by Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Brothers and sisters, I just received this communique from Brothers James McIntosh and Omowale Clay in reference to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. And it looks as though the gauntlet has been thrown down - again.
I probably don’t really have to say anything, because their letter stands for itself. But that would be too easy, particularly when I, myself, as a New Yorker, have some very strong opinions and concerns about the future of one of the greatest repositories of Black Culture ever.
So, prior to my sharing their letter with you, allow me to make some simple statements (and you know that with me, nothing is ever “simple”).
In the first place who tells your story (our story) and who shapes your history (our history) has a great deal of control over you/us. It was for this reason that Arturo Schomburg started the Schomburg library in the first place. Not because he wanted the New York Public Library to control it, but because he wanted to be sure that our truth about us was in our hands and under our control. When he started the Schomburg collection, nobody was telling our story, and when they did it was distorted, full of lies, and as an afterthought.
Secondly, when it came to who would be the lead factor in the continuation of that truth and the flow of information for and about the Black community, we have been more than adequately served by Dr. Howard Dodson from 1982 to the present. Not only was Dodson a scholar, but he had flair, panache and a love of the Black community of New York and the world that could not be denied. And of course, we in turn loved him back. Under Dodson the Schomburg expanded, grew and became the central gathering place for scholars, students, celebrities -- all wanting to be a part of the very rich and live history that is ensconced within those walls.
We, the Black community, was very clear when we stated that Dr. Dodson’s stepping down would leave a hole in the community, and some very big footsteps to follow. Very big indeed. We were also very clear when we stated that in order for the progress that has been made under Dodson to continue unabated, we had already done our research and selected Dr. Molefi Asante, scholar, historian, and lover of Black people and their history to fill those considerable shoes.
As usual, as is their wont, it seems that white folks just can’t refrain from trying those divide and conquer games. They’ve been doing it since slavery, and they have it as a habit somewhere deep in their subconscious minds. Even though they don’t say it, it’s obvious that they still operate under the Plessy v. Ferguson case where Supreme Court (in-)Justice Roger B. Taney stated that a Black man had no rights that a white man was bound to respect.
And the New York Public Library’s ersatz search committee is operating under the same rubric. Even though a panel was held to discuss the upcoming selection of the successor to Dr. Dodson, and the Black community clearly expressed their selection (read choice), under LeClerc, they pretended to work with the Black community, having brought Dr. Asante to New York four (4!!!!!) times for interviews. Then, schizophrenically they turned in another direction and chose a complete and totally different candidate.
Then, adding insult to injury, they had the temerity and the gall to promulgate the announcement under the signature of Henry Louis “skip the truth” Gates!!
Gates of all people, who had the nerves to say that Black did not deserve reparations; followed some inanities stating that African had brought slavery upon themselves. If my memory serves me correctly - and it does - the Black community castigated Gates for not being or acting in the best interest of Black people It was obvious that Gates has drifted to the “white side” (not unlike Darth Vader’s drift to the dark side - same sinister meaning). In fact, I think we, the Black community, made it clear that Gates was not to have anything to do with the selection of our next head of the Schomburg because he had clearly shown his insensitivity to the needs of Black people (Gates defection to the “white side” is a story for another time - check www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot for additional commentaries on Gates). His involvement in the affairs of Black New Yorkers was not welcome or desired.
Those wishes clearly were not honored either. So, thinking they can play their modern version of “divide and conquer,” the NYPL search committee (and those that back them who are the real culprits) are looking to pit two equally competent scholars (Asante and Muhammad) against each other, with the possibility of the Black community falling on either side of the line.
But the Black community has already spoken. And we did not stutter!! Just as we did not stutter in 1982 when we stood for Howard Dodson over the white selection for the Schomburg!
However, we are not going to play diversionary tactics with the vapid New York Public Library, either. The Schomburg Library is one of Harlem’s finest centers for Black History and Research. It was not designed by the NYPL. It will not be mismanaged by the NYPL, or those who only deign to show up and make decisions that are not in our best interest when it pleases them.
