The four century (1460-1860) transatlantic slave trade is responsible for the involuntary migration of 388,000 enslaved Africans to the United States according to historians’ best estimates. However, the U.S. has witnessed a much larger influx of voluntary African migration since the 1960s. Whether it was … Read MoreAfrican Immigration to the United States (1965- )
Jonathan (“Jon”) Michael Batiste is an American bandleader, composer, arranger, actor, “harmonabord” player, and television personality. He was born on November 11, 1986, in Metairie, Louisiana, and grew up in the neighboring New Orleans suburbs. By age 8, he was playing percussion and drums with … Read MoreJon Batiste (1986- )
This entry is for juvenile audiences. To see the full version of this entry, click here. Who are they: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid advocate. He became the countries first Black president and first president of post-apartheid South Africa where he served from … Read MoreNelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013) [Children’s Edition]
Composer, lyricist, choreographer and Countertenor Solomon Popoli Linda, a Zulu, was born in 1909 in Pomeroy, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. While he was musically oriented, Linda was also was inspired to perform after hearing a recording of the Hampton Institute graduate, Orpheus McAdoo, who was then … Read MoreSolomon Popoli Linda (1909 -1962)
Dante Terrell Smith was born on December 11, 1973, to Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman Smith in Brooklyn, New York. Smith began rapping at the age of nine, and by the age of fourteen, he became a child actor, appearing in the ABC network television … Read MoreMos Def/Dante Terrell Smith (1973 – )
Strive Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean businessman and philanthropist. He is best known for being the founder and chairman of Econet Wireless International and Zimbabwe’s first billionaire. Masiyiwa was born on January 29th, 1961 in Zimbabwe. His father was a miner who later became a businessman, … Read MoreStrive Masiyiwa (1961- )
Activist, existential philosopher, professor, and Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Dr. William “Bill” Ronald Jones dedicated his career to the analysis and methods of oppression, religious humanism, and liberation theology that influenced Africana philosophers such as Anthony B. Pinn and Lewis R. Gordon. Born July 17, … Read MoreBill Jones (1933-2012)
Nigerian-born Njideka Akunyili Crosby is a leading contemporary artist. In early 2018 a typically large-scale painting by Crosby sold for $3 million, just a few months after she had won a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award worth $624,000. Born in 1983 in Enugu, Nigeria, she is … Read MoreNjideka Akunyili Crosby (1983- )
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)
Alfre Ette Woodard, an American actress, producer, and political activist, was born on November 8, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Marion H. Woodard, an interior designer/ wildcat oil driller and Constance “Connie” B. Robinson Woodard, a homemaker. Woodard’s parents once operated a nursing home. She … Read MoreAlfre Woodard (1952- )
