Omar Bongo was President of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009, over 42 years, and thus ruled longer than any other African leader. Bongo was born in the Beteke region of Gabon on December 10, 1935. He was the youngest of twelve children … Read MoreOmar/Albert-Bernard Bongo (1935-2009)
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)
Queen Nzinga (Nzinga Mbande), the monarch of the Mbundu people, was a resilient leader who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in Central Africa. During the late 16th Century, the French and the English threatened the Portuguese near monopoly on the sources … Read MoreQueen Nzinga (1583-1663)
Beverly Loraine Greene, believed to be the first African American woman architect in the United States, was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 4, 1915. She grew up in Chicago and was raised by her father, James A. Greene, a lawyer, and her mother, Vera … Read MoreBeverly Loraine Greene (1915-1957)
In 1635, two Spanish ships were wrecked near what is now St. Vincent in the West Indies. The ships held West Africans who were to be sold as slaves in the West Indies. The West Africans escaped from the Spaniards, and hid themselves among the … Read MoreThe Garifuna People
Hylan Garnett Lewis was a distinguished sociologist and pioneer in the field of community studies whose work helped guide the study of American race relations for more than half a century. Throughout his life, Lewis analyzed, and sought remedies for, the problems of the poor … Read MoreHylan Garnet Lewis (1911-2000)
William Henry Johnson was an African American expressionist painter. He was born on March 18, 1901 in Florence, South Carolina to mother Alice Smoot Johnson (known as “Mom Alice” or “Aunt Alice”) and father Henry Johnson. William H. Johnson was the oldest of five children: … Read MoreWilliam Henry Johnson (1901-1970)
The Indochina War (1947-1954) pitted the French Colonial government against the Vietminh, the Communist Vietnamese devoted to the liberation of their country from French colonial rule. During that conflict the French used thousands of Tirailleurs Sénégalais, soldiers recruited throughout the French African colonies, for service … Read MoreTirailleurs Sénégalais in the Indochina War (1947-1954)
The African Democratic Rally, known as Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA), was the first French-speaking Pan-African organization. Created in 1946 at Bamako, Sudan (now Mali), it emerged when African nationalist and anti-colonialist movements were growing rapidly at the end of World War II. In 1945 the … Read MoreAfrican Democratic Rally (1946- )
Lieutenant General Julius Wesley Becton Jr. was born on June 29, 1926 to Julius and Rose Becton in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His father worked as a janitor in their apartment building. His mother was a housekeeper and laundress. In December 1943, Julius Becton joined the … Read MoreJulius W. Becton Jr. (1926- )
