Addisu Messele, the first person of sub-Saharan African ancestry elected to the Israeli Parliament, was born on June 16, 1961, in the Gondar region of Ethiopia to a Beta Israel (Jewish) family. As a student in the late 1970s, he became an active member of … Read MoreAddisu Messele (1961- )
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat, third President of post-independence Egypt (governing from 1970 to 1981), was born of peasant background in the Nile Delta village of Mit Abu al-Kum on December 25, 1918. The son an Egyptian army clerk and a Sudanese housewife, Sadat was educated in … Read MoreMuhammad Anwar al-Sadat (1918-1981)
The city of Entebbe, Uganda, is located on the shores of Lake Victoria about 22 miles south of Kampala, the nation’s capital. In addition to being the official residence of the president of Uganda, Entebbe is the site of the nation’s only international airport. On … Read MoreEntebbe Raid (June 28, 1976)
The Republic of Biafra was a short-lived Nigerian secessionist state which came into existence on May 30, 1967 when the Igbo-dominated southeastern corner of Nigeria seceded in the formation of its own independent country. Following its defeat in the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), on January … Read MoreRepublic of Biafra (1967-1970)
In the following account California State University, Fresno history professor Malik Simba summarizes the 2008 presidential campaign of Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Professor Simba reminds us of the many challenges faced by the campaign as well as the daring and innovative strategies it successfully employed … Read More“Yes We Can”: Barack Obama’s Road to the White House, 2008
Most historians of the Roman world have decoupled the concepts of bondage and race that are central to the arguments justifying the enslavement of millions of people in the United States and other modern western nations. Instead they argued that those enslaved by the Romans … Read MoreRoman Slavery and the Question of Race
The Beta Israel, meaning House of Israel, are a sect of Ethiopians who practice Judaism. They have also long been referred to as the Falasha, an Amharic word for exile, which has fallen out of favor because of its derogatory connotation. Located in the Northern region … Read MoreBeta Israel
Sickle cell anemia is a disease that warps red blood cells into a sickle like shape due to problems with their hemoglobin. Hemoglobin resides inside a red blood cell and carries oxygen from the lungs to all other parts of a body. Healthy hemoglobin stays … Read MoreSickle Cell Anemia
