In the following article, Russian DJ Ivan Tchijevsky describes exclusively for BlackPast.org the long history of black music and black musical performers in Russia. Writing from a musical festival in Odessa, Ukraine in June 2019, he outlines his views below. As I visit festivals of … Read MoreThe Afro-Beat in Russia: The Influence of Black Music on Russian Popular Culture, 1890-2002
The Almoravid Empire "Image Ownership: Public Domain" The Almoravids, or al-Murabitun as they called themselves, were an Islamic Berber dynasty that established an empire in Morocco and eventually took it over a wide region of Northwest Africa including modern Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and part … Read MoreThe Almoravids/al-Murabitun (1040CE–1147CE)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" In 2011, Adrienne S. O’Neal, career Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde (or Cape Verde). O’Neal was born in Durham, North Carolina … Read MoreAdrienne S. O’Neal (1954- )
Samora Machel, first president of independent Mozambique, was born on September 29, 1933 in the village of Chilembene, in the Gaza Province of Mozambique. He was of the Shangana ethnic group and was born into a family of farmers. Machel attended a Catholic mission school … Read MoreSamora Moises Machel (1933-1986)
Angolan Soldier in front of Soviet Missiles Image Ownership: Public Domain The Angolan Civil War, beginning at the time of the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975, was a 27-year struggle involving the deaths of over 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Initiated at the height of … Read MoreAngolan Civil War (1975-2002)
Born Nzinga Mbemba, King Alfonso I was the leader of the Kongolese people in the early part of the 16th Century. Mbemba developed a strong trade relationship with the Portuguese and adopted Catholicism as a result of this relationship. The influence of the Catholic faith … Read MoreAlfonso I [King] (?- 1543)
Juan Guarrdo with Hernan Cortes, 1520 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Born around 1480 in West Africa, Juan Garrido is the most prominent among the small group of African freeman who traveled to the Americas to take part in the Spanish conquest of the West Indies … Read MoreJuan Garrido (c. 1480-c.1550)
Image Ownership: Public Domain Milton Nascimento, famous Brazilian singer and composer, was born in October 26, 1942 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After the death of his biological mother, Maria do Carmo Nascimento, Milton Nascimento moved with his adoptive family, Lilia Silva Campos and Josino … Read MoreMilton Nascimento (1942- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain Antônio Francisco Lisboa, the Aleijadinho (the “little cripple”), prominent Brazilian artist, was born in 1738 to a Portuguese architect father, Manoel Francisco Lisboa, and his Brazilian slave, Isabel. He died in 1814, in his native state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, poor … Read MoreAleijadinho (Antonio Francisco Lisboa, 1738-1814)
Palmares, or Quilombo dos Palmares, was a settlement of fugitive slaves established, gradually, from the early 1600s to 1694 about 60k inland from the northeast coast of Brazil around the regions of Pernambuco and Alagoas. Estimates indicated 10,000 to 20,000 fugitive slaves, native Brazilians and … Read MorePalmares (ca. 1605-1694)