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.
Actress, composer, vocalist, dancer, and harpist Asnaketch Worku is also known as Asnaqètch Wèrqu. She was born in 1935 in Sidist Kilo, a community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her mother died during her childhood when she was three, and she did not know her father. … Read MoreAsnaketch Worku (1935-2011)
Glanis Changachirere is a Zimbabwean feminist, human rights activist, and scholar. Changachirere is the founding Director of the Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD) and the founding Coordinator of the African Women’s Leader Forum (AWLF). She received a master’s degree in international relations (Gender) and … Read MoreGlanis Changachirere (1983- )
Soviet agricultural specialist and one of the first popularizers of turkey breeding in the USSR, George Tynes, was born in 1908 into a large African American family in Norfolk, Virginia. His father was a Methodist minister, and his mother was Native American. His cousin was … Read MoreGeorge Tynes (1908-1982)
Politician, philanthropist, and investor Benoni Wilfred Urey is one of the wealthiest Liberians and the founder of Lonestar Cell Mobile Telecommunication Corporation (MTN), Liberia’s largest nationwide mobile network. Urey was born on June 22, 1957, in Careysburg Montserrado County, the Republic of Liberia, to Daniel … Read MoreBenoni Wilfred Urey (1957- )
Her Honor Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh, Liberia’s first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was appointed in 2013. Sie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh was born on June 26, 1956, in Montserrado County, Liberia, to Anthony Kle Yuoh and Maromini Worbor Kollie. She has 21 siblings: … Read MoreSie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh (1956- )
Aoua Kéita was a Malian independence activist, politician, feminist, writer, and midwife. Born on July 12, 1912, in then Bamako, French Sudan to Karamogo Kéita, a member of the colonial hygiene service and Miriam Coulibaly, Aoua was one of the few African girls allowed to … Read MoreAoua Kéita (1912-1980)
Offiong Ekanem Ejindu is a Nigerian architect, philanthropist, and businesswoman born in Ibadan, Nigeria in June 1962 to Professor Sylvester Joseph Una and Obonganwan Ekpa Una. Princess Fifi, reputedly a billionaire, is an influential philanthropist, “ranked as one of the African female pioneers in the … Read MorePrincess Fifi Ejindu (1962- )
Writer Gary Younge was born in January 1969 in Hertfordshire, England, to Barbadian parents. He grew up in the town of Stevenage, which had a very small Black population at the time. Gary and his two elder brothers, Pat and Wayne, were brought up by … Read MoreGary Younge (1969- )
Amar’e Stoudemire is an American-Israeli professional basketball player and coach, actor, and entrepreneur born in Lake Wales, Florida on November 16, 1982. After a successful career in the National Basketball Association, he moved to Israel to explore his Jewish identity. Stoudemire was born to Hazell … Read MoreAmar’e Carsares Jehoshaphat Stoudemire (1982- )
Master guitarist, paralanguage hummer, and singer Joseph T. Spence was born on August 3, 1910, in Small Hope, Andros Island, Bahamas. Spence had one sister, Edith Pinder, who sang with him, and four half-brothers. However, there was no available information regarding the names of his … Read MoreJoseph T. Spence (1910-1984)
