Barcelona is named after Amilcar Barca, the father of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. Amilcar Barca founded Barcelona in the third century BC.

Gibraltar comes from the name ‘Gebel Tarik’ (translated as ‘Mountain of Tarik’). Tarik was the African Moorish commander who captured the rock in 711 CE (Christian Era).

Black people outnumbered their white counterparts in 16th century Lisbon.

Bordeaux, Le Havre, Nantes and La Rochelle were the main slave trading ports in France.

Every soldier in Napoleon’s Royal African Regiment was a Black African.

Black people were members of governments and monarchies across Europe centuries before Britain elected its first Black MP. Gratien Candace was a French cabinet minister in 1932.
Blaise Daigne was a French cabinet minister in 1931.
Alcide Delmont was a French cabinet minister in 1928.
Severiano de Heredia – a Black man from Cuba, was the Minister for Public Works for France in 1888.
Severiano de Heredia was a French cabinet minister in 1887.
P.B.S. Pinchback was governor of Louisiana in 1873. Pinchback also served as a US senator.
Robert Small was born a slave. He rose to be a general in the US militia during the American Civil War. After the war Small served three terms in the US Congress.
Hiram R. Revels became the first African-American senator. He entered politics after serving as a chaplin in the US Army, during the Civil War.
King John VI of Portugal was of mixed heritage. In 1808 he transferred his throne to Rio de Janeiro – the first time a European country was ruled from the Americas.
Miguel Hennquez – a Cuban born man of mixed descent was appointed a Caballero de la Real Effie by Spain’s King Ferdinand VI.
Anthony William Amo – born in Africa and educated in Germany, was appointed State Counsellor at the Court of Berlin by the Prussian king.
Alessandro dei Medici whose mother was a Black African and his father Pope Clement VII became a Duke of Florence in the 16th century.

Barcelona is named after Amilcar Barca, the father of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. Amilcar Barca founded Barcelona in the third century BC. The word “Admiral” comes from “Amir-al-Bahr” (Lord of the Seas). Amir-al-Bahr was a commander of the North African sea rovers. The sea rovers were pirates who raided the coasts and ships of Europe, from ancient times to the 19th century.