The Black community is solidly behind Dr. Asante, and will back up the Save the Schomburg Coalition in ensuring that our selection for head of the Schomburg, Dr. Molefi Asante, is the one who is hired. It’s our library; it’s our research center; it‘s our community. And Dr. Asante is our choice.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
THE LETTER FROM THE COALITION FOLLOWS:
As many of you might know, The Save the Schomburg Coalition is engaged with the New York City Library in a battle for who will direct the Schomburg. Because we stepped to the library with a candidate of indisputable credentials of the highest order, Dr. Molefi Asante, they choose the familiar course of divide and conquer. After giving Dr. Asante four interviews the New York Library Administration (led by President Paul LeClerc) announced this past week the selection of Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, who they (the library) made great efforts to point out is the Great Grandson of Elijah Muhammad.
Although we can appreciate this young developing scholar, we thought it necessary to engage him in the context of what is at stake in Harlem today and the role WE must play in its defense and development.
The letter to our young brother follows - we will not be divided in this battle to Save The Schomburg. Please Forward far and wide, inclusive of whatever press contacts you know. A Luta Continua
Subject: SAVE THE SCHOMBURG: A CONVERSATION AMONG BROTHERS
November 24, 2010
Greetings Dr. Muhammad,
We know you are a person of quick understanding so we will be as brief as we can. In 1982, the NYC Public Library announced the appointment of a white curator of The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. We of the Schomburg Coalition let them know that this was unacceptable.
Demonstrations were held at the home of the appointee. Two of our members, Charles Barron who is currently a NYC Councilman, and Preston Wilcox, now an ancestor were arrested during that struggle. A lawsuit was filed against the Library by Attorney Alton Maddox and after a protracted struggle, the Library was forced to appoint Dr. Howard Dodson, selected by the Schomburg Coalition from the resumes that the City had previously thrown in the garbage.
When it was announced this year, that this position would soon again become open, we sent an open letter to Paul LeClerc, NYPL Board Chair. We informed Mr. LeClerc that America's foremost scholar in African/African-American History was making himself available for the Directorship of the Schomburg. A coalition once again formed (Save the Schomburg Coalition) to demand Dr. Molefi Asante's appointment.
The (New York Public Library) engaged in a public relations battle --writing letters to the Amsterdam News, New York City’s largest Black secular newspaper, claiming that some members of the Black community were responding to rumors that whites wanted to move the Library and dismantle it etc. They hired the foremost Black PR firm in the city to hold a community forum to assuage these concerns and the Coalition’s alleged response to “rumors”.
All of this was done to avoid dealing with a united effort to support Dr. Asante's selection. At that community forum, the coalition showed up in numbers and made the same demand. A few days after that a small meeting was held between NYPL Board Chair Paul LeClerc, officials from the library, the Mellon Foundation and 5 representatives of the Schomburg Coalition-- Dr. Adelaide Sanford, Charles Barron, Camille Yarbrough, and the two of us whose signatures appear at the end of this letter. Board Chair Paul LeClerc was given Dr. Asante's sixty page curriculum vitae, which documented his scholarship, administrative experience and teaching credentials; all evidence of a history of professionalism that has encompassed the publication of seventy books, over 400 published papers and being named by an international conference of African scholars as "one of the top ten greatest minds in the African world today”.
At that meeting, Mr. LeClerc was again informed that the Black community was poised to fight if Dr. Asante was not invited to apply for this position. Within 48 hours, Dr. Asante was invited to an interview - and so began an amended search process which involved Dr. Asante being interviewed a total of four times.
History informs our firm belief that the selection of Dr. Asante for the position of Director of the Schomburg Center, backed by an united Black community, inclusive of a united front of his colleagues (who declined their own consideration for the directorship in support of Dr. Asante’s candidacy), presented a formidable dilemma to the New York City Public Library System and the Bloomberg administration. Those candidates that had an inside track to the directorship, now had to compete with a Black man whose life’s work presented an insurmountable hurdle to overcome.
