The First Black (and Latino) Astronaut

Arnaldo Temayo Mendez, of Cuba.
The first man of African heritage in Outer Space

Even before African-American Guion Blueford was launched into space on August 30, 1983, a Cuban of African heritage was sent into space with the Russian Soyuz was launched into space aboard Soyuz 38 from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 18, 1980.
His Résumé or Curricum Vitae includes the following:

• Director of the Military Patriotic Educational Society
• Brigadier General
• Director of International Affairs in the Cuban Rrmed Forces.
• Deputy in the Cuban National Assembly

He has been honored by the Cuban Government as "Hero of the Republic of Cuba."

Note: Guion Blueford, is the First African-American in Outer Space