A
Ahmad al-Ghazi
c. 1506–1543 · East Africa / Horn of Africa (
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, known as Ahmad al-Ghazi or 'Grañ' (the Left-Handed), was a military genius from the Adal Sul…
B
Toussaint L'Ouverture
1743–1803 · Haiti (Saint-Domingue)
Toussaint L'Ouverture was born enslaved on the island of Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti) and became the greatest milit…
C
Cetshwayo kaMpande
c. 1826–1884 · South Africa (Zulu Kingdom)
Cetshwayo kaMpande was the last king of an independent Zulu nation. Under his leadership, the Zulu army handed the Briti…
D
Dedan Kimathi
1920–1957 · Kenya
Dedan Kimathi was the field commander of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya — one of the most significant anti-colonial armed…
E
Emperor Menelik II
1844–1913 · Ethiopia
Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia led one of the most stunning military victories in world history — defeating a European c…
G
Gabriel Prosser
c. 1776–1800 · Virginia, USA
Gabriel Prosser was an enslaved blacksmith in Richmond, Virginia who organized the most sophisticated slave rebellion pl…
I
Imam Shamil
1797–1871 · Caucasus Mountains (Dagestan/C
Imam Shamil was the greatest guerrilla commander of the 19th century — a Muslim scholar-warrior who held the entire Russ…
K
Kimpa Vita (Dona Beatriz)
c. 1684–1706 · Kingdom of Kongo (Central Afri
Kimpa Vita, also known as Dona Beatriz, was a young Kongolese noblewoman who became a prophet, political leader, and rev…
M
Mansa Musa
c. 1280–1337 · Mali Empire (West Africa)
Mansa Musa was the emperor of the Mali Empire in West Africa and is considered by many historians to be the wealthiest p…
N
Nanny of the Maroons
c. 1686–1755 · Jamaica
Nanny of the Maroons was a military leader, spiritual guide, and freedom fighter who led a community of escaped enslaved…
O
Osei Tutu Kwame Asibe Bonsu
c. 1779–1824 · Ghana (Ashanti Empire)
Osei Tutu Kwame Asibe Bonsu was the Asantehene — supreme king — of the Ashanti Empire in West Africa, one of the most po…
Q
Queen Nzinga Mbande
c. 1583–1663 · Angola (Ndongo and Matamba Kin
Queen Nzinga Mbande was one of the greatest military and diplomatic minds in African history — a queen who fought the Po…
S
Samori Toure
c. 1830–1900 · West Africa (Guinea, Mali, Ivo
Samori Toure was the founder and ruler of the Wassoulou Empire in West Africa who fought the French colonial army for 16…
U
Uthman Digna
c. 1840–1926 · Sudan / Northeast Africa
Uthman Digna was a Sudanese military commander and one of the leading generals of the Mahdist movement who delivered two…
W
Waiyaki wa Hinga
c. 1865–1892 · Kenya (Kikuyu)
Waiyaki wa Hinga was a Kikuyu leader who led the first armed resistance against British colonialism in Kenya — and whose…
Y
Yaa Asantewaa
c. 1840–1921 · Ghana (Ashanti Empire)
Yaa Asantewaa was the Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire who, at approximately 60 years old, picked up a rifle …
HM
Thomas Sankara
1949–1987 · Burkina Faso
Thomas Sankara was the revolutionary president of Burkina Faso who transformed one of Africa's poorest countries in just…
HM
Patrice Lumumba
1925–1961 · Democratic Republic of Congo
Patrice Lumumba was the first democratically elected Prime Minister of an independent Congo — a Pan-African visionary wh…
HM
Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)
1925–1965 · United States
Malcolm X — El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz — was the most uncompromising voice for Black dignity and human rights in 20th cent…
HM
Shaka kaSenzangakhona (Shaka Zulu)
c. 1787–1828 · South Africa (Zulu Kingdom)
Shaka kaSenzangakhona — Shaka Zulu — was one of the greatest military innovators in world history, transforming a small …
HM
Omar Mukhtar — The Lion of the Desert
1858–1931 · Libya
Omar Mukhtar was a Libyan Islamic scholar and military commander who spent 20 years leading guerrilla resistance against…
HM
Assata Shakur (Joanne Chesimard)
1947–present · United States / Cuba
Assata Shakur — born Joanne Chesimard — is a Black liberation activist, member of the Black Panther Party and Black Libe…
HM
Gaspar Yanga
c. 1545–1618 · Mexico (Veracruz)
Gaspar Yanga was an enslaved African prince who escaped captivity in colonial Mexico and founded the first free Black se…
HM
Steve Biko
1946–1977 · South Africa
Steve Biko was the founder of South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement — a philosophy of psychological liberation tha…
HM
Fred Hampton
1948–1969 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Fred Hampton was the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party who, at just 21 years old, was building…
HM
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
1862–1931 · United States
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a journalist, investigator, and activist who single-handedly exposed the systemic truth about l…
HM
Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)
1941–1998 · United States / Guinea
Kwame Ture — born Stokely Carmichael — was one of the most important organizers of the American civil rights and Black P…
HM
Huey P. Newton
1942–1989 · Oakland, California, USA
Huey P. Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense — one of the most significant and feared r…
HM
Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi
1808–1883 · Algeria
Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi was the founder of the Algerian state and its greatest resistance leader — an Islamic scholar an…
HM
Hendrik Witbooi
c. 1830–1905 · Namibia (German South West Afr
Hendrik Witbooi was a Nama leader and Christian pastor in Namibia who, at age 74, picked up his rifle one final time to …
HM
Queen Mother Audley Moore
1898–1997 · United States
Queen Mother Audley Moore was a Black nationalist and Pan-African activist who is considered the 'Mother of Reparations'…
HM
Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole)
1897–1975 · United States
Elijah Muhammad was the leader of the Nation of Islam who transformed a small religious sect into a powerful institution…
HM
Geronimo (Goyaałé)
1829–1909 · Arizona/New Mexico (Apache ter
Geronimo — Goyaałé — was an Apache leader whose final resistance against the US and Mexican governments with just 38 war…
HM
Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake)
c. 1831–1890 · Great Plains (Lakota Sioux ter
Sitting Bull — Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake — was a Hunkpapa Lakota holy man and war chief who led one of the most famous military …
HM
John Brown
1800–1859 · United States
John Brown was a white abolitionist who believed that slavery was a war crime that required armed response — and who put…
HM
Khalid Abdul Muhammad
1948–2001 · United States
Khalid Abdul Muhammad was a Black nationalist and New Black Panther Party chairman whose uncompromising rhetoric about w…