Bismarck Myrick is a retired United States Ambassador to Lesotho from 1995 to 1998 and the Republic of Liberia from 1999 to 2002. Originally from Portsmouth, Virginia, Myrick has held multiple positions with the U.S. government over a number of decades. Myrick entered the U.S. … Read MoreBismarck Myrick (1940- )
Marguerita Dianne Ragsdale was born in April 1948 in Richmond, Virginia to Lillie and Vernon Ragsdale and raised alongside her five sisters on a farm in McKenney, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. After starting her undergraduate work at Virginia State University in Petersburg, she transferred to American … Read MoreMarguerita Ragsdale (1948- )
Djibouti City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Djibouti. Its contemporary population is estimated at 624,000, which is about 70% of the population of the entire nation. Located on the Horn of Africa, Djibouti was an important trade center for both … Read MoreDjibouti City, Republic of Djibouti (1888- )
Moroni is a coastal town that serves as the capital of Comoros, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. In 2003 the city had a population of 41,577 people making it the largest city in the archipelago. It is simultaneously one of the least populous capitals … Read MoreMoroni, Comoros (10th Century- )
In the extended article that appears below historians Daudi Abe and Quintard Taylor explore the history of African Americans in King County from 1858 to 2014. They analyze the forces which encouraged people of African ancestry to settle in the county and discuss the rapid … Read MoreFrom Memphis and Mogadishu: The History of African Americans in King County, Washington, 1858-2014
LeRoy Homer Jr., co-pilot of United Airlines Flight #93, was born on August 27, 1965 in Long Island, New York. Homer and his three sisters were raised on Long Island by their German mother, Ilse, and their African-American father who died from a stroke when … Read MoreLeRoy W. Homer Jr. (1965-2001)
Image Ownership: Simon Fraser University Public Affairs and Media Relations (CC BY-SA 2.0) Renowned African novelist Nuruddin Farah was born in Baidoa, Somalia in 1945, a time when Somalia was still an Italian colony. His father Hassan Farah was a translator for the colonial government … Read MoreNuruddin Farah (1945- )
Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, is located in the horn of Africa and bordering the Red Sea. The major religion is Sunni Muslim and the official language is Somali although Arabic, Italian, and English are all spoken there. Mogadishu’s 2009 population estimate was 1.3 … Read MoreMogadishu, Somalia (ca. 950- )
From approximately 1000 to 1500 AD, a number of city-states on the eastern coast of Africa participated in an international trade network and became cosmopolitan Islamic cultural centers. The major autonomous, but symbiotic, city-states stretched over 1,500 miles from Mogadishu (in modern day Somalia) in … Read MoreEast African City States (1000-1500)
Writer and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia on November 13, 1969. Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a prominent Somali intellectual and revolutionary leader. As a child, Ali had to move with her family to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, due … Read MoreAyaan Hirsi Ali (1969- )
