A successful entrepreneur, Richelieu Dennis, was born February 25, 1969 in Liberia the son of Mary Dennis. Dennis grew up in Liberia during the civil wars, a time of violence and disruption. However, he was able to attend elementary and high school in Liberia and … Read MoreRichelieu Dennis (1969- )
Cuttington University in Liberia is the oldest private, coeducational, four-year degree granting institution and the oldest college or university in sub-Saharan Africa. Cuttington’s origins date back to 1887. In that year the Cape Palmas Missionary District of Liberia (of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the … Read MoreCuttington University (1887- )
John Hanson was a Liberian senator during the mid-19th century who has been erroneously claimed as the first Black president of the United States. Not much is known about Hanson’s early life. He was born into slavery in Baltimore, Maryland, around 1791. According to some … Read MoreJohn Hanson (1791-1860)
Concert musician Calvin Edouard Ward was born on February 10, 1925, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Effie Elizabeth Crawford Ward, a graduate of Spelman Seminary for Women and Girls. His father, Jefferson Sigman Ward, a World War I Veteran, graduated from the Haynes Institute in Augusta, Georgia. … Read MoreCalvin Edouard Ward (1925-2018)
Few people realize that the percentage of people of African ancestry in the South American nation of Colombia (7%) is slightly more than half the percentage of people of African ancestry in the United States (13%). Yet we know even less about the origins of … Read MoreLadinos and Bozales: A Brief Early History of Africans in Colombia: 1500-1800
On July 2, 2018, Lieutenant General Darryl A. Williams became the first African American to be sworn in to lead the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of former Army officer Lonnie Buford Williams, Darryl A. … Read MoreDarryl Atwell Cecil Williams (1961- )
Dr. John Baldwin West was one of a handful of African American pulp detective fiction writers. In the 1950s his books were described by critics as white life novels, placing him in a category with better-known writers such as Willard Motley, William Gardner Smith, and … Read MoreJohn Baldwin West (1905-1960)
Adelaide McGuinn Cromwell was an accomplished American Sociologist as well as a pioneering scholar of Africa, African America, international relations, and women’s studies. On November 27, 1919, Adelaide was born to a prominent Washington, D.C. family. Her father John Wesley Cromwell Jr. was the first-ever … Read MoreAdelaide McGuinn Cromwell (1919-2019)
Zindziswa “Zindzi” Mandela was born on December 23, 1960 in Soweto Township near the South African city of Johannesburg to former South African President Nelson and freedom fighter Winnie Mandela. On July 13, 2020, Zindzi Mandela died at a hospital in Johannesburg at the age … Read MoreZindziswa Mandela-Hlongwane (1960-2020)
Johnnetta Betsch Cole was born on October 19, 1936, in Jacksonville, Florida to college graduates Mary Frances Cole, a vice-president of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company of Jacksonville. and John Cole, Sr., an employee at the company. In 1953, Cole finished high school and entered … Read MoreJohnnetta Betsch Cole (1936- )