The NYPL eventually settled on a course of action they felt would divide our community by selecting a young Black man, with a blood linkage to a historic figure (Elijah Muhammad) of the Black Nationalist Movement in this country. We recognize you as a young and gifted African historian. As such, we thought it critical to put your selection to the Directorship of the Schomburg in the context of the history that has defined our struggle for community control over this valuable institution. In this context we would ask that you carefully review and evaluate the Schomburg struggle.
Most importantly, it is our hope that you understand that outside of the context of a Black community demand, Library officials such as, Mr. LeClerc, Henry "Skip the truth" Gates and their associates, would have attempted to choose a non-Black, as they did the last time this position became open. This letter is an open communication between the Schomburg Coalition and you. It is our request that you discuss with us the way forward in this situation, having been informed of the process that occurred before your appointment.
We recognize that you have been placed in a difficult situation. Let’s have a conversation that puts the integrity of our community first. We plan on sending an open letter to Paul LeClerc which will reflect the Coalition’s position on this critical community issue. We hope that at that time we/you will have a better insight into the history and direction of this fight to Save the Schomburg. Respectfully, James C. McIntosh, M.D. and Omowale Clay Co - Chairs, Coalition to Save the Schomburg(Formerly known as Schomburg Coalition)
FootNote from GDW:
Now that you’ve read the letter, there are several things that we must consider going forward. Both Dr. Asante and Dr. Muhammad are wonderfully talented, intelligent, empowered Black men. So we are not trying to set up any sort of situation that would dignify one while denigrating the other. We likewise are no longer willing to allow others to make key decisions for us, when we are perfectly capable of making them for ourselves.
When they purport to make these decisions it becomes “his-story” not history - or their story, not our story. When they try to keep us off balance, playing keep away with our rights, we have every right not to adhere to their edicts.
In case you haven’t been watching the international (world) news lately, it may be of interest to note that the rest of the world is likewise finding this out for themselves. In London, where there have been proposed massive cutbacks in education, the student, from elementary to college level have turned out enmass on the steps of Buckingham Palace to let it be know that “they’re mad as hell and aren’t going to take it any more. The surrounded the police, turned over a few police cars, and got the message across.
Not only are we facing the Schomburg leadership issue; Bloomberg is trying to foist Kathie Black on the community as the next Chancellor, even though the community has made it clear that she is patently unqualified. In New York we’re facing cutbacks in education, including public, charter and head start programs. We’re witnessing massive layoffs in our schools on both the public and charter school levels; and threatened job layoff at the city and state level, while at the same time they increase MTA and Transit costs; water bills, utilities, all increasing, while the needs of the people, of those who truly make up the communities are ignored. Why aren’t we as mad as hell like they are in other parts of the world. While Wall Street gets bonuses, we are getting banged. It’s time to do some “banging” back; make some national headlines.
Make it known that we are not sheep to be herded about while they take liberties with our liberty. So, after reading this, make sure you pass it on.
More importantly, though, get in touch with Dr. McIntosh and Omowale Clay to find out what you can do to help bring Molefi Asante on board as head of the Schomburg; and beyond that what do we need to do to shape our the Black community into a viable, supportive, empowered environment for us and our families.
In fact, if we can get the various groups who are objecting to the way things are being run (read, ruined) around here, to gather and not only protest, but shut down the city and the state simultaneously, we too might get some national and international attention.
The time for side lining, half stepping, fence sitting, or sending long distance support is past. It’s really time for visibility and viability.
The Schomburg is only emblematic of so many egregious acts perpetrated by the infrastructure against the Black community. It has to stop NOW. We not only have to stop it, but we have to make sure that we get what we want NOW.
Stay blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog/ ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS
For Eclectic Black People
VIP: Views . Interests . Perspectives
Showing posts with label Howard Dodson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Howard Dodson. Show all posts
9.21.2010
“Molefi Asante the Next Director of The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture?” I Truly Hope So!!
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
I received the above captioned press release recently in reference to the Schomburg Center selection of a new leader; and am reprinting it, with a few editorial notes, for your edification and information.
As I stated some months before, I am, along with so many other brothers and sisters, wholeheartedly support Brother Molefi Asante becoming the next chair of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Brother Howard Dodson, who has had the position for 25 years has left some mighty big footprints to follow; and it would take someone of Asante‘s caliber to come behind him.
Asante, the author of 70 books on African culture, lectures on African history and culture at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, has toured extensively throughout the Motherland, and is actively involved in proactive activities for Africans and African Americans.
More than just a library or a repository of our Black history here in the US, Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the universe, the Schomburg Center is where Black people gather with the brightest and best amongst us to share information, provide documentation, and expand our knowledge of who we are and who we can become as individuals and as a people. It was started by a Black man for and about Black people. And, even though it is currently under the auspices of the New York Public Library, it must still resonate to the needs and history of Black people, in the same way that museums of and for Jewish History, or American Indian History, or East Indian History would have to do for their people.
And at the present time, while deliberations are being made as to who will follow in Howard Dodson’s foot steps, the consensus of the village -- I.e. Black people -- is that Molefi Asante is their new leader of choice for the Schomburg. As was stated at a recently held town hall meeting, hosted by PR Diva, Terrie Williams, Molefi Asante was and is most logical choice to continue the good work started under Dodson. However, as James McIntosh cautioned the audience, it still rested with the community not to assume that the mainstream would act in the best interest of the community. “We must not assume that they will carry out our wishes just because we held this meeting. We must make sure we stay on top of the issues and stay involved.”
And so it was that recently, on Saturday September 18, 2010, Molefi Asante spoke to a standing room only crowd at the John Henrik Clark House, in Harlem. His topic “Afrocentricity in the Age of Obama.” Anytime Asante comes to the New York community, it is a cause for celebration. Indeed, there is usually a lot of preliminary advertisement about his arrival.
However, this was relatively short notice for his appearance at Clarke House. Asante was actually in New York that Saturday for an interview for the position of Director of the Schomburg. Because it was such short notice, Solomon Goodrich, Chair of the Board of Education for People of African Ancestry, pulled the event together at the last minute. Dr. James McIntosh of CEMOTAP, Omowale Clay of December 12th Movement and Bernard White of Take Back WBAI helped get the word out and the people in.
Unfortunately, yours truly, along with so many others, was in D.C. for the Congressional Black Caucus’s 40th anniversary celebration. I would have loved to have been here for that event.
Asante covered the breadth of the African World from the Caribbean to Latin America to Europe and Africa, with a grasp of African history, politics, religion, literature and folkways that is the hallmark of his career. He also spoke of the difficult time the “Tea Party” is having in believing in, and accepting, a Black leader of the United States Government.
Asante covered the challenges President Obama faces as President of the United States: 1. Fierce and desperate pressure from the right (Teapot Movement) charging under the banner “Let’s take back America,” 2. The structural protections and controls built into the American Governmental System designed to assure that Americas Corporations will ultimately always be the ones essentially in control and 3. Lack of enough pressure from the Black Electorate.
Asante correctly identified the fact that corporate control was so extensive that “the United States Government would actually function even if there were no office of the president. If that had not been the case, the entire government would have collapsed under Reagan (who was virtually not there the entire time he was in office).
Asante made it clear, however, that properly educated, organized and mobilized, African People have the power to determine their own destiny. He said that with enough pressure Obama would be able and would in fact perhaps be “willingly forced” to represent African interests to a greater degree. Asante said there there are right wing websites that have actually accused Obama of being a follower of Dr. Molefi Asante.
He asserted that the system that exists in the American Government also exists in the Academic world. Activist and December 12th Movement veteran, Omowale Clay was the first to pick up on the parallel processes suggested by Asante’s lecture. He compared the community struggle to protect our history at the Schomburg to the struggle to protect our political rights. He called for greater efforts to support the Freedom Party and their Black Candidate for New York State Governor Charles Barron. Clay exhorted the crowd to show up in strength at the African American Parade scheduled for the following day.
He made it clear that he wanted the position of Director of the Schomburg and that he is qualified and has a plan that would make the Library serve its stated mission. He said that although he had been interviewed that day he had not (yet) been offered the position and that indeed others were being interviewed soon. That was not what the crowd wanted to hear.
Though Asante never asked the crowd for their support; nor did he say that it was the sort of energy that will be needed to make Library and City officials be fair in the selection process, it was clear that he was moved by their enthusiasm.
To give those of you who are not familiar with Professor Assante’s background, I’m including an overview of his bio below.
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Professor of Temple University’s Department of African American Studies, is considered by his peers to be one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars.
Asante’s most recently published books are Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait, An Afrocentric Manifesto, Encyclopedia of African Religion, co-edited with Ama Mazama, The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony, Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait, Handbook of Black Studies, co-edited with Maulana Karenga, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, co-edited with Ama Mazama, Race, Rhetoric, and Identity: The Architecton of Soul, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation, Ancient Egyptian Philosophers, Scattered to the Wind, Custom and Culture of Egypt, and 100 Greatest African Americans. The second edition of his high school text, African American History: Journey of Liberation, 2nd Edition, is used in more than 400 schools throughout North America. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of African Religion, co-edited with Ama Mazama, will be published by Sage Publications in December 2008.
Asante has been recognized as one of the ten most widely cited African Americans. In the 1990s, Black Issues in Higher Education recognized him as one of the most influential leaders in the decade.
After graduating from Oklahoma Christian College in l964, and completing his M.A. at Pepperdine University in l965, he received his Ph.D. from UCLA. He chaired the Communication Department at SUNY-Buffalo. While at Southwestern Christian College, Asante met Essien Essien, a Nigerian scholar, who inspired Asante to learn more about Africa. After completing his undergraduate degree, Smith undertook studies of African languages and literature. He began to visit Africa frequently and spent a year on the continent in 1982, while serving as director of the English language journalism curriculum at the Zimbabwe Institute of Mass Communications.
Dr. Asante later became chair of the African American Studies Program at Temple University where he created the first Ph.D. Program in African American Studies in 1987. He has directed more than 140 Ph.D. dissertations. He has written more than 400 articles and essays for journals, books and magazines and is the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity.
Born one of sixteen children in Valdosta, Ga., Asante is a poet, dramatist, and painter. His work on African culture and philosophy and African American education has been cited by journals such as the Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Communication, American Scholar, Western Journal of Black Studies, and Africaological Perspectives. The Utne Reader called him one of the “100 Leading Thinkers” in America. In 2001, Transition Magazine said “Asante may be the most important professor in Black America.”
His TV appearances include Nightline, Nighttalk, BET, McNeil Lehrer News Hour, Today Show, the Tony Brown‘s Journal, Night Watch, Like It Is and 60 Minutes and as well as hundreds of local and international TV shows.
He has appeared in several movies including “500 Years Later,” “The Faces of Evil,” and “The Black Candle.” In 2002 he received the distinguished Douglas Ehninger Award for Rhetorical Scholarship from the National Communication Association.
The African Union cited him as one of the twelve top scholars of African descent when it invited him to give the keynote address at the Conference of Intellectuals of Africa and the Diaspora in Dakar in 2004. He was inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University in 2004.
Dr. Asante holds more than 100 awards for scholarship and teaching including the Fulbright, honorary doctorates from three universities, and is a guest professor at Zhejiang University.
In 1995 he was made a traditional king, Nana Okru Asante Peasah, Kyidomhene (Chee dom heni) of Tafo, Akyem, Ghana. Dr. Asante has been or is presently a consultant for a dozen school districts.
