Wilbert J. LeMelle, Sr., was a scholar, development specialist, and ambassador to Kenya and the Republic of Seychelles between 1977 and 1980. In both his academic and diplomatic work, LeMelle urged the United States to become more engaged in Africa, focusing on economic development and … Read More … Read MoreWilbert J. LeMelle Sr. (1931-2003)
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 More … Read MoreOta Benga (1883-1916)
The Church of St. Mark in Brooklyn, New York was originally established by a group of black Episcopalians in 1838. The next year, Dr. Samuel M. Haskins was asked to be rector (pastor), the role he would maintain for 60 years. By April 1841 the … Read More … Read MoreThe Church of St. Mark, Brooklyn, New York (1838- )
Sidi Mubarak Bombay, one of the most extensive travelers in sub-Saharan Africa in the 19th century, was honored for his assistance to British explorers and adventurers. Bombay, of waYao/Bantu ethnicity, was born in the Ruvuma Region of southern Tanzania around 1820. Separated from his parents … Read More … Read MoreSidi Mubarak Bombay (a.k.a. Mbarak Mombée, 1820?-1885)
In 1837, Houston, Texas was incorporated and divided into four wards. The Southeast ward was named Third Ward and over time this area became an important center of African American-owned businesses and a hub for black culture. Third Ward originally comprised the area east of … Read More … Read MoreThird Ward, Houston, Texas (1837- )
Image Courtesy of The History Cooperative William Pickens was born January 15, 1881 in Anderson County, South Carolina. His parents were liberated slaves who migrated to Arkansas when he was a young boy. Young Pickens worked in cotton fields and in sawmills while attending the … Read More … Read MoreWilliam Pickens (1881-1954)
Formerly The Penn School, The Penn Center is an African American cultural and educational center located on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. In 1862 during the second year of the Civil War, the U.S. Navy captured the island from Confederate forces. With that capture, 32,530 … Read More … Read MoreThe Penn Center (1862- )
In the article that follows Syracuse University historian Herbert G. Ruffin II takes us back in time to describe the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 on the eve of its 100-year anniversary. African American life and the passing down of wealth from one generation to … Read More … Read MoreWe Can Best Honor Our Past by Not Burying It: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman and philanthropist. He is best known for being the founder and chairman of Econet Wireless International and Zimbabwe’s first billionaire. Masiyiwa was born on January 29th, 1961 in Zimbabwe. His father was a miner who later became a businessman, … Read More … Read MoreStrive Masiyiwa (1961- )
Ernest William Chambers, Africana intellectual, has lived in the semi-segregated community of North Omaha, Nebraska for his entire life. A community activist in the 1960s, Chambers rode into office in the Nebraska State Legislature on the crest of new-black electoral power in 1970. As a … Read More … Read MoreErnest William Chambers (1937- )
