Omali Yeshitela, Pan-Africanist, socialist, and activist, was born Joseph Allen Waller Jr. on October 9, 1941, in St. Petersburg, Florida, to Lucille Waller of Pensacola, Florida, and Joseph Waller of Eatonton, Georgia. Lucille, a licensed practical nurse and cosmetologist, owned multiple hair salons, and Joseph … Read MoreOmali Yeshitela (1941- )
In 1972, Gary, Indiana hosted the National Black Political Convention. With over 10,000 attendees, it was the largest independent black political gathering in U.S. history. Planning for the convention began in 1970. Organizers had a difficult time finding a city that was willing to host … Read MoreThe National Black Political Convention, Gary Indiana (1972)
French teacher and politician Gratien Candace was born on December 18, 1873 in Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory. His father Edouard was born in Guadeloupe as well, only two years before slavery was formally abolished in France, in 1848. Candace is the first French black politician to hold office as a deputy … Read MoreGratien Candace (1873-1953)
Image Ownership: The New York Age Labor leader Layle Lane was born on November 27, 1893, in Marietta, Georgia. She was the fourth of five children of Calvin Lane and Alice Virginia Clark Lane. Lane was vice president of the American Federation of Teachers union … Read MoreLayle Lane (1893-1976)
“Image Ownership: Bernadette Defrasne/Senat” Jeanne (Jane) Vialle was a black French journalist and senator coming from the French colonies, born on 27 August 1906. She is one of the rare French women senators of her time and one of the first black persons to be … Read MoreJeanne/Jane Vialle (1906–1953)
“Image Ownership: jyc1” Kofi Yamgnane is a Franco–Togolese politician. Born in Togo in 1945, he went to France at the age of 19 and later became an elected official in Brittany before joining the French government as integration secretary in 1991. In 2002 he entered … Read MoreKofi Yamgnane (1945- )
Image Ownership: Matthieu Riegler (CC BY-SA 3.0) George Pau Langevin is a French lawyer, politician, and author who was born October 19, 1948, in Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe of parents who were teachers. At the age of 17 she journeyed to Paris where she studied … Read MoreGeorge Pau Langevin (1948- )
On October 21, 1945, Madame Eugénie Tell Eboué, the widow of Félix Eboué, former Governor General of French Equatorial Africa, became the first woman of African descent to be elected to the French National Assembly in Paris. Born Eugénie Tell on November 23, 1891 in … Read MoreMadame Eugénie Tell Eboué (1891-1972)
The first black person elected to the Nicaraguan National Assembly, Loria Raquel Dixon Brautigam was elected to represent the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua in 2006. Before entering politics, Brautigam worked as a nurse in Bilwiskana, Río Coco and served as director of the Unidad Policlínica de Puerto … Read MoreLoria Raquel Dixon Brautigam ( ? – )
Grace P. Campbell, the first of three African Americans to join the Communist Party, USA, was born in Georgia in 1882 to Emma Dyson Campbell, an African American woman from Washington, D.C., and William Campbell, an immigrant from Jamaica. After briefly relocating to Texas, the … Read MoreGrace P. Campbell (1883-1943)
