The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo, was a private possession owned by King Leopold II of Belgium which now comprises the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lasted from 1885 to 1908. Leopold’s claim to the vast … Read MoreCongo Free State (1885-1908)
Felix Tshisekedi, the current President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was born Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo on June 13, 1963, in Kinshasa just three years after the DRC gained its independence from Belgium. He identifies with the Luba people. His parents were … Read MoreFelix Tshisekedi (1963– )
William Robinson Clarke was a famous World War I airman. He was the first Black pilot to fly for the United Kingdom. Clarke was born in Kingston, Jamaica on October 4, 1895 to Eugenia Clarke. Jamaica was a which British colony at the time. World … Read MoreWilliam Robinson Clarke (1895-1981)
Kedist Deltour was a most unlikely winner of the 2021 Miss Belgium beauty pageant. At the time she was 24 and a native of East Africa. Born in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa on July 29, 1997, Deltour was the oldest of three children. … Read MoreKedist Deltour (1997- )
Cheryl D. Mills was the Counsel and Chief of Staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from January 2009 until January 2013. She was also deputy White House counsel during the Clinton Administration 1993 to 1999. Born on January 1, 1965, Mills grew up on … Read MoreCheryl Mills (1965- )
As a child, concert violinist and professor Elwyn A. Adams was a musical prodigy of some notoriety in the African American community of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born on August 3, 1933. At age five he gave his first violin recital at East Mt. … Read MoreElwyn Albert Adams (1933-1995)
Olympic and world heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam was born in Namur, Belgium, 43 mile southeast of Brussels, on August 19, 1994, one of the four children of Bamba Thiam, a native of Senegal who worked as a sculptor and painter, and Belgian citizen Danièle Denisty … Read MoreNafissatou Thiam (1994- )
Manu Dibango was a saxophonist from Cameroon whose 60 years of experience in the music industry inspired some of the world’s most famous artists. Dibango was also one of the first high-profile people to die after catching COVID-19, the coronavirus. Dibango was born in the … Read MoreEmmanuel “Manu” N’Djoké Dibango (1933-2020)
Monford Merrill Monte Irvin was a baseball player who played the left fielder and right fielder in the Negro Leagues and was one of the few who transitioned to Major League Baseball after the integration of the sport in 1947. Irvin played for the Newark … Read MoreMonford Merrill Monte Irvin (1919-2016)
