Freweini Mebrahtu (Ge’ez: ፍሬወይኒ መብራህቱ) is an Ethiopian Chemical Engineer and the creator of reusable menstrual sanitary pads for women and girls in Ethiopia. Mebrahtu was born in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in 1965 and is the youngest daughter of seven children. Her parents … Read More … Read MoreFreweini Mebrahtu (1965- )
Berhanu Nega was elected mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the Ethiopian general elections, 2005. He is a founding chairman of the Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice and a Deputy Chairman of Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), for which he served … Read More … Read MoreBerhanu Nega (1958- )
Rev. Dr. Mojola Agbebi, born April 10, 1860 as David Brown Vincent in Western Nigeria, was a leading proponent of “Ethiopianism,” which advocated an African-centered Christianity. In the 1880s, as an indication of his embrace of African culture he changed his name to Mojola Agbebi. … Read More … Read More(1902) Rev. Mojola Agbebi, “Inaugural Sermon”
The Organization of African Unity (OAU, 1963-2002) was an alliance of independent African nations working to enhance cooperation between the newly decolonized African governments. The alliance had its basis in the Pan-Africanist philosophy encouraging the unity of all peoples of African ancestry, but it also … Read More … Read MoreOrganization of African Unity (1963-2002)
Gondar is the former capital of the emperors of Ethiopia and remains a regional center to this day. Around 1635, Emperor Fasiladas (reign 1632-67) began construction on a castle in the Gondar Valley near the shores of Lake Tana. The fortification was ideally situated along … Read More … Read MoreGondar, Ethiopia (ca. 1635- )
Temple Beth El is a historically, and to this day predominantly, African American synagogue located in the West Oak neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not to be confused with Ethiopian Jewish communities (most of which reside within present-day Israel), Temple Beth El was founded in the … Read More … Read MoreTemple Beth El (Bethel or Beth’El) (1951- )
Haile Gebre Selassie is regarded by many observers as the greatest Ethiopian long-distance runner of all time. He was born in the province of Arsi in central Ethiopia and was inspired by runners Abebe Bikila and Miruts Yifter. As a child he was said to … Read More … Read MoreHaile Gebre Selassie (1973- )
On November 24, 1974, American archeologists Donald Johanson and Tom Gray were searching for fossils in the mountainous, northern Ethiopian Afar region known as the Awash Valley. After a morning searching an area to no avail, they headed back to their vehicle. Rather than walking … Read More … Read MoreDinknesh, Archeology’s Eve
Although the African ancestry of Alessandro de’ Medici (1510-1537), the first Duke of Florence, is widely known, few people are aware of Raimondo di Cabanni who a century earlier exercised significant authority in late-medieval Italy. He was a slave purchased from pirates by a Neapolitan merchant, and details … Read More … Read MoreRaimondo di Cabanni (a.k.a. Raymond of Campagno) (?-1334)
Peter Abrahams Image Ownership: Public Domain Twentieth century African novelist and journalist Peter Henry Abrahams was born in Vrededorp (near Johannesburg), South Africa, on March 19, 1919. Abrahams’ father, James Henry Abrahams Deras was the son of former Ethiopian landowners who had taken him across … Read More … Read MorePeter Abrahams (1919–2017)
