Musée de l’Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire, Dakar, Senegal Image Ownership: Public Domain One of West Africa’s premier research institutions, the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN), was first created by the French Government in 1938. Established in Dakar, Senegal, the organization was originally called the Institut … Read MoreInstitut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) (1938– )
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)
In the following account University of Cincinnati historian John K. Brackett describes the famous 16th Century painting of a black courtier at the court of Margaret of Austria, the Duchess of Savoy and Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. The name and rank of this courtier … Read MoreJan Mostaert’s Portrait of a Moor (1520-1530)
Azie Taylor Morton was a teacher, politician and the only African American to hold the position of Treasurer of the United States. Taylor was born to Fleta Hazel Taylor, who was deaf and mute, on February 1st, 1936 in the small community of St. John … Read MoreAzie Taylor Morton (1936-2003)
William “Bill” Pinkney is the first African American, and only the fourth person in the world to circumnavigate the globe alone by boat. Pinkney was born on September 15, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois to Marion Henderson Pinkney and William Pinkney, Sr. He attended Tilden Tech … Read MoreWilliam “Bill” Pinkney (1935- )
Dakar was the political center of French West Africa and is the capital of modern Senegal. Located on Cape Verde, the westernmost point of the African mainland, Ndaxaru, known by its French name, Dakar, has been occupied at least since Europeans began to explore the … Read MoreDakar, Senegal (1857- )
Islamic preacher, reformer, scholar, and statesman, Usman dan Fodio was born on December 15, 1754 in the village of Maratta, in the Hausa city-state of Gobir, in what is today northern Nigeria. He was a descendant of the early Fulani settlers in Hausaland in the … Read MoreUsman dan Fodio (1754-1817)
The Tukulor Empire was a Muslim theocracy established during the mid-19th century major jihads (holy wars) in Western Africa. At its apogee, the empire extended from Senegal eastward to Timbuktu, a distance of 1,500 miles. The empire’s founder, Al Hajj Umar, a Senegalese Islamic scholar … Read MoreTukulor Empire (1852-1864)
Muhammad Toure, also known Askia Muhammad I and Askia the Great, was a ruler of the Songhay (or Songhai) Empire of West Africa in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Though Muhammad’s origins are debated, it is accepted that he was a descendant of … Read MoreMuhammed Toure / Askia Muhammad I (c. 1442-1538)
Writer and political activist Mariama Bâ was born in 1929 in Dakar, Senegal to a well-to-do family. Her father worked in the French colonial administration and in 1956 became the Minister of Health of Senegal. Her mother died when she was young. Bâ was raised … Read MoreMariama Bâ (1929-1981)
