Joanne Marie Anderson is the first woman of color to win election as mayor of a major city the United Kingdom and the first Black and first female woman mayor of Liverpool, England. Born in January 1971 in Liverpool, she acknowledges she is biracial and … Read MoreJoanne Marie Anderson (1971- )
Until his abrupt resignation from office, Dominik Feri, the youngest-ever and first African-descended legislator in the Czech Parliament, had been a rock star of European politics and a darling of the press. Born July 11, 1996, in Kadaň, Czech Republic, he is the son of … Read MoreDominik Feri (1996- )
Bella Forsgrén is the first black woman elected to the Parliament of Finland. Born February 10, 1992, in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, she was adopted at age 3 by a Finnish couple. Her official, legal name is Asha (meaning hope, given by her … Read MoreBella Forsgrén (aka Asha Maria Belaynesh Forsgrén) (1992- )
John Pombe Joseph Magufuli was a politician who served as the fifth President of Tanzania from 2015 to 2021. Magufuli was born on October 29, 1959, in Chato, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), to John Joseph Magufuli and an unnamed mother. Growing up, Magufuli attended the Chato … Read MoreJohn Pombe Joseph Magufuli (1959-2021)
Robert Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine” Ssentamu is a Ugandan politician, singer, actor, and businessman. Ssentamu was born on February 12, 1982, in Nkozi, Uganda, and grew up in the Kamwekya slums in the northeast part of Kampala, Uganda. He attended Kitante Hill Senior Secondary School, located … Read MoreRobert Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine” Ssentamu (1982- )
In 2019 Ernest N. Ezeajughi was elected Mayor of the London Borough of Brent, population 331,000. He was born in 1960 in Awgbu Town in southern Nigeria, Anambra State, the son of Sir Simeon Okeke Ezeajughi, an educator and prominent politician. After attendance at Aguata … Read MoreErnest Nnaama Ezeajughi (1960- )
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was a Zimbabwean anti-colonialist revolutionary and politician who was vice-president of Zimbabwe from 1990 to his death in 1999. Nkomo was born on June 19, 1917 in what was then Matabeleland, Rhodesia into a family where he had eight siblings. After … Read MoreJoshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (1917-1999)
Sandra “Sandy” Maria Cane was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, the younger of two daughters of an African American father, a US Army paratrooper during World War II, and an Italian mother, whose family had established a stonemason business in northern France. At age 10, in … Read MoreSandy Cane (1961- )
Addisu Messele, the first person of sub-Saharan African ancestry elected to the Israeli Parliament, was born on June 16, 1961, in the Gondar region of Ethiopia to a Beta Israel (Jewish) family. As a student in the late 1970s, he became an active member of … Read MoreAddisu Messele (1961- )
Rennie Harris, hip hop dancer, artist, teacher, artistic director, choreographer, and founder of Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM), was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1963. At the age of 15, Harris began teaching workshops and classes at universities around the country, educating the public of the … Read MoreLorenzo “Rennie” Harris (1963- )
