Arabella Fields was a singer and actress known as “The Black Nightingale” and had a storied career performing in Europe. She was born on January 31, 1879, as Sarah Arabella Middleton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Early reports state she was performing at the young age of … Read MoreArabella Fields (1879-1933)
Chattel slavery was practiced in the Danish West Indies from around 1650 until July 3, 1848, when Colonial Governor Peter von Scholten issued an emancipation proclamation. The Danish government, however, then enacted rules that kept people enslaved by contracts for another two years. In 1847, … Read MoreThe Fireburn Labor Riot, United States Virgin Islands (1878)
World-class symphony conductor Rafael Payare was born February 23, 1980 in the northern port city of Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, the son of cartographer Juan R. Payare and elementary school teacher Trina Torres de Payare. In 1994, at age 13, Payare began studying French horn … Read MoreRafael Payare (1980- )
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)
In the following article independent historian Charles Kastner describes the 1944-1945 tour of Alberta Hunter and the Rhythm Rascals who became the first black USO performing unit to Visit the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II. The China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater of World War Two, was … Read MoreAlberta Hunter and the Rhythm Rascals in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II
In 1965, Cyril Michael became one of the first four judges to be elected in the newly instituted Municipal Court systems established in the United States Virgin Islands. Cyril Michael was born on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, Danish West Indies to Andre and Wilhelmina Michael on January 22, 1898. He … Read MoreCyril Michael (1898-1978)
Professional boxer Emile Griffith was born February 3, 1938 on the island of St. Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands. He moved to New York before he became a teenager. Griffith was 14 years old and working at a hat factory, when he asked his boss if he could … Read MoreEmile Alphonse Griffith (1938-2013)
In the decades prior to the Russian Revolution, Pearl Hobson became the most popular African American dancer and singer in Imperial Russia. Known by various names but mostly by her Russian stage name which translated into English was “Mulatto Sharpshooter,” Hobson captivated elite audiences from St. Petersburg to Moscow although apparently … Read MorePearl Hobson (1879- ?)
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-American actor and director best known for his portrayal of Gustavo “Gus” Fring on the AMC TV series Breaking Bad, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama award and was nominated for an outstanding Supporting … Read MoreGiancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito (1958– )
