Courtesy of Adrianne George, Integrated Marketing Communications Consultant at AG Communications Group (Stockholm, Sweden)Black Women in Europe: Power List 2010View more presentations from Adrianne Geor...
Annie Turnbo Malone: A Black Philanthropist and Entrepreneur
Photo of Annie Turnbo Malone (1869-1957)Before Oprah Winfrey and Madame C.J. Walker there was Annie Turnbo Malone (aka Annie Minerva Turnbo Pope Malone and Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone), an African American entrepreneur and philanthropist during the early 20th century. Malone is reportedly the U.S.'s first black millionaire based on reports of $14 million in assets held in 1920 from her beauty and cosmetic enterprises. Early Life of Annie TurnboOn August 9, 1869, Robert Turnbo and Isabella Cook became parents to Annie in Metropolis, Illinois. Annie attended school in Illinois where she apprentenced with her sister as a hairdresser....
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: First Black President of South Africa
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the first black president of the Republic of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999On July 18, 1918, Mandela was born along the Mbashe River in the village of Mvezo, in the Umtata district. AllAfrica.com and the BBC both report that Mandela was "born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga." Mandela explains in his 1994 autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, that he was given the English name "Nelson" by his teacher Miss Mdingane on his first day at school, which he explains was a common practice within white South African institutions, where whites were unable or unwilling to pronounce African names.In Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela...
Kwame Nkrumah: Ghanaian Pan Africanist
Photo of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah (born: September 21, 1909 - died: April 27, 1972).First President of Ghana and a founding member of the Organization of African Unity.Kwame Nkrumah was born September 21, 1909 at Nkroful, Gold Coast (now Ghana). He was originally named after Francis Nwia-Kofi, an honored family personality. Son of goldsmith Kofi Ngonloma of the Asona Clan and Elizabeth Nyanibah of the Anona Clan, Nkrumah showed an early thirst for education. In 1930, Nkrumah completed studies at the acclaimed Prince of Wales’ Achimota School in Accra. Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, Assistant Vice Principal and the first African staff member...
Charles Hamilton Houston: Legal Social Engineer for a Just Society
As scholar, educator, and lawyer, Charles Hamilton Houston dedicated his life to fighting racism with the rule of law as an instrument for justice and social change. Early Life of Charles Hamilton HoustonCharles Houston owed much of his early success to his remarkably dedicated parents. He was born on September 3, 1895. His mother was Mary Hamilton Houston a stylist (seamstress and hairdresser) to Washington D.C. politicians. His father was William Le Pre Houston Houston, a general practice attorney for more than four decades in D.C. who also taught law practice management tat Howard University's law school.Photo of Charles Hamilton Houston...
Johannes Leo Africanus and the Recorded Legacy of Timbuktu
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Title page of A Geographical Historie of Africa byJohannes Leo Africanus (1600)Johannes Leo Africanus (c. 1494 - 1554) was a Moorish diplomat, traveler, historian, and writer best known for his book Description of Africa (Descrittione dell’Africa) which described North African geography, including the famed city of Timbuktu (Timbuctoo) in Mali, West Africa.In about 1494, Leo Africanus was born in Granada, a city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain. This was a major city on the Spanish (Iberian) peninsula. It had been conquered by the Moors of Africa for nearly 800 years. After Leo Africanus' birth,...
George Washington Carver: Scientist and Inventor
Picture of George Washington Carver (1864-1943)taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston in 1906“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” ~ George Washington CarverThe peanut butter packaged and sold by such American brands as Skippy was invented by George Washington Carver. In U.S. society, George Washington Carver is the first person of record to make oil out of the peanut. This is the same peanut oil that can be found on many grocery store shelves today. While many people know about these innovations, they do not know that Carver created from the peanut, pecan,...
Black Cowboys in America
Black cowboy with horse (cir. 1890), Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public LibraryThe black cowboy redefined the perception of what it means to be an American-born cowboy. For the black cowboy, being a cowboy became more of a way of independent family farm living that centered around family, outdoors cooking (lots of smoke outs and bar-b-ques on these farms), and maintaining a stable of horses alongside other farm raised animals. Actor Steven Williams with Madison "Nat Love" Walker at a Single Action Shooting Society meetingSome years back in Chicago, I was privileged to watch a traveling black rodeo show and was invited...
Seydou Keïta and the Genuis of Photography
Photo of the late photographer Seydou KeïtaSeydou Keïta was born in Bamako, Mali, Africa in 1921 (exact date unknown) and died November 21, 2001 in Paris, France. Keïta was the eldest child in a family of five children. His father, Bâ Tièkòró, and his uncle, Tièmòkò, were Malian furniture makers. Upon a return from Senegal to Mali in 1935, his uncle Tièmòkò is reported to have given Keïta a Kodak Brownie camera with film. Mountaga Traoré and French photographic supply store owner Pierre Garnier were among his biggest supporter as he honed his photography skills. Seydou Keïta Photography Studio in Bamako, MaliIn 1948, Keïta set up his...
What is Juneteenth?
Photo of Juneteenth Statute, Galveston Island, Texas, USA, commemorates the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at Ashton Villa, June 19, 1865Juneteenth is short for June 19th. It is celebrated as part of African American history, mostly in Texas and the South, to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. It dates back to 1865 when soldiers for the federal Union, led by Major General Gordon Granger, made it to Ashton Villa near Gavleston, Texas with news that the Union won the war and human slavery was illegal. This was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by the U.S. President Abraham...
Susan L. Taylor: Advocate for Mentoring
Video of Susan Taylor on mentoring as a tool to combat the public education crisisBorn January 23, 1946 in New York, Susan L. Taylor is now Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence magazine and founder of National CARES Mentoring. In this video she discusses countering the "pipeline to prison" course of failing schools through instituting local mentoring programs that tap into the wealth of support and know-how available from individuals within a community. Each one reach one. This clip was developed January 14, 2010 as part of The Lottery Film (thelotterfilm.com), a film by Madeleine Sackler, released in U.S. theaters...
