Celebrating the trailblazing first female senate president of Jamaica who died at 82

It is pointless to acquire so much knowledge and experience and not share them with anyone. Otherwise, when you pass on, you go with what you learned. Jeanette Grant-Woodham was the first female president of the Senate of Jamaica who shared her knowledge with those she encountered and today she is hailed as a trailblazer. She died earlier this week.

Islands apart: Why does Barbuda want to split from Antigua?

One of the world’s favorite holiday destinations, the twin-island country of Antigua and Barbuda may no longer be one nation if Barbudans have their way in an upcoming parliamentary resolution on Thursday, September 17. Prime Minister Gaston Browne has already described the calls by the Barbuda Council, the local administration in the other half of the country, as “treasonous threats” that will fail.

James Forten, the wealthy sail maker who used his money to buy freedom for slaves

James Forten was in his teens when he joined others at Independence Square in July 1776 for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. To a young Forten, the declaration document applied to all Americans, not only whites and so when the Revolutionary War began, a 14-year-old Forten volunteered on privateering ships which attacked British merchant vessels, said biographer Julie Winch.

Did you know Africa’s iconic plastic bag is named after xenophobic tensions between Ghana and Nigeria?

This plastic bag, used over the continent and beyond, is known as Ghana Must Go after tensions in 1983 that saw Nigeria expelling Ghanaian immigrants.The special Ghana-Nigeria relationship birthed the name of the most famous woven nylon carrier bag on the continent, Ghana Must Go, but the story behind this is a rather ugly one that belies present amity between the two nations.

Chief judge of U.S. city where black women run the justice system fired.

Chief Justice Tiffany Sellers shot to fame last year when news broke that she and seven other black women make up the entire leadership of the criminal justice system of South Fulton, Georgia.

Successful Black Towns You Were Never Taught In History Class.

1. The town that now lies the Central Park: Seneca Village, N.Y.

One of the exclusive black towns in America is Seneca Village which was located in the present day Central Park. Seneca was founded by Epiphany Davis and Andrew Williams who were both African-American in 1825.

The story of Nat Turner’s Bible, a historic relic that inspired enslaved Blacks to rebel

When Nat Turner was captured after leading a bloody rebellion in August 1831, his Bible was with him, a book that would become an important piece of his complex story. The infamous revolt leader was dubbed “The Prophet”, as religion was a deep tie for him, and he often quoted Bible verses and held sermons.

Idubor, the giant warrior prince of Benin who could uproot palm trees with his bare hands

Idubor came into this world at a time Great Benin was an important state that flourished in southern Nigeria. Also known as Arhuanran (sometimes spelled Aruanran), Idubor would have been the Oba (king) of Benin in the 1500s had his birthright not been taken away from him and given to his younger brother, Esigie, who was born on the same day he was.

How Nigeria came to have its name

Nigeria's Victoria Island is home to many of the country's rich families and individuals. Photo Credit: PinterestNigeria, Africa’s most populous country and where one can find more Black people than in any other country on the planet, has a uniquely complicated colonial history.

The Black senator who could go to prison for ‘injuring’ a Confederate monument

Charges have been brought against Virginia Democratic state senator Louise Lucas and 14 others for the partial dismantling of a Confederate monument in June. According to Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene, the act caused “life-threatening” and “permanent injury” of a man. Some fellow Democrats say these charges are ridiculous as Lucas’s opposition to the racist confederate monument was ‘good trouble’, as John Lewis would have put it.

How the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father became VP candidate in U.S.

For two decades in public life, Kamala Harris has achieved a lot of firsts: the first Black woman to serve as San Francisco’s district attorney, the first woman to be California’s attorney general, first Indian American senator, and now, the first Black woman and first Asian American to be picked as a vice presidential running mate on a major-party ticket.

Ibrahim Njoya, the African king who created his own writing system that was destroyed by the French

King Ibrahim Njoya was between the years 1860 to 1933, the 17th ruler of Bamum, a large ethnic group located within what is now western Cameroon.Before his reign at the end of the 19 century, the history of the Bamum people was preserved primarily through oral transmission from one generation to the other.Out of fear that important historical facts of the Bamum could be erased or corrupted, Njoya introduced an alphabet that could be used to write down the history of his people.

Ever knew Halle Berry was Miss Ohio, Miss USA runner-up and first Black USA Miss World entrant?

You know 53-year-old Halle Berry as an academy award-winning actress. The only woman of African-American descent and the only woman of color to have won the Oscar for best actress. However, there was a time Berry was active on the beauty pageant circuit.

Belgian king apologises to DR Congo for colonial-era cruelty

Belgian King Philippe has expressed his "deepest regrets" to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the acts of cruelty committed during the years that his ancestor, Leopold II, presided over the DRC.

'This shouldn’t be "normal" in 2020 America' - Barack Obama issues a statement on the death of George Floyd

Former US President Barack Obama has issued a statement on the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after being pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis on Monday. Obama, 58, released a statement via his Twitter page, saying it "cannot be normal" in 2020 and urged the Minnesota authorities to 'ensure that the circumstances surrounding George Floyd's death are investigated thoroughly'.

75 years, one of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen has been buried after his body was found in Austria.

Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson, who is the first out of the 27 Tuskegee Airmen to be identified was finally laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery with full military honours on Friday, 75 years after his plane crashed in Austria. Serving at a time when the American Army was segregated, the Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American Aviators in America.

Remembering Latunde Odeku; first Black African neurosurgeon trained in the U.S.

Latunde Odeku was the first African-American neurosurgeon trained in the United States and Africa’s first neurosurgeon. Born Emmanuel Olatunde Alaba Olanrewaju Odeku on June 29, 1927, in Lagos, Nigeria, Odeku received his M.D. from the Howard University College of Medicine in 1954. The son of a Baptist deacon, Odeku obtained his preliminary education in Lagos, Nigeria, attending St. John’s School, Aroloya and later proceeded to the Methodist Boys’ High School where he took and passed the London Matriculation Examination in 1945. Odeku moved to the United States in 1947, where he would receive his undergraduate and professional medical education, graduating from Howard University with a B.S. degree in zoology in 1950.

What Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. wrote about his son’s assassination.

legendary civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., until he was fatally shot on this day in 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, was a preacher who used the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience to fight for equality and justice. At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, April 4, 1968, King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had come to lead a peaceful march in support of striking sanitation workers. News of King’s death sparked racial violence, leading to the death of more than 40 people nationwide.

Michelle Obama; the baby who became the first African-American First Lady

With Barack Obama becoming the 44th President of the United States, his wife Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama became the first African-American First Lady.

Ever wondered why The Gambia is called ‘The Smiling Coast’, here’s why

The Gambia is arguably one of the smallest countries in Africa, but its people are said to have the biggest hearts. The country is famously nicknamed ‘The Smiling Coast’ and it has over the last decade become a tourist hotspot. The Gambia is believed to be one of the friendliest and safest places to visit in the world. The country’s economy is heavily reliant on its tourism sector because of its hospitable and welcoming citizens. Also, due to its position on the map of Africa it has earned the nickname ‘The smiling Coast’.