Anton de Kom (Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom) was a Surinamese author, anti-colonial activist, trade unionist, and World War II resistance fighter. De Kom was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, a colony of the Netherlands, on February 22, 1898 to a former slave and farmer Adolf de Kom and a free woman Judith … Read MoreAnton de Kom (1898-1945)
Carlos Alcis was a 43-year-old father of eight, who was scared to death, and suffered an apparent heart attack when police forced their way into his Brooklyn, New York home, searching for a robbery suspect. Carlos Alcis was born in Haiti, and emigrated to the United States in 2000 in … Read MoreCarlos Alcis (1970-2013)
James Amos Porter was the first African American art historian. Born on December 22, 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the son of Lydia and John Porter, a prominent minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Porter graduated cum laude in 1927 with a Bachelor of Science in art from Howard University. … Read MoreJames Amos Porter (1905-1970)
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese–Haitian professional tennis player. She is most famous for her upset victory over Serena Williams in the U.S. Open on September 8, 2018. Beginning her professional career in 2013, Osaka has made many significant achievements. In 2018, Osaka reached her highest singles world ranking as number … Read MoreNaomi Osaka (1997- )
Benoit Joseph André Rigaud was a Haitian political and military figure, who controlled Southern Haiti during the country’s civil war against the North, then controlled by Toussaint Louverture during its war for Independence, 1791-1803. Rigaud was the leader of the Mulatto party after the Haïtien Révolution began and political chief of … Read MoreAndré Rigaud (1761-1811)
Julien Raimond was a wealthy indigo planter in Saint-Domingue. He is known for his political pamphlets and his struggle with the French National Assembly for racial reforms in the colonies. He helped write the Constitution of the newly-independent Haiti. He was born in Bainet (southern Saint-Domingue, present-day Haiti) on … Read MoreJulien Raimond (1744-1801)
The Battle of Savannah, Georgia, which occurred between September 16 and October 18, 1779, became one of the bloodiest battles during the American Revolutionary War. At the time, British forces numbering 3,200 troops had occupied Savannah, then the capital of Georgia, for a year. They were … Read MoreHaitian Soldiers at the Battle of Savannah (1779)
Louis Delgres, born in Martinique on August 2, 1766, was one of the most important figures in the fight against slavery in the French Caribbean colonies. The child of an inter-racial couple—Elisabeth Morin, black, and Louis Delgres, white—he quickly entered the military in 1783 at the age of 17 … Read MoreLouis Delgres (1766-1802)
Toussaint L’Ouverture was a former slave who rose to become the leader of the only successful slave revolt in modern history known as the Haitian Revolution. Born into slavery on May 20, 1743 in the French colony of Saint Dominque, L’Ouverture was the eldest son of Gaou Guinon, an African prince … Read MoreToussaint L’Ouverture (1743-1803)
Internationally acclaimed Afro-Cuban violinist Claudio José Domingo Brindis de Salas y Garrido was born in Havana, Cuba, on August 4, 1852, the son of Claudio Brindis de Salas Monte, director of the popular orchestra Concha de Oro (Golden Shell) who played the violin and double bass, … Read MoreClaudio Brindis de Salas (1852-1911)
