Black Multilingual Celebrities

Please check back regularly as this page is updated as more information becomes available.

Celebrities

​Ayo (born Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin), is an Afro-German singer-songwriter and actress. She speaks English, German and French.

Cassandra Steen is an Americo-German singer of African American origin. She sings in and speaks both English and German.

Donna Summer, the five time Grammy award winning “Queen of Disco” was fluent in German. She lived in Munich, Germany, later moved to Vienna, Austria, married an Austrian actor and had a child and granddaughter.

Djimon Gaston Hounsou is a Beninese-American actor and model, made famous in the U.S. with his role in Amistad. He speaks English, French and several dialects of Goun (Beninois).

Gina Torres is an Afro-Cuban American actress and singer that speaks English, Spanish and Russian.

Iman, Somali-American model, actress, entrepreneur, frequent muse for a few luxury designers and FGM survivor, speaks Somali, Arabic, Italian, French and English.

Kerry Washington is my favorite actress and most well known for her role as Olivia Pope in the Shonda Rhimes produced, Scandal, speaks English, Spanish and learned German for her role in the movie Django.

Mabou Loiseau is a 9-year-old polyglot from New York City that appeared on the Katie Couric show and stole our hearts. She dances, sings, plays the piano, speaks Haitian Creole, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Sign Language.

Phylicia Rashad, known for her role as Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show, speaks Spanish & English and
spoke it on the show.

Tatyana Ali is an Afro-Panamanian American singer and actress, famous for her role as “Ashley Banks” on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and her debut album “Kiss The Sky”, that went gold, speaks English and Spanish.

Zendaya, actress, singer and dancer, speaks English, French & Spanish.

Ester Rada is an Israeli actress and singer of Ethiopian origin, that has opened for Alicia Keys in Israel. She speaks Hebrew and Amharic.

Yityish “Titi” Aynam made history as the first black Miss Israel in 2013, she is an Ethiopian-born Jew that speaks English, Hebrew and Amharic.

Feven Ghebremicael is an Afro-Swedish rapper of Eritrean origin, who raps in and speaks both English and Swedish. Although unconfirmed, I believe she may also speak Amharic, Arabic and/or Tigrinya.

Joy Denalane, born Yvonne Davis, is an Afro-German soul singer of South African origin and sings in and speaks both English and German. She also speaks Afrikaans.

Leigh-Ann Pinnock is an English singer of Jamaican and Barbadian origin, and sings as part of the pop-quartet called Little Mix. The group was formed as a result of winning the UK’s version of X-Factor. She speaks English and French.

Motsi Mabuse is an Afro-German dancer, dance instructor, competition judge and TV personality of South African origin. She speaks German, English, Afrikaans and Setswana.

Nnekaan Afro-German singer of Nigerian origin, speaks English, German, Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin and has also studied French.

Omar Sy is an Afro-French actor of Senegalese and Mauritanian origin and Fulani descent. He speaks English and French.

Samy Sorge also known as Samy Deluxe is an Afro-German rapper of Sudanese origin and speaks English and German.

Waris Dirie, is a Somali-Austrian model, actress, author, social activist and FGM survivor. She speaks Somali, English & German.

​Zain Ejiofor Asher Balham is a Nigerian British anchor at CNN international and sister to the hot actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, of 12 Years A Slave fame. She speaks fluent Igbo and English.

Debu Jiada also known as Xiao De is an economics student at Heilongjang University from Guinea who appeared on the Chinese dating show titled “If You Are The One”. She speaks English & Mandarin.

Folorunsho Alakija, Nigerian, formerly the richest black woman in the world but is one of the top three, speaks English and (presumably) Yoruba.

Lou Jing is an Americo-Chinese singer of African American origin that cause controversy when she appeared in a Chinese reality singing competition show called Go! Oriental Girl speaking and singing in Chinese. She speaks Shanghainese and Chinese fluently.

Lupita Amondi Nyong’o, Mexican-Kenyan actress who speaks Spanish, English, Swahili, Luo and Italian.

Mama Africa, born Miriam Makeba, was Grammy award winning South African singer and civil rights activists, spoke English, French, Xhosa, Sotho and Zulu.

Trevor Noah, daily show host, hails from South Africa and speaks English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana and Tsongo as well as German.

Joakim Noah is an African-American professional NBA player for the New York Knicks. He speaks English and French. 

Will Smith is an actor, comedian, rapper and songwriter that speaks English and Spanish.

Serena Williams is an American tennis star, who speaks English, French & Italian

Holly Robinson Peete is an actress, author and singer who spoke four languages in College. As a result she speaks English and French. 

