venus” by Europeans as her body would be publicly examined and exposed inhumanly throughout the duration of her young life. Moreover. her experience … Read More(Sara) Saartjie Baartman (1789-1815)
Ota Benga was a teenage boy brought from his homeland in central Africa and displayed like an animal at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, New York. Benga was born sometime in 1883 in the Ituri Forest in what would soon become the Congo Free State (now … Read MoreOta Benga (1883-1916)
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese–Haitian professional tennis player. She is most famous for her upset victory over Serena Williams in the U.S. Open on September 8, 2018. Beginning her professional career in 2013, Osaka has made many significant achievements. In 2018, Osaka reached her highest singles world ranking as number 21. … Read MoreNaomi Osaka (1997- )