Anne Forrester Holloway was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mali on November 6, 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. She was the first African American woman to hold that post. Forrester was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 2, 1941. She attended public schools in Philadelphia but then transferred … Read MoreAnne Forrester Holloway (1941-2006)
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. Lomé was founded by the Ewe, an indigenous ethnic group, in 1880. Located on the southwestern Atlantic coast of Togo, Lomé has a long history of trade. In 2000, an estimated 900,000 people resided in Lomé. … Read MoreLomé, Togo (1880- )
Longtime civil rights organizer and later U.S. Ambassador, Franklin Hall Williams was born on October 22, 1917, in Flushing, New York. His mother died in 1919. Williams was raised by his maternal grandparents. He graduated from Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1941. After … Read MoreFranklin Hall Williams (1917-1990)
Rosemarie Florence Freeney Harding was a tireless teacher, social worker, civil rights leader, and healer. She was especially known for her deep spirituality and commitment to nonviolence. The youngest of nine siblings, Harding was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 24, 1930 to Dock Freeney, … Read MoreRosemarie Florence Freeney Harding (1930-2004)
Freddye Scarborough Henderson, entrepreneur, columnist, and educator, was born on February 18, 1917 in Franklinton, Louisiana. She was educated in her hometown and graduated valedictorian from Booker T. Washington High School in Franklinton. In 1937, Scarborough earned a B.S. in home economics from Southern University. … Read MoreFreddye Scarborough Henderson (1917-2007)
With the exception of the well-publicized Operation Moses, Joshua, and Solomon Airlift of 20,000 Ethiopian Jews from that war and famine ravaged nation to Israel between 1984 and 1991, few people outside the Middle East are aware of the tens of thousands of people of … Read MoreThe Black Diaspora in Israel, 1965 to 2011
Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist, author, and 2011 Nobel Prize winner was born on February 1, 1972. She grew up in Bong County in central Liberia. In 1990, when Leymah was 17, she left for the capital, Monrovia, just before the nearly decade old civil … Read MoreLeymah Gbowee (1972- )
African author Camara Laye was born on January 1, 1928 in the city of Kouroussa, Guinea, then a colonial possession of France. Laye (which is actually his first name, but is used as a preceding name, to keep in tradition with regional customs) was born … Read MoreCamara Laye (1928-1980)
Audley “Queen Mother” Moore, prominent Harlem civil rights activist, was born on July 27 1898, in New Iberia, Louisiana to Ella and St. Cry Moore. Moore’s parents passed away before she completed primary school. Following their deaths, she dropped out of school to earn a … Read MoreAudley Moore (1898-1997)
Chief Alfred Charles Sam, a shadowy figure in Oklahoma history, inspired the emigration of hundreds of African American Oklahomans back to Africa in the second decade of the 20th century. Those who completed the first journey to Africa endured physical and financial hardships, with some … Read MoreChief Alfred Charles Sam (ca. 1880 -1930s)
