James W. Holley III was the first African American mayor of his hometown, Portsmouth, Virginia. He was born in Portsmouth on November 26, 1926. His parents were Laura and James W. Holley, Jr. James Holley attended local schools in Portsmouth and graduated from I. C. … Read MoreJames W. Holley III (1926-2012)
Politician, philanthropist, and investor Benoni Wilfred Urey is one of the wealthiest Liberians and the founder of Lonestar Cell Mobile Telecommunication Corporation (MTN), Liberia’s largest nationwide mobile network. Urey was born on June 22, 1957, in Careysburg Montserrado County, the Republic of Liberia, to Daniel … Read MoreBenoni Wilfred Urey (1957- )
Aoua Kéita was a Malian independence activist, politician, feminist, writer, and midwife. Born on July 12, 1912, in then Bamako, French Sudan to Karamogo Kéita, a member of the colonial hygiene service and Miriam Coulibaly, Aoua was one of the few African girls allowed to … Read MoreAoua Kéita (1912-1980)
Guinean national political independence martyr, women’s rights activist, and national heroine of the Democratic Party of Guinea, M’Balia Camara, was born in 1929 in the village of Posséya, Guinea, near Gonga Khimbéli and Yenguissa. Despite humble beginnings, she refused to allow herself to be limited … Read MoreM’Balia Camara (1929-1955)
Joice Runaida Mujuru, also known as Teurai Ropa Nhongo, is a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Vice President of Zimbabwe from 2004 to 2014. Prior to that, she had served as a government minister. She was also vice president of ZANU–PF, one of … Read MoreJoice Mujuru (1955- )
Rose Lomathinda Chibambo was a prominent politician in the British protectorate of Nyasaland in the years leading up to independence as the state of Malawi in 1964 and immediately thereafter. Chibambo organized Malawian women in their political struggle against the British as a political force … Read MoreRose Chibambo (1928-2016)
Maria Mambo Café was an Angolan economist and politician. She was a career member of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola – Partido do Trabalho. Café was born in 1945 in Cabinda Province, an exclave of Angola in the northern part of the country. … Read MoreMaria Mambo Café (1945-2013)
Bibi Titi Mohammed was a Tanzanian politician and activist. She was born in June 1926 in Dar es Salaam, then the capital of the British colony of Tanganyika. Mohammed was a member of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), the party that fought for Tanzanian … Read MoreBibi Titi Mohammed (1926-2000)
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro was an Afro-Peruvian army officer who served as the 41st President of Peru from 1931 to 1933. Sánchez was the first person of Afro-Peruvian descent to become the nation’s president. Born on August 12, 1889, to Antonio Sánchez and Rosa Cerro, … Read MoreLuis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (1889-1933)
