Luis Abinader, the 54th and current president of the Dominican Republic, was born in Santo Domingo on July 12, 1967. His parents were Jose Rafael Abinader Wassef and Rosa Sula Corona Caba. His grandfather emigrated from Lebanon and his mother’s ancestors were from the Canary … Read MoreLuis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (1967- )
Francisco del Rosario Sánchez was one of the founders of the independent Dominican Republic. He was born on March 9, 1817, in Santo Domingo. His parents were Narcisco Sánchez Ramon, a “pardo” (brown person) and Olaya del Rosario de Belen, a white woman from the … Read MoreFrancisco del Rosario Sánchez (1817-1861)
Multiple-winning woman medalist Yuderqui Contreras was born Yuderqui Maridalia Contreras on March 27, 1986, in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic. She is also known as Yudelkis Contreras. The fourth child of five children of Eridania Contreras and Arístides Sánchez Reyna, her early education began … Read MoreYuderqui Contreras (1986- )
The history of West Indian immigration can be traced back to the 17th century when enslaved Africans from Barbados, Jamaica, and Antigua were brought to the British North American colonies to work on plantations. The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) sparked another wave of immigration with thousands … Read MoreWest Indian Immigration to the United States (1900- )
The 1521 Santo Domingo Slave Revolt occurred in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola during that year’s Christmas festivities. It is the earliest recorded slave revolt in the Americas. Just days after the revolt occurred, a new set of laws … Read MoreThe 1521 Santo Domingo Slave Revolt
Rapper and songwriter Cardi B was born Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, New York, on October 11, 1992. Her mother, Carla, is from Trinidad, and worked as a cashier, and her father Carlos, is from the Dominican Republic and worked … Read MoreBelcalis Marlenis “Cardi B” Almanzar (1992- )
Human rights activist Sonia Pierre was born in Villa Altagracia, San Cristobal, Dominican Republic on July 4, 1963, and she died at forty-eight years old of a heart attack on December 4, 2011. Sonia was one of the most internationally-recognized activists working on behalf of … Read MoreSonia Pierre (1963-2011)
Aida Cartagena was a prominent Afro-Latina poet, novelist, scholar, and public intellectual. She was born in Moca, Dominican Republic on June 18, 1918, and died at the age of seventy-five on June 3, 1994. Aida was the daughter of Olimpia Portalatin and Felipe Cartagena Estrella. … Read MoreAida Cartagena Portalatin (1918-1994)
Arthur O. Eve was the longest serving member of the New York State Assembly, serving from 1967 until his retirement in 2002. He was also the first Dominican American to be elected to public office in the United States. As deputy speaker of the Assembly … Read MoreArthur O. Eve (1933- )
Yolanda Guzmán was a young Afro Latina activist in the Dominican Republic who was killed in 1965 at the time of an uprising by supporters of the country’s democratically-installed president Juan Bosch, who had been overthrown by military-backed forces. Guzmán, who had worked for the … Read MoreYolanda Guzmán (1943-1965)
