“Image Ownership: Public Domain” On November 1, 2011, President Barack H. Obama appointed Larry L. Palmer the United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. On March 30, 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed Palmer’s nomination and he reported to his post in Bridgetown, Barbados. … Read MoreLarry L. Palmer (1949- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Roland Wentworth Bullen was born on Carriacou, one of the six islands that comprise the nation of Grenada. The product of a prominent family that owned several businesses, including the popular restaurant “Callaloo,” Bullen arrived in the United States in 1966. … Read MoreRoland Wentworth Boniface Bullen (1944- )
John Edward West Thompson was an African American non-career diplomat. He served as U.S. Minister Resident/Consul General to Haiti from June 30, 1885 to October 17, 1889. Thompson simultaneously served as U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic) from 1885 to 1889. … Read MoreJohn Edward West Thompson (1855-1918)
“Image Ownership: MissChatter” Major League Baseball shortstop Edgar Renteria is Colombia’s most successful player in U.S. baseball history as well as its most prominent athlete of African descent. During his 16 years in the U.S. major leagues he played for seven different teams. Renteria was … Read MoreEdgar Enrique Renteria (1975- )
Sarah Fraser, born Sarah Marinda Loguen, was the first African American woman to graduate from the Syracuse University College of Medicine. She was also one of the first African American female physicians specializing in obstetrics and pediatrics. Sarah Loguen was born on January 29, 1850, … Read MoreSarah Loguen Fraser (1850-1933)
Politician and immigrant and women’s rights advocate Mercedes Lourdes Frias was born in the municipality of San Antonio de Guerra, Dominican Republic, on October 28, 1962. The daughter of a stevedore and a washerwoman, she earned her degree in geography at the Autonomous University of … Read MoreMercedes Frias (1962- )
Beauty pageant queen, model, and actress Denny Andreina Méndez de la Rosa was born on July 20, 1978 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her mother, Lidia Chavez, who had divorced her biological father, met a vacationing Italian, Sergio Casabianca, who became her stepfather. At age five, … Read MoreDenny Méndez (1978- )
Celia Cruz, the “Queen of Salsa,” was one of the most notable 20th Century ambassadors of Cuban culture. Cruz was born “Ursula Hilaria Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso” to working-class parents in Havana, Cuba. Her father, Simon Cruz, was a railroad stoker, and her mother, Catalina … Read MoreCelia Cruz (1925-2003)
Azie Taylor Morton was a teacher, politician and the only African American to hold the position of Treasurer of the United States. Taylor was born to Fleta Hazel Taylor, who was deaf and mute, on February 1st, 1936 in the small community of St. John … Read MoreAzie Taylor Morton (1936-2003)
Janelle Penny Commissiong, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, was born in June 1953, migrated to the United States at the age of 13, and returned to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in 1976. After winning the Miss Trinidad title, she went on to be crowned Miss Universe … Read MoreJanelle Penny Commissiong (1953- )
