Image Ownership: Public domain French naval hero Camille Mortenol was born November 29, 1859 in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city in the French island colony of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea, the son of former slave André Mortenol, a sailor, and his wife, Julienne Toussaint, a … Read MoreCamille Sosthène Héliodore Mortenol (1859-1930)
Image Ownership: Public domain William Henry Hunt, African American U.S. diplomat, was born a slave in Tennessee in 1863. Hunt claimed to have been born on June 29, 1869, so he could get into school at the age of twenty-six posing as a twenty-year-old, a … Read MoreWilliam Henry Hunt (1863-1951)
Ambassador Daniel Yohannes with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Daniel W. Yohannes, a businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on September 22, 1952. He moved to the United States at age 17 as an exchange student in … Read MoreDaniel W. Yohannes (1952– )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" One of the few painters from the Americas with a degree of African ancestry who was active in the 1800s and has representative works in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France is Guillaume Guillon-Lethière. Born January 10, 1760, near Sainte-Anne on … Read MoreGuillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760–1832)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" In 2010, 23-year-old Scharllette Allen Moses became the first Nicaraguan of African ancestry to be crowned Miss Nicaragua. She represented her country in the Miss Universe competition in Las Vegas, Nevada of that same year. Moses joined another Central American, Marva … Read MoreScharllette Allen Moses (1987- )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Twenty-two-year-old Kenia Martinez was crowned Miss Universe Honduras on July 8, 2010. She went on to compete in the Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, in August of the same year. Kenia was the second black woman to win … Read MoreKenia Martinez (1988– )
“Image Ownership:Public Domain” Roger D. Pierce, U.S. Ambassador to Cape Verde, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Pierce earned his B.A. degree in Spanish Language and Latin American Studies at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia. He received his M.A. in Latin American Literature … Read MoreRoger Dwayne Pierce (1951–)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Ericka Yadira Cruz Escalante became the first Miss Mexico of African descent. With that victory she completed in the Miss Universe pageant in Roberto Clemente Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2002. Cruz was born in Mérida, Yucatán, México, on … Read MoreEricka Yadira Cruz Escalante (1981- )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Born in Washington, D.C. in 1953, Teddy Bernard Taylor graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Florida A&M University in 1975. During his time in Tallahassee, Taylor became a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. In 1978, Taylor … Read MoreTeddy B. Taylor (1953- )
Henri Salvador with Ray Charles "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Henri Salvador was a popular 20th Century French entertainer, pop singer, and humorist. His most popular and emblematic song was “Le lion est mort ce soir” or “Syracuse.” Salvador was born in Cayenne (French Guiana) on … Read MoreHenri Salvador (1917-2008)