Inarguably, one of the leading figures in African and African American history is Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir Aggrey, known as “Aggrey of Africa.” Not only can Africa claim him, but also the African Diaspora. Aggrey was born on October 18, 1875, at Anomabo in the … Read MoreJames Emmanuel Kwegyir Aggrey (1875-1927)
Breffu, an African woman from what is now the nation of Ghana, who was enslaved in the Danish West Indies, is credited with leading one of the longest recorded slave revolts in North American history. Denmark began its involvement in the African slave trade in … Read MoreBreffu (?-1734)
Yaa Asantewaa was an influential Ashanti queen at the beginning of the twentieth century who remains a powerful symbol today. Her birthdate is contested; she is generally believed to be born between the 1840s to 1860s in the Ashanti Confederacy in present-day Ghana. She was a skilled farmer before ascending … Read MoreYaa Asantewaa (mid-1800s-1921)
In the article below, culinary historian Diane M. Spivey describes the centuries-old diaspora of African foods and cooking traditions in North and South America. Africa has been a major contributor to the cuisine of North and South America although this contribution has long been overlooked, … Read MoreTransAtlantic Food Migration: The African Culinary Influence on the Cuisine of the Americas
Wilmot Collins, a recent Liberian refugee, became mayor of the city of Helena, Montana after defeating four-term incumbent mayor, James E. Smith, on November 7, 2017. Collins’ victory made him the first black person to become mayor of any city of Montana since it became … Read MoreWilmot Collins (1963- )
In the description of his 2015 book, African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement, historian Vincent Intondi describes the long but little-known history of black Americans in the Nuclear Disarmament Movement. His essay, which appears below, tells the compelling … Read MoreFighting For Freedom, Fighting Against the Bomb: African Americans and the Campaign for a Nuclear-Free World, 1945-
The Golden Stool (full title, Sika Dwa Kofi) has been the symbol of power in Ashanti Kingdom since the 17th century. According to oral tradition, Okomfo Anokye, a High Priest and one of the two founders of the Ashanti Confederacy, conjured the Golden Stool, decorated with … Read MoreThe Golden Stool (17th c.- )
Kelso Benjamin Cochrane, one of the early victims of racial violence against West Indians in London, UK, was born on September 26, 1926, in Johnson’s Point, Antigua to Joanna Valentine and Stanley Cochrane. He was born into a working-class family and was a carpenter. At the age of nineteen, he moved to Dominica. … Read MoreKelso Benjamin Cochrane (1926-1959)
Moneta Sleet, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer involved in the Civil Rights movement, was born on February 14, 1926. His parents, Ozetta Allensworth Sleet and Moneta Sleet, Sr., raised him in Owensboro, Kentucky. At a very young age, his parents gave him a small box camera, which he used to … Read MoreMoneta Sleet, Jr. (1926-1996)
