History

Pope Nicholas V: The Pope Who Granted Portugal the Right to Enslave Africans in 1452

Pope Nicholas V, born Tommaso Parentucelli in 1397, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1447 until his death in 1455. While his pontificate is remembered for its contributions to art, and...

Eduardo Mondlane: The Mozambican Revolutionary Leader Assassinated by Portugal in 1969

Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane was a revolutionary leader, anthropologist, and co-founder of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), whose crucial involvement in Mozambique’s struggle for independence from Portuguese colonial rule ultimately led to his assassination. Born in N’wajahani, in the Mandlakazi district...

Betty Hemings: The Mixed-Race Slave Gifted as a Wedding Present to Thomas Jefferson’s Father-in-Law

Elizabeth Hemings was an enslaved woman who was given as a wedding gift to John Wayles and Martha Eppes, she spent her life in servitude, eventually bearing children with Wayles, one of whom, Sally Hemings, would later gain prominence...

The 1919 Lynching of American Veteran Bud Johnson, Whose Skull Was Shared as a Souvenir

Bud Johnson, was a 34-year-old African American farmer and World War I veteran, who was tortured and killed by a white mob after being falsely accused of assaulting a white woman. His tragic death sent a clear message that,...

The Execution of Phillis: The Enslaved African Burnt at the Stake for Poisoning Her Abusive Enslaver

Phillis, was an enslaved African woman in colonial Massachusetts, who was executed by burning at the stake in 1755. Alongside her with another enslaved man, Mark, she was accused of poisoning her abusive enslaver, John Codman, in retaliation for...

William Gibbons: The African Who Was Enslaved by a Professor at the University of Virginia

William Gibbons, born around 1825 in Albemarle County, Virginia, was an African American who was enslaved by a professor at the University of Virginia.

Harry and Harriette Moore: The First Martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States

In 1951, Harry and Harriette, were killed in their home when a bomb detonated just under their bedroom. The first martyrs of the civil rights movement in the US

Ruben Um Nyobè: The Anti-Colonialist Cameroonian Leader Assassinated by the French Army in 1958

Ruben Um Nyobè may not be widely known, but he was a significant figure in the African independence movement, fighting passionately for Cameroon’s independence from French colonial rule. His vision for a free and united Cameroon, along with his...

Prince William Ansah: The Ghanaian Prince Sold into Slavery on His Way to School in England

Prince William Ansah's family was one of the most influential in the 18th-century Gold Coast (now Ghana) and they engaged in human trafficking with the English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese. It was a booming business around that era. Prince William...

The Untold Story of Mathieu Léveillé: The Enslaved African Forced to Serve as an Executioner Until His Death

Born in 1709, Mathieu Léveillé was an enslaved African man who endured years of brutal oppression and was ultimately forced to become an executioner in New France (modern-day Canada) as punishment for attempting to escape his shackles. Before his forced...
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Quamina Gladstone: The Deacon Executed by the British in 1823 for Supporting Slave Rights

Quamina Gladstone was an African-born enslaved man in British Demerara (modern-day Guyana) whose religious leadership and moral authority placed...
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