World Black History Facts

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key historical figures, movements, milestones, and achievements in World Black History.

Carter G. Woodson

Founded Negro History Week in 1926, which became Black History Month in 1976.

Anthony Benezet

Established the first public school for African American children in the 1770s.

1619

The year the first Africans arrived in British America, marking the start of centuries of enslavement.

NAACP

Founded in 1909 to fight racial violence and discrimination.

Hiram Rhodes Revels

Became the first African American US Senator in 1870.

The Haitian Revolution

The first successful slave revolt in world history, establishing the first Black republic.

Kingdom of Kush

Ruled Egypt as the 25th Dynasty.

Timbuktu

Housed one of the world's oldest universities in the 12th century.

Mansa Musa of Mali

Widely considered the richest person in recorded history.

Great Zimbabwe

A major stone-built African city from the 11th to the 15th century.

Benin Bronzes

Represent one of the most advanced metalworking traditions in world history.

Queen Nzinga

Resisted Portuguese colonialism for decades in Angola.

The Swahili Coast

A global trade hub linking Africa, Arabia, India, and China.

Olaudah Equiano

Helped end the British slave trade with his autobiography in 1789.

Toussaint Louverture

The leader of the Haitian Revolution that led to the country's independence.

Nanny of the Maroons

Led Jamaican resistance against British rule.

Zumbi dos Palmares

Led Brazil's largest community of escaped enslaved people.

Samuel Sharpe

Sparked the 1831 Jamaican Baptist War, accelerating abolition.

The Amistad revolt

An 1839 revolt that became a landmark case for freedom in the US.

British Slavery Abolition Act

Ended slavery across most of the British empire in 1833.

Nelson Mandela

Known as 'the Conqueror of Apartheid' and became South Africa's first Black president in 1994.

Desmond Tutu

Led global anti-apartheid activism.

Kwame Nkrumah

Led Ghana to become the first independent sub-Saharan nation in 1957.

Patrice Lumumba

Became the Congo's first prime minister in 1960.

Haile Selassie

Modernized Ethiopia and influenced Pan-Africanism.

Wangari Maathai

The first black woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

The first black female Head of State in Africa in 2006.

Bob Marley

Globalized reggae and Pan-African consciousness.

Fela Kuti

Created Afrobeat and challenged Nigerian dictatorship.

Chinua Achebe

Wrote 'Things Fall Apart', a foundational African Novel.

Miriam Makeba

Used music to fight apartheid.

Josephine Baker

Became a French resistance spy and global entertainer.

Abebe Bikila

Won the Olympic marathon barefoot in 1960.

Pele'

Became soccer's first global superstar.

Pan-Africanism

Connected liberation movements across continents.

Negritude

Celebrated Black identity in Francophone nations.

Rastafari

Emerged in Jamaica with global cultural impact.

Afrofuturism

Blends Black culture with science fiction and futurism.

Carnival

A Caribbean festival that celebrates African heritage with music, dance, and colorful costumes.

Brazilian quilombos

Communities founded by escaped enslaved Africans.

Ghana

The first African country to gain independence from colonial rule in 1957.

Andrew Young

The first African American to serve as a U. S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Diane Abbott

The first Black British Member of Parliament.

Haiti

Became the first independent Black republic in the world in 1804.

1888 Brazil Abolition

The year Brazil officially abolished slavery, making it the last country in the Americas to do so.

Jamaica

Home to revolutionary Marcus Garvey, known for its significant influence on reggae music and Rastafarian culture.

Wole Soyinka

The first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Ethiopia

Known as the birthplace of human civilization.

Kofi Annan

The first Black Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Marcus Garvey

Instrumental in the Pan-African movement, inspired Black pride worldwide, and founded the UNIA.

The Middle Passage

The historic trade route that connected Africa to the Americas and Europe in the transatlantic slave trade.

African National Congress (ANC)

The movement that fought against apartheid in South Africa.

Ralph Bunche

A key contributor to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Univeral Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

The organization founded by Marcus Garvey to encourage Black unity and pride.

The Provincial Freeman

The first Black-owned newspaper in Canada, founded in 1853.

Lincoln Alexander

The first black Canadian elected to the House of Commons.