Few scholars have seriously attempted to examine the origin and life of the 10th-century Black Jewish woman from the tribe of Dan, who is popularly known as Judith, Queen of the Falashas. Sometimes called Kaila, her existence remains an enigma, involving numerous research conflicts and … Read MoreJudith, Queen of the Falashas (10th c.)
Meaza Ashenafi Mengistu, a human rights activist, broke barriers in Ethiopia when, in 2018, she became the first woman to hold the position of President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia. Mengistu was born on July 25, 1964, in the Asosa Zone of Benishangul-Gumuz, … Read MoreMeaza Ashenafi Mengistu (1964- )
Actress, composer, vocalist, dancer, and harpist Asnaketch Worku is also known as Asnaqètch Wèrqu. She was born in 1935 in Sidist Kilo, a community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her mother died during her childhood when she was three, and she did not know her father. … Read MoreAsnaketch Worku (1935-2011)
Yewubdar Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou was an Ethiopian nun and musician. Her music reflected a life that experienced several unexpected moves as well as a devotional commitment to Christian orthodoxy. Yewubdar was born in Addis Ababa on December 12, 1923, to Kessaye Yelemtu, a relative of … Read MoreEmahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou (1923-2023)
Nora Holt was an important figure in the history of Black music in Chicago in the 1930s and was a noted musician, composer, and renowned singer and performer during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1940s. While employed as a music critic for the Chicago Defender … Read MoreNora Holt (1885–1974)
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, the President of Djibouti, was born on November 27, 1947, in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia to Omar Guelleh and Moumina Rirache into the Mamassans clan of the Issa. Upon completing a traditional Islamic secondary school in 1968, he worked as a civil servant … Read MoreIsmaïl Omar Guelleh
(1947- )
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the current President of Somalia, Union for Peace and Development Party leader, and member of the Abgaal Hawiye clan, was born on November 29, 1955, in the town of Jalalaqsi, in the south-central Hiran province of Somalia. Mohamud attended primary and secondary … Read MoreHassan Sheikh Mohamud (1955- )
The current Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, was born on August 15, 1976, in Beshasha, Ethiopia. His father, Ahmed Ali, was a Muslim, and his mother, Tezeta Wolde, a Christian. As a child, he attended primary school in Beshasha and secondary school in nearby … Read MoreAbiy Ahmed (1976- )
On November 24, 1974, American archeologists Donald Johanson and Tom Gray were searching for fossils in the mountainous, northern Ethiopian Afar region known as the Awash Valley. After a morning searching an area to no avail, they headed back to their vehicle. Rather than walking … Read MoreDinknesh, Archeology’s Eve
The four century (1460-1860) transatlantic slave trade is responsible for the involuntary migration of 388,000 enslaved Africans to the United States according to historians’ best estimates. However, the U.S. has witnessed a much larger influx of voluntary African migration since the 1960s. Whether it was … Read MoreAfrican Immigration to the United States (1965- )
