In the article below, culinary historian Diane M. Spivey describes the centuries-old diaspora of African foods and cooking traditions in North and South America. Africa has been a major contributor to the cuisine of North and South America although this contribution has long been overlooked, … Read MoreTrans-Atlantic Food Migration: The African Culinary Influence on the Cuisine of the Americas
In the article below, Carlton McLellan, PhD, a senior fellow at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST), briefly describes the history of the more than one hundred and forty black women and men who have led diplomatic delegations as U.S. Ambassadors in ninety-five … Read MoreAmerica’s Black Ambassadors: A Historical Snapshot
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" In 2011, Adrienne S. O’Neal, career Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde (or Cape Verde). O’Neal was born in Durham, North Carolina … Read MoreAdrienne S. O’Neal (1954- )
Eustace A. Dixon II, 20th century author and environmental health advocate, was born at home in Brooklyn, New York on July 9, 1934. He was the youngest child of Eustace A. Dixon, a native of Jamaica and Beulah Talbot, a native of Bermuda. Dixon graduated … Read MoreEustace Augustus Dixon, II (1934-2000)
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 July 18, 1917 to parents from Guadeloupe. His father, … Read MoreHenri Salvador (1917-2008)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Ambassador Aurelia Erskine Brazeal was a career diplomat and the first black woman to be named ambassador by three Presidents. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush appointed her ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia. Three years later President Bill Clinton … Read MoreAurelia Erskine Brazeal (1943- )
Following the introduction of cattle into the Caribbean in 1493, during Christopher Columbus’s second voyage, cattle ranching proliferated along a series of frontiers across the grasslands of North and South America. While historians have recognized that Africans and their descendants were involved in the establishment … Read MoreAfrican Cowboys on the Argentine Pampas: Their Disappearance from the Historical Record
Artist Rendering of the Tryal in 1805 “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Tryal Rebellion of 1805 is a little known account of a shipboard slave uprising in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile. In 1803 a number of West African Muslims were purchased … Read MoreThe Tryal Slave Ship Rebellion, 1805
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Named Career Ambassador, a title equivalent to a four-star general, U.S. ambassador to six different countries, Terence A. Todman was an outstanding diplomat in the service of the United States. He challenged the racial prejudice he encountered at the State Department, … Read MoreTerence A. Todman (1926-2014)
In 1994 Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was elected the first African American president of the National League of Women Voters. She became at that time the 15th president of the League in its 74 year history. A native of Ohio, Dr. Carolyn … Read MoreCarolyn Jefferson-Jenkins (1952 – )