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- )
Jemel Roberson was born to Beatrice and John Roberson in South Africa on April 4, 1992. Soon afterwards the family moved to Chicago, Illinois where Roberson grew up. His friends and family remember him as a playful and caring child. Roberson attended Lane Tech Prep … Read MoreJemel Roberson (1992-2018)
In the article below, Dr. Clarence Spigner, an epidemiologist and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, assesses the early African American responses to COVID-19. COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory pandemic disease, stands for coronavirus disease, 2019. Symptoms for possible … Read MoreCOVID-19: The Myth and the Reality for Black America
Georgina Falú Pesante, university executive, community organizer, professor, and Pan-Africanist, was born on April 23, 1939 in Santurce, Puerto Rico to María Magdalena “Malen” Pesante Santana, business owner and homemaker, and Juan “Juanín” Falú Zarzuela, civil rights activist. Her father created the League to Promote … Read MoreGeorgina Falú (1939- )
South African career trade unionist Lucy Buyaphi Mvubelo was a leading figure in the movement to improve conditions for workers in South Africa, although she saw that campaign as separate from the anti-Apartheid Movement. Lucy Mvubelo was born on January 20, 1920 in Spes Bona, … Read MoreLucy Buyaphi Mvubelo (née Twala) (1920-2000)
Dr. Jotello Festiri Soga in 1886 became the first South African of any race to receive a degree in veterinary medicine. Born in 1865 into a distinguished Xhosa family from the Eastern Cape, his parents were Rev. Tiyo Soga, and Janet Burnside Soga, who was … Read MoreJotello Festiri Soga (1865-1906)
The Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley, South Africa, named for pioneer black journalist, author, and founding member of the African National Congress, Sol Plaatje, is a 21st century public university. Created under Section 20 of the Higher Education Act of 1997, it opened its doors … Read MoreSol Plaatje University (2014- )
Rapelang Rabana, telecommunications entrepreneur, was born in Gaborone, Botswana in 1982. Her early school years were spent in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, before moving to Johannesburg, South Africa where she attended Roedean School. Rabana graduated with honors from the University of Cape Town in … Read MoreRapelang Rabana (1982- )
