WYCLEF JEAN (1969 – ) Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician who ascended to stardom in the 1990s as a member of the remarkably successful hip-hop trio the Fugees. The music that Jean has written, performed, and produced — both as the lead member of the Fugees and as a solo artist — have…
PIERRE TOUSSAINT (1766 – 1853) Pierre Toussaint was born into slavery around 1766 in Haiti, when it was still a French colony. The man who owned him, Monsieur Bérard, ensured that Toussaint was educated and raised as a Catholic. As tensions rose in the colony, the Bérard family fled to New York, taking Toussaint…
PATRICK GASPARD (1967 – ) Patrick Gaspard is the Vice President of the Open Society Foundations. Prior to this role, he was a key figure in U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration and held a number of prominent roles during the president’s two terms in office. Gaspard was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo…
JEREMIAH HAMILTON (1806 – 1875) Jeremiah Hamilton was Wall Street’s first Black millionaire, and the only African American broker to join mid-19th-century New York’s millionaire’s club. He escaped Haiti in 1828 and began building his fortune by selling to both white and black entrepreneurs. Acclaimed actor and filmmaker Don Cheadle plans to adapt his…
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988) Jean-Michel Basquiat was an artist who became one of the most celebrated American “naif” painters of the Neo-Expressionism art movement in the 1980s. Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1960, to a Haitian immigrant father and a mother of Puerto Rican heritage, a combination which led to…
JANY TOMBA Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti to legendary Haitian painter Geo Remponeau and his wife Madeleine, Jany Remponeau Tomba moved to New York City as a young woman in 1965. In 1969, she embarked on a career that would make her one of the first black supermodels in the United States. After accepting a…
GARCELLE BEAUVAIS (1966 – ) Best known for her roles on both the big and small screens, Haitian-born actress Garcelle Beauvais has charmed audiences with her dramatic and comedic abilities. Born in the city of Saint-Marc, Beauvais immigrated to the United States at the age of seven with her mother and sisters. She began…
ANDRÉ BIROTTE JR. (1966 – ) André Birotte, Jr. was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first African American United States Attorney for the Central District of California. Birotte currently serves as the U.S. District Judge for that district, which includes San Bernardino County—the largest county in the nation. His confirmation to the…