Walter Charles Carrington served as the United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Senegal from 1980 to 1981, and to Nigeria from 1993 to 1997. He married Arese Ukpoma, a Nigerian physician, and has lived in three Nigerian cities since the late 1960s. Carrington was … Read MoreWalter Charles Carrington (1930-2020 )
Following the introduction of cattle into the Caribbean in 1493, during Christopher Columbus’s second voyage, cattle ranching proliferated along a series of frontiers across the grasslands of North and South America. While historians have recognized that Africans and their descendants were involved in the establishment … Read MoreAfrican Cowboys on the Argentine Pampas: Their Disappearance from the Historical Record
Praia is the capital and largest city of the island nation Cape Verde, an archipelago approximately 400 miles west of Dakar, Senegal. The city has a population of 127,899 people and it is the home of over 90% of the nation’s population. Praia lies on … Read MorePraia, Cape Verde (1615- )
Poet, editor, diplomat, and cultural theorist Léon Damas was born on March 28, 1912, in Cayenne, French Guiana. He was the youngest of five children born to parents Ernest and Marie Aline Damas. After his mother’s death in 1913, young Léon and his siblings were … Read MoreLéon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978)
Bissau is the capital of the nation of Guinea-Bissau. It is located on the Geba River estuary on the Atlantic Ocean, on a peninsula that used to be an island. In 2007 its population was estimated at approximately 407,000 people. Bissau is also the largest … Read MoreBissau, Guinea-Bissau (1687- )
The Tryal Rebellion of 1805 is a little known account of a shipboard slave uprising in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile. In 1803 a number of West African Muslims were purchased by the Spanish in what is now Senegal and put on … Read MoreThe Tryal Slave Ship Rebellion, 1805
Marion Williams, an American gospel singer, was born in Miami, Florida on August 29, 1927. Her father, originally from Nassau, Bahamas, worked as a butcher, a barber, and a music teacher while her mother, born in South Carolina, worked as a laundress. One of 11 … Read MoreMarion Williams (1927-1994)
Youssou N’Dour, West African humanitarian, activist, and musician, often cited as father of modern Afro-pop, was born in 1959 in the Medina neighborhood of Dakar, the capitol of Senegal. His father, Elimane N’Dour, of the Serer ethnic group, supported his family as an auto mechanic. … Read MoreYoussou N’Dour (1959- )
Ousmane Sembène, prolific writer and film producer, was born in January 1923 in Ziguinchor, Senegal. Official documents were rare in 1920s French colonies, so even though Sembène was officially listed as born on the eighth of January, he says that it is likely that he … Read MoreOusmane Sembene (1923-2007)
Reginald McKnight is a novelist, short story writer, and educator born on February 26, 1956 in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany to Frank and Pearl McKnight. Reginald’s father Frank was a career Air Force sergeant, causing the family to be frequently relocated during Reginald’s childhood. Before age 16 … Read MoreReginald McKnight (1956- )
