Program Director of the James Webb Space Telescope project at NASA, Gregory Robinson, was a part of the historical event that took place on Christmas Day of 2021. Upon an Ariane 5 rocket at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, the $10 billion telescope … Read MoreGregory Robinson (1960- )
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
French teacher and politician Gratien Candace was born on December 18, 1873 in Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory. His father Edouard was born in Guadeloupe as well, only two years before slavery was formally abolished in France, in 1848. Candace is the first French black politician to hold office as a deputy … Read MoreGratien Candace (1873-1953)
Image Ownership: DocAnciens/docpix.fr French naval hero Camille Mortenol was born November 29, 1859 in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city in the French island colony of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea, the son of former slave André Mortenol, a sailor, and his wife, Julienne Toussaint, a seamstress. … Read MoreCamille Sosthène Héliodore Mortenol (1859-1930)
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” Born in Cayenne, French Guiana to parents Marc Saint-Yves Monnerville and Marie-Françoise Orville, Gaston Monnerville was the grandson of a slave. His family was from Case-Pilote in Martinique, but moved to French Guiana where two sons were born: Pierre and Gaston. … Read MoreGaston Monnerville (1897–1991)
Poet, editor, diplomat, and cultural theorist Léon Damas was born on March 28, 1912, in Cayenne, French Guiana. He was the youngest of five children born to parents Ernest and Marie Aline Damas. After his mother’s death in 1913, young Léon and his siblings were … Read MoreLéon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978)
On October 21, 1945, Madame Eugénie Tell Eboué, the widow of Félix Eboué, former Governor General of French Equatorial Africa, became the first woman of African descent to be elected to the French National Assembly in Paris. Born Eugénie Tell on November 23, 1891 in … Read MoreMadame Eugénie Tell Eboué (1891-1972)
Adolphe-Félix-Sylvestre Eboué, French Colonial Administrator, was the grandson of slaves but was born a free man on December 26, 1884, at Cayenne, French Guiana, a French colony whose residents had full French citizenship. Félix Eboué was the youngest son of the five children of Yves … Read MoreAdolphe-Félix-Sylvestre Eboué (1884-1944)
The literary movement, Negritude, was born out of the Paris intellectual environment of 1930s and 1940s. It is a product of black writers joining together through the French language to assert their cultural identity. Aimé Césaire was the first to coin the word in his … Read MoreNegritude Movement
