Polish freedom fighter, jazz musician, and British citizen August Agboola Browne was born in British-controlled Lagos, Nigeria, on July 22, 1895. He was the son of Jozefina and Wallace Browne, a longshoreman. Browne traveled to London as a young man and found work in a … Read MoreAugust Agboola Browne (1895-1976)
Afro-Polish soldier and professional athlete Sam Mandi was born in what was formerly known as the German colony of Kamerun (today the Republic of Cameroon), circa 1895. During World War I Britain and France occupied the colony and Mandi joined the French army where he … Read MoreSam Mandi (a.k.a. Sam Sandi, 1895?-1937)
The astonishing appearance of a high-ranking Black military officer in late 18th century Poland who led troops across Europe and in the Caribbean is further evidence of the breadth of the African diaspora. The product of an illicit affair in Paris between British-born Princess Maria … Read MoreWladyslaw Franciszek Jablonowski (1769-1802)
Fatima Djalor was an international children’s welfare activist and the first woman of African ancestry to appear regularly on television in the Republic of Moldova. Born in 1989 in Moldova’s capital city of Chișinău, she was one of the three children of a local woman … Read MoreFatima Djalor (1989-2019)
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)
Conductor, clarinetist, and composer W. Rudolph Dunbar was born on November 26, 1907, in Nabaclis, Guyana. At the age of nine, his musical genius apparent, he was invited to serve as a clarinetist in the British Guiana Militia Band. After a brief apprenticeship for stellar … Read MoreW. Rudolph Dunbar (1907-1988)
On January 1, 2020, Dr. Antoine J. (Tony) Allen Sr. became the 12th President of historically Black Delaware State University in its 129-year history. The son of a Lamar Allen, Jr., who never completed the 11th grade and a mother who raised him as a … Read MoreTony Allen (1970- )
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)
Marcel Pliat was one of several French nationals who served in the Russian Imperial Army during World War I but he was the only black man to serve in the Russian Imperial Air Force. Pliat was born in French Polynesia (now Tahiti) around 1890. His … Read MoreMarcel Pliat (ca. 1890-1917?)
Born in 1980 in apartheid-dominated Johannesburg, South Africa, Sizwe Lawrence Ndlovu was a member of a family of seven. His interest in athletics began when he was exposed to the typical South African sports, cricket, European football, and rugby. Once he became older, he discovered rowing, which would become his major sport. Ndlovu … Read MoreSizwe Lawrence Ndlovu (1980- )
