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- )
Bella Forsgrén is the first black woman elected to the Parliament of Finland. Born February 10, 1992, in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, she was adopted at age 3 by a Finnish couple. Her official, legal name is Asha (meaning hope, given by her … Read MoreBella Forsgrén (aka Asha Maria Belaynesh Forsgrén) (1992- )
The Horn of Africa (HoA) is the African continent’s easternmost peninsula. The English name for the region derives from the horn-shaped land formation of the easternmost point of the African continent. The peninsula stretches hundreds of kilometers into the Gulf of Aden, Somali Sea, and … Read MoreThe Horn of Africa
Environmental and social justice activist Freweyni Asress of Gondar, Ethiopia runs the Instagram account @ZeroWasteHabesha, with which she documents her progress toward a zero-waste lifestyle, alongside encouraging and facilitating conversations on topics such as Black ecology, race, and colonization. Defined by academics J.T. Roane and … Read MoreFreweyni Asress (?- )
Freweini Mebrahtu (Ge’ez: ፍሬወይኒ መብራህቱ) is an Ethiopian Chemical Engineer and the creator of reusable menstrual sanitary pads for women and girls in Ethiopia. Mebrahtu was born in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in 1965 and is the youngest daughter of seven children. Her parents … Read MoreFreweini Mebrahtu (1965- )
This entry is for juvenile audiences. To see the full version of this entry, click here. Who are they: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid advocate. He became the countries first Black president and first president of post-apartheid South Africa where he served from … Read MoreNelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013) [Children’s Edition]
