María Teresa Vera was an Afro-Cuban guitarist, singer, and composer, who is held up as an example of the Cuban “trova” movement. Trova is a rural folk style of music and Vera’s career was extraordinary for a woman of her time. “Viente Anos,” (Twenty Years) … Read MoreMaría Teresa Vera (1895-1965)
Dominga de la Cruz-Becerril, socialist, lecturer, poet, and declamadora, was born April 22, 1909 in Bueno Aires, Ponce, Puerto Rico (PR) to Catalina Becerril of Fajardo and Domingo Clarillo Cruz of Ponce. Reared in Mayagüez, both parents and godparents died while she was a pre-teen. … Read MoreDominga Cruz-Becerril (1909-1981)
The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a top-ranked east coast Negro League team, originally formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor, owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, and managed by William Parker. They were organized as a “barnstorming club,” meaning they traveled through several states, playing … Read MoreBrooklyn Royal Giants (1905-1942)
The Cuban Giants were the first African American professional baseball club. The Giants were formed in 1885 at the Argyle Hotel, a summer resort located in Babylon, New York. The team took its name because it played in Cuba during the winter of 1885-1886 and … Read MoreThe Cuban Giants (1885-1915)
Loletha Elayne Falana, famously known as actress, singer, dancer and model Lola Falana, was born on September 11, 1942 in Camden, New Jersey. Falana’s mother and father are of African-American and Afro-Cuban heritage respectively. Falana was born the third of six children and got her … Read MoreLola Falana (1942- )
Willie James Wells, who gained the baseball nickname “The Devil,” was a baseball player who played shortstop during his baseball career playing for a record eleven Negro Baseball League teams in the United States as well as in Mexico and Cuba. Wells was born on … Read MoreWillie James Wells (1906-1989)
John Preston “Pete” Hill was a baseball outfielder and manager for the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1925. Hill was born on October 12, 1882 in Culpeper County, Virginia to Ruben W. Hill and Elizabeth “Lizzle” Seale Hill. He also had two older brothers, Jerome … Read MoreJohn Preston “Pete” Hill (1882-1951)
During the Spanish American War, several battles were fought that included Buffalo Soldiers. The Battle of Kettle Hill (generally known as San Juan Hill) fought on July 1, 1898, was the most significant since it was the only battle that involved all four buffalo soldier … Read MoreBattle of San Juan and Kettle Hill (1898)
In the early 16th century, around 1511, Spain colonized Cuba. Cuba produced almost a third of the world’s sugar supply by 1860 through the work of enslaved Africans and other island natives stolen from their land. By the year 1895, Cubans revolted against the Spanish … Read MoreBattle of El Caney, Cuba (1898)
Julia de Burgos was a celebrated literary icon of the Americas whose themes of Blackness, feminism, love, migration, nationalism, and nature helped birth the 1960s Nuyorican movement. Julia Constanza Burgos García, teacher, activist, journalist, and poet, was born February 17, 1914 in Santa Cruz, Carolina, … Read MoreJulia de Burgos (1914-1953)
