Image Ownership: Public domain 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, … Read MoreMoneta Sleet, Jr. (1926-1996)
Former Naval officer Gerald Eustis Thomas served as United States Ambassador to Guyana and Kenya. Born in Natick, Massachusetts on June 23, 1929 to Walter and Leila Thomas, President Ronald W. Reagan appointed Gerald E. Thomas to both ambassadorships. Thomas began his undergraduate studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. He transferred to Harvard University … Read MoreGerald E. Thomas (1929- )
In three covert military operations, called Moses, Joshua, and Solomon, over twenty thousand Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel to escape hardship. This ancient community, called Beta Israel (House of Israel in English), lived in relative isolation from the rest of the Jewish world for … Read MoreOperations Moses, Joshua, and Solomon (1984-1991)
Joseph Wafula Sitati, petroleum manager and the first man of black African descent to become a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born in Bungoma, Kenya, on May 16, 1952. His parents were … Read MoreJoseph W. Sitati (1952– )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Seyyid Said, also known as Said ibn Sultan, was a resourceful and energetic sultan of Oman who moved the capital from Arabia to Zanzibar in order to initiate clove production and also greatly expanded the East African slave trade. Said’s father, … Read MoreSeyyid Said (1790–1856)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Ali Al’amin Mazrui was a Kenyan intellectual in the fields of political science, African studies, and Islamic studies. The father of the African Liberalism ideology (an economic perspective on Africa critical of western powers and Marxism/Socialism) was an often controversial figure … Read MoreAli Al’amin Mazrui (1933–2014)
92nd Infantry Division in Combat in Italy, 1944 Image Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense The 92nd Infantry Division, a military unit of approximately fifteen thousand officers and men, was one of only two all-black divisions to fight in the United States Army in … Read More92nd Infantry Division (1917–1919, 1942–1945)
Frankie Annette Reed is a career Foreign Service officer who has held a variety of diplomatic postings in Europe, Africa, and Pacific Island nations. Between 2011 and 2013, she served as concurrent Ambassador to the Republic of the Fiji Islands, the Republic of Nauru, the … Read MoreFrankie A. Reed (1954- )
C. Steven McGann joined the Foreign Service in 1992 and has since attained the status of Career member, Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor (FE-MC). His overseas posts have included Taiwan, Zaire, South Africa, Australia, and Kenya. A member of the United States … Read MoreC. Steven McGann (1951 – )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Wilbert J. LeMelle, Sr., was a scholar, development specialist, and ambassador to Kenya and the Republic of Seychelles between 1977 and 1980. In both his academic and diplomatic work, LeMelle urged the United States to become more engaged in Africa, focusing … Read MoreWilbert J., LeMelle Sr. (1931-2003)