The first Black settlers in what is now the western United States were Spanish speakers who came north from what is now central Mexico. Their roots there began in 1519, when Black men were among the Spanish conquistadores who invaded and destroyed the Aztec Empire, … Read More … Read MoreNorth from Mexico: The First Black Settlers in the U.S. West
John Williamson Kuyé, an early 20th Century advocate of African self-rule was in many respects part of the first wave of African nationalists. Born in Bathurst, Gambia, on November 10, 1894, he attended Stanley Day School and Wesleyan Boys’ High School in Sierra Leone. Kuyé … Read More … Read More(1926) John Williamson Kuyé, “Right of the People to Self-Determination”
Isaac Wright Jr. is an African-American criminal and civil attorney, consultant, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Wright became the only person in U.S. history to be condemned to mandatory life sentence plus 70 years in prison, to secure his own release and exoneration, and then be granted … Read More … Read MoreIssac Wright Jr. (1962- )
Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the new United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a Cabinet-level post in the President Joseph Biden Administration. Born in Baker, Louisiana circa 1952, Linda Thomas-Greenfield graduated from a segregated high school in 1970. The first in her family to graduate from … Read More … Read MoreLinda Thomas-Greenfield (1952- )
On May 25, 1963 the Organization for African Unity (OAU) was established with a permanent headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, was selected as the first President of the OAU. His acceptance speech appears below. This is indeed a momentous and … Read More … Read More(1963) Haile Selassie, “Towards African Unity”
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought in the Sierra Leone Civil War, 1991–2002. The RUF was created by Foday Sankoh along with allies that included Abu Kanu, Rashid Mansaray, and most of the Mende ethnic group in the southern and … Read More … Read MoreRevolutionary United Front (1991–2002)
March 18, 1996, Decided OPINION: JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit With the best of intentions, in order to increase the enrollment of certain favored classes of minority students, the University of Texas School of Law (“the … Read More … Read More(1996) Hopwood v. State of Texas
Most Americans are now familiar with the contribution of nearly 300,000 black soldiers and sailors to the Union cause during the U.S. Civil War. Less well known is the role of a dedicated group of black doctors and nurses in uniform who worked diligently to … Read More … Read MoreAfrican Americans in Medicine in the Civil War Era
Inarguably, one of the leading figures in African and African American history is Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir Aggrey, known as “Aggrey of Africa.” Not only can Africa claim him, but also the African Diaspora. Aggrey was born on October 18, 1875, at Anomabo in the … Read More … Read MoreJames Emmanuel Kwegyir Aggrey (1875-1927)
Historian and anthropologist, William Leo Hansberry began his college education at Atlanta University, but (at the urging of W.E.B. DuBois) he transferred to Harvard in 1917. Based on his reading of classical texts and his study of archeological evidence, Hansberry became convinced as an undergraduate … Read More … Read MoreWilliam Leo Hansberry (1894-1965)