Dikembe Mutombo is a former NBA player of Congolese origin and the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program. He speaks English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Tshiluba, Swahili, Lingala, and two other central African languages.

Rashida Jones (daughter of music mogul, Quincy Jones), is an actress, vocalist, producer and director, who speaks English and French.

Morgan Freeman, is an actor, producer, narrator AND a pilot. He speaks English and French.

Katerina Alexandre Hartford "Kat" Graham is a Swiss-born American actress, model, singer and dancer. She speaks English, French, Spanish, some Hebrew and Portuguese.

J-Luv (born Julian Williams), is a German soul singer of African-American descent paternally. He speaks English & German.

Selly Raby Kane is a Senegalese fashion designer that was recruited by IKEA to design their 2019 flagship collection! She speaks French & English

Amii Stewart is an American singer, dancer and actress who speaks English & Italian.

DJ Cuppy (née Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola), is a Nigerian Music Producer and daughter of Billionaire Femi Otedola. She speaks English & French.

Tony Parker is a Belgian born, French professional NBA player of African-American and Dutch descent. He speaks English, French and conversational Italian.

Montell Williams is a show host, actor, author and motivational speaker. He speaks Latin, Russian and Mandarin fluently.

Angelica Nwandu, founder of The Shade Room, speaks English and conversational Spanish.

Luvvie Ajayi (born Lovette Ajayi), is an author and digital strategist. She speaks English & Yoruba.

Grace Jones is an Jamaican supermodel, actress and singer. She speaks English, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, German and French.

Tina Turner is a Grammy award winning singer, actress, dancer and author who speaks English, French & German. 

Gabrielle Union is an actress that speaks English & Spanish. 

Y'akoto (born Jennifer Yaa Akoto Kieck) is an Afro-German singer-songwriter of Ghanaian descent. She speaks English, Twi, German and French.

Zoe Saldana is an Afro-Latina actress of Dominican and Puerto Rican origin and Haitian and Lebanese descent. She speaks English & Spanish. 

Jada Pinkett-Smith is an actor, comedian, singer and songwriter. She speaks English and knows Spanish. 

Laz Alonso is an Afro-Cuban actor, who speaks English & Spanish.

Mpho' Ngoepe  is the first African-born player in the big leagues of baseball! He speaks two dialects of Sotho, Zulu, Afrikaans and English.

Nima El Bagir is an award winning journalist and correspondent for CNN, who is based in London and of Sudanese origin. She speaks English & Arabic.

Leila Ndabirabe is a Belgian model and beauty queen of Burundi origin. She is a former Miss Union Africaine 6éme Region. She speaks French, English, Dutch, German, a little Chinese, Swahili & Kirundi. 

Alphonso WIlliams is an African American who found fame in Germany as season 14 finale winner of the TV singing competition series called "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar" or DSDS, the German version of American Idol. He speaks German & English.

Bruce Darnell is a New York born, African American model and choreographer based in Germany. He speaks English & German.

Alek Wek is a British model of Sudanese origin. She speaks Dinka, Arabic and English. 

Wyclef Jean (born Nel Ust Wyclef Jean) is a 3 time Grammy award winning rapper, singer and actor of Haitian origin. He speaks English, French and Haitian Creole.

Adetomiwa Edun is an English actor of Ghanaian and Nigerian origin. He speaks English, French and Yoruba.

Sidney Poitier is an actor, director author and diplomat of Bahamian descent and unconfirmed Haitian ancestry. He speaks English and Russian.

Uzo Aduba is an award-winning, Nigerian actress. She speaks English and Igbo.

Zim Ugochuckwo is the Founder and CEO of Travel Noire. She speaks English, Hindi and knows Spanish.

Dusty Baker is a former marine reservist, a former Major League Baseball player and is currently a Major League Baseball manager. He speaks Spanish and English.

Debbie Allen is an actress, dancer, choreographer, and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Debbie speaks English and Spanish.
For even more information see my Instagram feed. 
Next Project

Comments

  1. I need to work on my French and Spanish

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Daetwan! I'm just seeing this comment but I hope my resource pages for French and Spanish help you. How have your studies been going in the meantime? Thanks for stopping by.

      xoxo,

      Language Bae

      Delete
  2. I don"t know why I'm just seeing this comment, but thank you so much! I appreciate that and am glad that this page helps.

    xoxo,

    Language Bae

    ReplyDelete
  3. The bit about Tina Turner spoke French and German is false. She did not speak any foreign language. She said that herself when she was living in France.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment