1921 – Birth of Arthur Lewis, First Black Nobel Laureate in Economics

On May 11, 1921, Sir W. Arthur Lewis was born in Castries, Saint Lucia. He would go on to become the first Black person to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, awarded in 1979. His groundbreaking work on economic development, particularly in underdeveloped countries, reshaped global perspectives on poverty, labor, and industrialization. Lewis\’s “dual-sector model” emphasized the structural shift from agrarian to industrial economies, influencing development policy across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. A professor at Princeton and the London School of Economics, Lewis also served as an advisor to several African nations post-independence. His legacy endures in the institutions named after him and in economic policies rooted in empowerment over exploitation. May 11 commemorates the birth of a true intellectual pioneer in global Black history.