He is the Chair of the United States Commission for FESMAN III to be held in Dakar, Senegal in 2011. He is the father of the filmmaker and writer, M. K. Asante who teaches creative writing at Morgan State University.
Asante was elected in September, 2009, by the Council of African Intellectuals as the Chair for the Diaspora Intellectuals in support of the United States of Africa. Dr. Molefi Asante believes it is not enough to know the truth, one must act to humanize the world.
Dr. Asante is often compared to the Schomburg’s first Curator Arturo Schomburg. He is also likened to John Henrik Clarke, the man for whom Clarke House is named. Dr. Molefi Asante is a master teacher, thinker, activist, and leader, and a great choice to take the Schomburg to the next level of greatness. Now it's up to us to make sure that we do our part in making our wishes known to the selection committee.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
I received the above captioned press release recently in reference to the Schomburg Center selection of a new leader; and am reprinting it, with a few editorial notes, for your edification and information.
As I stated some months before, I am, along with so many other brothers and sisters, wholeheartedly support Brother Molefi Asante becoming the next chair of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Brother Howard Dodson, who has had the position for 25 years has left some mighty big footprints to follow; and it would take someone of Asante‘s caliber to come behind him.
Asante, the author of 70 books on African culture, lectures on African history and culture at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, has toured extensively throughout the Motherland, and is actively involved in proactive activities for Africans and African Americans.
More than just a library or a repository of our Black history here in the US, Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the universe, the Schomburg Center is where Black people gather with the brightest and best amongst us to share information, provide documentation, and expand our knowledge of who we are and who we can become as individuals and as a people. It was started by a Black man for and about Black people. And, even though it is currently under the auspices of the New York Public Library, it must still resonate to the needs and history of Black people, in the same way that museums of and for Jewish History, or American Indian History, or East Indian History would have to do for their people.
And at the present time, while deliberations are being made as to who will follow in Howard Dodson’s foot steps, the consensus of the village -- I.e. Black people -- is that Molefi Asante is their new leader of choice for the Schomburg. As was stated at a recently held town hall meeting, hosted by PR Diva, Terrie Williams, Molefi Asante was and is most logical choice to continue the good work started under Dodson. However, as James McIntosh cautioned the audience, it still rested with the community not to assume that the mainstream would act in the best interest of the community. “We must not assume that they will carry out our wishes just because we held this meeting. We must make sure we stay on top of the issues and stay involved.”
And so it was that recently, on Saturday September 18, 2010, Molefi Asante spoke to a standing room only crowd at the John Henrik Clark House, in Harlem. His topic “Afrocentricity in the Age of Obama.” Anytime Asante comes to the New York community, it is a cause for celebration. Indeed, there is usually a lot of preliminary advertisement about his arrival.
However, this was relatively short notice for his appearance at Clarke House. Asante was actually in New York that Saturday for an interview for the position of Director of the Schomburg. Because it was such short notice, Solomon Goodrich, Chair of the Board of Education for People of African Ancestry, pulled the event together at the last minute. Dr. James McIntosh of CEMOTAP, Omowale Clay of December 12th Movement and Bernard White of Take Back WBAI helped get the word out and the people in.
Unfortunately, yours truly, along with so many others, was in D.C. for the Congressional Black Caucus’s 40th anniversary celebration. I would have loved to have been here for that event.
Asante covered the breadth of the African World from the Caribbean to Latin America to Europe and Africa, with a grasp of African history, politics, religion, literature and folkways that is the hallmark of his career. He also spoke of the difficult time the “Tea Party” is having in believing in, and accepting, a Black leader of the United States Government.
Asante covered the challenges President Obama faces as President of the United States: 1. Fierce and desperate pressure from the right (Teapot Movement) charging under the banner “Let’s take back America,” 2. The structural protections and controls built into the American Governmental System designed to assure that Americas Corporations will ultimately always be the ones essentially in control and 3. Lack of enough pressure from the Black Electorate.
