Cover image: Sidney Bechet postage stamp
Image from Wikitimbres.fr

In thinking about the postage stamp and sculpture (both inaugurated in 2022) that honor Solitude, the woman who fought against the reinstatement of slavery on the island of Guadeloupe in 1802, I began to wonder how the French post office selects people to feature on stamps.

Solitude stamp

I learned that in France, anyone can propose a postage stamp subject.

All you need to do is send a philatelic issue proposal to Philaposte, the department of the French post office that deals exclusively with philately and centralizes all proposals.

The theme presented must be of national importance and can even be relevant internationally. 

Several French postage stamps feature African or Afro-descendant people.  The year the stamp is issued is indicated on the image.

Here are images of the ones I found online.

FRENCH

Gaston Monnerville stamp

Louis Delgrès stamp

Aimé Césaire stamp

Félix Eboué stamp

Camille Sosthène Mortenol stamp

Alexandre Dumas stamps

AFRICAN

Léopold Sédar Senghor stamp

Nelson Mandela stamp

AMERICAN (U.S.)

Miles Davis stamp

Sidney Bechet stamp

Louis Armstrong stamp

Josephine Baker stamp

If you have the time and inclination to search for additional stamps, visit WikiTimbres.fr.