In the following account University of Pittsburgh historian George Reid Andrews provides an introduction to the history of the population of African ancestry in Uruguay. When we think of the great nations of the African diaspora—Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, the United States—the South American republic of … Read MoreAfro-Uruguay: A Brief History
Celso Roberto Pitta do Nascimento, Sao Paulo’s first black mayor, was born to a middle class couple in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 29, 1946. His father was white and his mother was black. After completing his undergraduate degree at the Federal University of … Read MoreCelso Pitta (1946-2009)
In the following account North Carolina State University historian Richard Slatta explores the little known history and heritage of South American cowboys of African and mixed race background. Many students of frontier societies, most notably Frederick Jackson Turner, have depicted the frontier as a place … Read MoreCowboys of Color in South America
William “Bill” Pinkney is the first African American, and only the fourth person in the world to circumnavigate the globe alone by boat. Pinkney was born on September 15, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois to Marion Henderson Pinkney and William Pinkney, Sr. He attended Tilden Tech … Read MoreWilliam “Bill” Pinkney (1935- )
Lagos is the largest city and chief port of modern Nigeria. The area that is now Lagos was settled by Yoruba people during the fourteenth century. The founders created a coastal village they called Eko. In the 1760s, Portuguese traders settled there and began using … Read MoreLagos, Nigeria (ca. 1350- )
Arthur Mitchell, co-founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), America’s first African American ballet company, was born in New York City, New York on March 27, 1934. Under Mitchell’s direction, Dance Theatre of Harlem rose to become one of the premier … Read MoreArthur Mitchell (1934-2018)
Born in St. Catherine, Jamaica on April 1, 1948 as James Chambers, the ska-reggae musician Jimmy Cliff proved to be an accomplished performer at an early age. At age 14, Chambers moved to Kingston and took the surname Cliff as a proclamation of the heights … Read MoreJimmy Cliff (1948- )
The Angolan Civil War, beginning at the time of the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975, was a 27-year struggle involving the deaths of over 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Initiated at the height of the Cold War, pro- and anti-communist forces in Angola set the … Read MoreAngolan Civil War (1975-2002)
Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua’s biography is the only known biography of a former slave from Brazil. Baquaqua was born around 1824 near Djougou in modern day Benin to a Muslim merchant family. Baquaqua was captured from Djougou in 1845 while acting as a messenger for a … Read MoreMahommah Gardo Baquaqua (ca. 1824-ca. 1857)
Benedita Souza da Silva Sampaio, prominent Brazilian politician and first Afro-Brazilian member of the senate in the country, was born on April 26, 1942, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to José Tobias de Souza and Maria da Conceição de Souza. Mother of two children, she … Read MoreBenedita da Silva (1942- )
