Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and eight-time Grammy Award-winning singer Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on November 26, 1939, in Nutbush, Haywood, County, Tennessee. The youngest daughter of a family of sharecroppers, Turner’s father, Floyd Richard Bullock, was an African American … Read MoreTina Turner (1939-2023)
In comparison to many countries that have ancient histories spanning over thousands of years, Belize (a small country right below Mexico‘s Yucatan Peninsula) is a relatively young nation whose history spans only about 370 years. The indigenous Mayan population, however, has resided in Central America … Read MoreThe History of Belize
Andy Palacio was a popular Belizean musician who was born on December 2, 1960 in the village of Barranco in Belize, Central America. Palacio is the most famous musician to emerge from this little-known country. His work has influenced musicians and music-lovers all over the … Read MoreAndy Palacio (1960-2008)
Born in Cuba on April 7, 1917, Mongo Santamaria is an Afro-Cuban percussionist who became an influential musician in the United States in the 1950s. His given name is Ramón Santamaría Rodríguez. Nicknamed Mongo by his father, Santamaria believes his nickname comes from the Mali … Read MoreMongo Santamaria (1917-2003)
Native of West Africa, Sebastian Rodríguez Brito was one of a number of black freemen to join the ranks of the Spanish military during the time of the colonization of what is today the southwestern United States. While a free black man in Spanish America, … Read MoreSebastián Rodríguez Brito (ca. 1642-ca. 1717)
Known as the Primer Libertador de America or “first liberator of the Americas,” Gaspar Yanga led one of colonial Mexico’s first successful slave uprisings and would go on to establish one of the Americas earliest free black settlements. Rumored to be of royal lineage from … Read MoreGaspar Yanga (c. 1545- ?)
Born around 1480 in West Africa, Juan Garrido is the most prominent among the small group of African freemen who traveled to the Americas to take part in the Spanish conquest of the West Indies and Mexico in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries. … Read MoreJuan Garrido (c. 1480-c.1550)
John Carlos is best known for his black-gloved fist salute on the winner’s podium (with Tommie Smith) at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Born on June 5, 1945, in Harlem, New York, Carlos was a promising student-athlete in high school. Following graduation, attended … Read MoreJohn Carlos (1945- )
Eldridge Cleaver, author and civil rights activist, was born on August 31, 1935 in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. Cleaver, a child of six, lived in a household where his father abused his mother. The Cleavers moved to Phoenix, Arizona and finally settled in Los Angeles, California where … Read MoreEldridge Cleaver (1935-1998)
Sistema de Castas (or Society of Castes) was a porous racial classification system in colonial New Spain (present-day Mexico). It was a “hierarchal ordering of racial groups according to their proportion of Spanish blood.” In this system, notable categories with significant meaning were español (Spaniard), … Read MoreSistema de Castas (1500s-ca. 1829)
