Francisca Van Dunem (née Francisca Eugénia da Silva Dias Van Dunem), an attorney and politician, became the first person of African-descent to serve as a cabinet minister in Portugal. Born on November 5, 1955 in Luanda, Angola, Van Dunem was one of six children born … Read MoreFrancisca Van Dunem (1955- )
Frances Elizabeth Williams was an actress, activist, organizer, and community worker. She served on the board of Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity, and because of her efforts helped open doors for many people of color in the film industry. Born in East Orange, New … Read MoreFrances E. Williams (1908-1995)
Boy Soldiers in the Congo, 2000 Image Ownership: Public domain The Third Congo Civil War—also known as Africa’s World War—was a five-year conflict that occurred primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Nine African countries eventually became involved in the war other than the DRC: Angola, Chad, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. … Read MoreThird Congo Civil War (1998-2003)
Zaire Government Troops, the Second Congo Civil War Image Ownership: Public domain The Second Congo Civil War was the struggle to overthrow long-time Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the leader of the Alliance of Democratic Forces of the Liberation of Congo (ADFLC). Kabila initially had the support of … Read MoreSecond Congo Civil War (1996-1997)
W.E.B. DuBois Greeting Unidentified Delegate, Afro-Asian Writers’ Conference, Tashkent, Soviet Union, 1958 Image Ownership: Public domain The Afro–Asian Writers’ Conferences were a series of gatherings of literary figures from Asia and Africa that took place over two decades to denounce imperialism and to establish cultural … Read MoreAfro-Asian Writers’ Conferences (1958-1979)
Image Ownership: Public domain Laurent-Désiré Kabila, or Laurent Kabila, was born in 1939 and was murdered on January 16, 2001. Beginning in May 1997, he was the leader of a rebellion against the President of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko. Following this insurrection, he became President … Read MoreLaurent-Désiré / Kabila, Laurent Kabila (1939–2001)
“Image Ownership: Pubilc Domain” Nineteenth Century black conservative William Hannibal Thomas was a Civil War veteran, Reconstruction era South Carolina politician, and U.S. counsel to Portuguese Southwest Africa (Angola). He is most famous however as the author of the 1901 book, The American Negro: What … Read More(1901) William Hannibal Thomas on the American Negro
Isabel Dos Santos, with an estimated net worth of $3 billion, is the youngest billionaire on the African continent and the only woman in that category. Most of her fortune has come from owning various stakes in cement, diamond, oil, and telecommunications corporations which she … Read MoreIsabel Dos Santos (1973– )
In the article below, Carlton McLellan, PhD, a senior fellow at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST), briefly describes the history of the more than one hundred and forty black women and men who have led diplomatic delegations as U.S. Ambassadors in ninety-five … Read MoreAmerica’s Black Ambassadors: A Historical Snapshot
Following the introduction of cattle into the Caribbean in 1493, during Christopher Columbus’s second voyage, cattle ranching proliferated along a series of frontiers across the grasslands of North and South America. While historians have recognized that Africans and their descendants were involved in the establishment … Read MoreAfrican Cowboys on the Argentine Pampas: Their Disappearance from the Historical Record