In a sport historically defined as elitist and white, Privel Hinkati, born in Caen, France, and dual citizen of Benin, pushed past stigma and became one of only a handful of Black athletes (and the first from Benin) in history to compete in the sport … Read MorePrivel Hinkati (1988-)
Hubert Maga was the first president of Dahomey (Benin). He was born on August 10, 1916 in Parakou a city in northern Dahomey then a French colony and attended local primary schools in Parakou. He later attended the prestigious school Normale William Ponty in Dakar, … Read MoreHubert Maga (1916-2000)
Patrice Talon was elected President of Benin (formerly known as Dahomey) in 2016 and re-elected for a second term in 2021. Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon was born on May 1, 1968, in Ouidah, Atlantique Department, Benin. His father was from Ouidah and his mother was … Read MorePatrice Talon (1958- )
Diallo Telli Boubacar was the first General Secretary of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU), the pan-African body created in 1963 in the aftermath of independence of many African nations and replaced on July 9, 2002 by the African Union (AU). Telli was born … Read MoreDiallo Telli (1925-1977)
Alfred-Amédée Dodds, one of the ablest French army generals in the late 19th century, was mixed-race. Dodds was born February 6, 1842 in Saint-Louis, Senegal. He was the oldest of the seven children of Antoine Henry Ermery Dodds, a metis (mixed race) director of the … Read MoreAlfred-Amédée Dodds (1842-1922)
Carlota Lucumi, a kidnapped African woman, is known as one of the leaders of the slave rebellion at the Triunvirato plantation in Mantanzas, Cuba. Carlota was an African-born free woman from the Kingdom of Benin, West Africa. Her last name, Lucumi, comes from her ethnic … Read MoreCarlotta Lucumi, “La Negra Carlota” (?- 1843)
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
Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “Slave Coast” of West Africa (present-day Liberia) and the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin). When the pre-colonial scramble for slaves replaced the earlier trade in gold, Fuller was snatched from his … Read MoreThomas Fuller (1710-1790)
At the time of her retirement from the United States Foreign Service in 2009, Ambassador Ruth A. Davis was the longest serving Career Ambassador and at the rank of Director General of the Foreign Service, had achieved the highest ranking position in the Foreign Service. … Read MoreRuth A. Davis (1943- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Pamela E. Bridgewater is a career Foreign Service officer who has been recognized for important diplomatic work in South Africa, Ghana, and Liberia. Her most recent posting was as U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica. Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Bridgewater earned a … Read MorePamela E. Bridgewater (1947- )
