The creators acknowledge the presence of the interagency contributions to the foreign affairs realm, and welcome additional content to showcase the achievements of African-Americans in other relevant USG agencies.
African-Americans continue to leverage knowledge of global issues and create linkages with people of color throughout the world to gain insight and allies in the struggle for equal rights.
Whether the influence came from civic organizations, religious institutions or charismatic leaders, the African-American voice has not been silent in articulating their views on how foreign policy should be created.
[1] The first African American diplomat, Yale graduate Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Minister Resident and Consul General in Haiti in 1869.
From Bassett's appointment in 1869 through the 1930s, the United States sent scores of African American ministers, consuls, and other officials to regions including Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
During this period, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its predecessor organization also hired a number of African Americans who distinguished themselves as senior diplomats.
The former United States Information Agency began an active recruitment effort aimed at African Americans in the latter part of the 1950s and 1960s and attracted numerous officers who achieved ambassadorial rank.
Recent efforts made by Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, Colin L. Powell and Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton to increase diversity in the Department and to attract more minorities to the Foreign Service bode well for augmenting the under-representative number of African Americans in the Service and for achieving a broader geographical distribution of African American Ambassadors throughout the world.
Vincent Lamantia of New Orleans was a Sicilian-Egyptian diplomat and General Consul to Catania, Sicily from the USA appointed by President Grover Cleveland in 1887 according to Senate nomination.
Before his December 2007 appointment as Ambassador to the Gambia, Wells was named in February 2007, as the Department's first Chief diversity officer following a 17-year career at the Foreign Service Institute, and culminated as Deputy Director.
Clifton R. Wharton, Sr. First African-American Assistant Secretary of State Barbara M. Watson became Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs on July 31, 1968, and served until December 31, 1974.
He was committed to pursuing foreign policy challenges including: bringing a "responsible end" to the war in Iraq and refocusing on the broader region; Building the first truly 21st-century military and showing wisdom in how we deploy it; Marshaling a "global effort" to secure, destroy, and stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction; Rebuilding and constructing the alliances and partnerships necessary to meet common challenges and confront common threats," including global warming; and investing in our common humanity through foreign aid and supporting the pillars of a sustainable democracy – a strong legislature, an independent judiciary, the rule of law, a vibrant civil society, a free press, and an honest police force.
The following chronological listing highlights Ambassadorial level African-American bilateral and multilateral Chiefs of Mission including non-career appointees and Career Foreign and Civil Service Officers throughout history.
This section highlights African-Americans that have provided leadership and served with distinction formulating policy that influenced Foreign Affairs on Capitol Hill and across the globe.
The conference concluded that the absence of African-Americans in high-level international affairs positions, and the general neglect of African and Caribbean priorities, could only be corrected by the establishment of a private advocacy organization.
An ad hoc committee consisting of Randall Robinson, Herschelle Challenor, and Willard Johnson formulated an organization design.
TransAfrica's activism, legislative campaigns and strategic media work, coupled with a global solidarity movement, hastened the end of apartheid.
It was created by a group of African-American and Caucasian civil rights activists who had organized support for the historic Defiance Campaign in South Africa the previous year.
After contemplating how best to meet the needs and demands of nearly 20,000 constituents, the Summit's Board of Directors and Secretariat voted to establish an organization devoted to educating Americans of all backgrounds, ages and statuses about the continent of Africa.
To meet this goal, The Africa Society was launched in January 2002 at an event sponsored by one of its primary partners, Discovery Communications, LLC.
In establishing IFESH in 1981, Reverend Sullivan set out to assist African nations in their efforts to eradicate poverty, disease and inequity through self-help partnership programs, which continues to be its mission.
Through these opportunities and with strategic partnerships, minority institutions can produce cutting-edge concepts and develop research to solve the nation's most pressing concerns.
Founded by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson in 1996, RPC works to make the American Dream a reality for all citizens and advocate for peace and justice around the world.
Rainbow PUSH's mission is to protect, defend, and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields, and to promote peace and justice around the world.
RPC's headquarters is in Chicago and has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and Oakland.
[37] This section provides a brief snapshot of publicly available workforce statistics for U.S. Foreign Service Officers at the Department of State and USAID.
This percentage falls short of the number of African Americans in the civilian workforce and the general population but represents, over time, efforts to promote diversity through senior-level appointments and recruitment into the career Foreign Service.