Historians have documented the arrival of black people in Britain as members of the Roman Army. The first reference to a black African in Britain in the historical record is at a Roman military settlement at Carlisle, in ca. 210 AD. Shortly after, in the … Read MoreJohn Blanke (16th Century)
In the following account, Professor Allison Blakely of Boston University describes the presence of blacks in Early Modern Europe. His article reminds us that persons of African ancestry resided across Europe. Their numbers ranged from a few hundred scattered across Germany, Scandinavia and Russia in … Read MoreThe Black Presence in Pre-20th Century Europe: A Hidden History
Utilizing the research of Professor Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, historian William J. Zick in the article below provides vignettes which comprise an overview of various composers and musicians of African ancestry who performed in Europe, North America, and Latin America … Read MoreBlack Composers and Musicians in Classical Music History
Sickle cell anemia is a disease that warps red blood cells into a sickle like shape due to problems with their hemoglobin. Hemoglobin resides inside a red blood cell and carries oxygen from the lungs to all other parts of a body. Healthy hemoglobin stays … Read MoreSickle Cell Anemia
Alessandro de’ Medici, called “Il Moro” (“The Moor”), was born in the Italian city of Urbino in 1510. His mother was an African slave named Simonetta who had been freed. Alessandro’s paternity is uncertain. Most sources name Lorenzo de’ Medici, ruler of Urbino. But Alessandro … Read MoreAlessandro de’ Medici (1510-1537)
Juan Latino, or Juan de Sesa as he was actually named, was an Afro-Hispanic poet in Renaissance Spain who taught at the Cathedral school in Granada and became famous for his epic Latin poems. A native of Berbería, a Spanish term associated with the Northern … Read MoreJuan Latino (ca. 1518-ca. 1594)
Esteban, an enslaved Moroccan, made the first contact with the native peoples of what is now the American Southwest. Fraught with misunderstandings, that encounter led to Esteban’s untimely demise in 1539 and prefigured the violence that would characterize the Spanish conquest and subsequent colonization of … Read MoreEsteban (?-1539)
