Africa Past & Present » Afripod

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (Loyola Marymount University) on the history and study of Africa and its Diasporas. He discusses the themes of his new book, Barack Obama and African Diasporas: Dialogues and Dissensions, as well as globalization and Africa, and changes over time in the nature and focus of African Studies.

Franco Barchiesi (Ohio State U) explains the precarious lives of South African workers and unemployed together with the role of politics and the impact of economic crises today. He also analyzes contests over social citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa and discusses the development of his own interest in South African labor matters.

Jabulani Sithole (UKZN) on why history matters in South Africa.  Sithole discusses his journey from activist to historian, and his research on the ANC and labor unions in KwaZulu-Natal, part of SADET’s landmark The Road to Democracy in South Africa series. He elaborates on Zulu identities and his role in renaming streets in Pietermaritzburg.

Photo: Tijani Sitou, My Embroidered Boubou and Pretty Radio, ca1978. Candace Keller (MSU Art and Art History) on her research on West African photographers, cultural histories, identities, and aesthetics from the 1940s to the present. Dr. Keller describes and explains the rich and varied photographic scene in Mali, its historical roots and aesthetic and technological components, discusses leading photographers such as Malick Sidibe and Seydou Keita, and examines recent global expressions of this fine art.

Mwalimu Deo Ngonyani (MSU Linguistics) on his research on Kikisi — a Bantu language spoken by 10,000 people on the shores of Lake Malawi in southwestern Tanzania. Ngonyani elaborates on projects committed to preserving ‘small’ languages and highlights the significance of government language policies, especially in regards to English and Swahili.

Wendi Manuel-Scott and Benedict Carton on the  ‘African Identities in the Age of Obama’ conference they organized recently at George Mason University. Bridging the gap between studies of Africa, African America, and the Caribbean, participants debated who and what does Obama represent? How do cultural aspects of the Obama phenomenon intersect with political and economic aspects?  What does Obama mean to people in Africa?

Historian Chuck Ambler (UTEP and African Studies Association president) on the work of the ASA and his ongoing research on African audiences ‘from Hollywood to Nollywood.’  He also discusses a manuscript-in-progress on mass media and popular culture in colonial and post-colonial Africa. With guest co-host Laura Fair.

Marika Sherwood (senior research fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London) on the history of the African diaspora in Britain. She discusses aspects of her 2007 book After Abolition: Britain and the Slave Trade Since 1807, the 1945 Pan Africanist Congress in Manchester, and Pan-African biographies.  Sherwood concludes by noting the inadequate treatment of black history in the UK school curriculum.

Historian Ned Alpers (UCLA) on changing trends in Indian Ocean history and Africa’s centrality within it. Drawing from over three decades of research and a recently published book, Alpers discusses east African views of the Indian Ocean; slavery and the slave trade; resistance and agency.  He concludes by reflecting on the  daunting challenges and exciting opportunities facing Indian Ocean historians today. With guest host Laura Fair.

Dr. Robert Vinson (History, College of William and Mary) on the spread of Garveyism in South Africa and its political and cultural impact.  Vinson explains how black men and women in the 1920s and 30s appropriated Garvey’s ideas of racial pride, pan-Africanism, and modernity to sustain themselves and to propel South Africa’s struggle for freedom.

Prof. Robert A. Hill (History, UCLA) on his life’s work as editor of The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers, a magisterial multi-volume series published by the University of California Press since 1983. Hill discusses the origins of his interest in Garvey and the “Africa for the Africans” movement — the largest organized mass movement in black history.  He sheds light on important editorial issues in the Garvey Papers project and reflects on Garvey’s legacy today.

Dr. Ibro Chekaraou, Dr. Waithera Karim-Sesay, Mamarame Seck on challenges and possibilities for African language study in North America. Focus is on pedagogy and language politics in Africa with specific reference to Hausa, Swahili, and Wolof.