Olympic and world heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam was born in Namur, Belgium, 43 mile southeast of Brussels, on August 19, 1994, one of the four children of Bamba Thiam, a native of Senegal who worked as a sculptor and painter, and Belgian citizen Danièle Denisty … Read MoreNafissatou Thiam (1994- )
Donald Jasper Harris is a Jamaican American economist, author, and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University in Stanford, California, since his retirement in 1998. He is now best known as the father of Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s Vice-Presidential Nominee. Harris joined the Stanford faculty in … Read MoreDonald Jasper Harris (1938- )
Historian and scholar Dr. Ralph Le Roy Crowder was born on March 29, 1947 in Des Moines, Iowa, to parents Ralph L. Crowder and Allie Crowder. An only child, Crowder attended public schools in Des Moines where he played football, basketball, and track. He graduated … Read MoreRalph L. Crowder (1947-2020)
Mathematician Floyd Leroy Williams was born on September 20, 1939 in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended his local schools, and in his senior year of high school, he was offered a scholarship to Lincoln University of Missouri to study music. Williams studied Classical Piano and … Read MoreFloyd Leroy Williams (1939- )
Henry W. Furniss built a distinguished career as a doctor and diplomat. Furniss served in the diplomatic corps, first in Brazil and then as the American ambassador to Haiti. He stayed in that post through two administrations after which he returned to the United States … Read MoreHenry W. Furniss (1868-1955)
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 MoreTransAtlantic Food Migration: The African Culinary Influence on the Cuisine of the Americas
International rowing champion Angel Fournier Rodriguez was born in Guantanamo, Cuba on December 31, 1987. Rodriguez was raised playing the most popular Cuban sport, baseball, as well as basketball. At age 12 he was spotted by a coach who introduced him to the sport of rowing. Rodriguez began his international rowing … Read MoreAngel Fournier Rodriguez (1987- )
Marielle Franco was a Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) city councilmember, and member of the Party for Socialism and Liberty. She was also a member of the LGBT community and a human rights activist, especially against police brutality in the favelas, or slums of the city. On March 14, 2018, she was shot … Read MoreMarielle Franco (1979-2018)
André Pinto Rebouças was a Brazilian engineer and abolitionist, best known for creating one of the world’s first self-propelled torpedoes during the Paraguayan War. Rebouças was born on January 13, 1838 in Cachoeira, Brazil. The son of Antônio Pereira Rebouças, a prominent lawyer and politician and an unidentified black … Read MoreAndré Rebouças (1838-1898)