Asante correctly identified the fact that corporate control was so extensive that “the United States Government would actually function even if there were no office of the president. If that had not been the case, the entire government would have collapsed under Reagan (who was virtually not there the entire time he was in office).
Asante made it clear, however, that properly educated, organized and mobilized, African People have the power to determine their own destiny. He said that with enough pressure Obama would be able and would in fact perhaps be “willingly forced” to represent African interests to a greater degree. Asante said there there are right wing websites that have actually accused Obama of being a follower of Dr. Molefi Asante.
He asserted that the system that exists in the American Government also exists in the Academic world. Activist and December 12th Movement veteran, Omowale Clay was the first to pick up on the parallel processes suggested by Asante’s lecture. He compared the community struggle to protect our history at the Schomburg to the struggle to protect our political rights. He called for greater efforts to support the Freedom Party and their Black Candidate for New York State Governor Charles Barron. Clay exhorted the crowd to show up in strength at the African American Parade scheduled for the following day.
He made it clear that he wanted the position of Director of the Schomburg and that he is qualified and has a plan that would make the Library serve its stated mission. He said that although he had been interviewed that day he had not (yet) been offered the position and that indeed others were being interviewed soon. That was not what the crowd wanted to hear.
Though Asante never asked the crowd for their support; nor did he say that it was the sort of energy that will be needed to make Library and City officials be fair in the selection process, it was clear that he was moved by their enthusiasm.
To give those of you who are not familiar with Professor Assante’s background, I’m including an overview of his bio below.
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Professor of Temple University’s Department of African American Studies, is considered by his peers to be one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars.
Asante’s most recently published books are Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait, An Afrocentric Manifesto, Encyclopedia of African Religion, co-edited with Ama Mazama, The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony, Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait, Handbook of Black Studies, co-edited with Maulana Karenga, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, co-edited with Ama Mazama, Race, Rhetoric, and Identity: The Architecton of Soul, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation, Ancient Egyptian Philosophers, Scattered to the Wind, Custom and Culture of Egypt, and 100 Greatest African Americans. The second edition of his high school text, African American History: Journey of Liberation, 2nd Edition, is used in more than 400 schools throughout North America. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of African Religion, co-edited with Ama Mazama, will be published by Sage Publications in December 2008.
Asante has been recognized as one of the ten most widely cited African Americans. In the 1990s, Black Issues in Higher Education recognized him as one of the most influential leaders in the decade.
After graduating from Oklahoma Christian College in l964, and completing his M.A. at Pepperdine University in l965, he received his Ph.D. from UCLA. He chaired the Communication Department at SUNY-Buffalo. While at Southwestern Christian College, Asante met Essien Essien, a Nigerian scholar, who inspired Asante to learn more about Africa. After completing his undergraduate degree, Smith undertook studies of African languages and literature. He began to visit Africa frequently and spent a year on the continent in 1982, while serving as director of the English language journalism curriculum at the Zimbabwe Institute of Mass Communications.
Dr. Asante later became chair of the African American Studies Program at Temple University where he created the first Ph.D. Program in African American Studies in 1987. He has directed more than 140 Ph.D. dissertations. He has written more than 400 articles and essays for journals, books and magazines and is the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity.
Born one of sixteen children in Valdosta, Ga., Asante is a poet, dramatist, and painter. His work on African culture and philosophy and African American education has been cited by journals such as the Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Communication, American Scholar, Western Journal of Black Studies, and Africaological Perspectives. The Utne Reader called him one of the “100 Leading Thinkers” in America. In 2001, Transition Magazine said “Asante may be the most important professor in Black America.”
His TV appearances include Nightline, Nighttalk, BET, McNeil Lehrer News Hour, Today Show, the Tony Brown‘s Journal, Night Watch, Like It Is and 60 Minutes and as well as hundreds of local and international TV shows.
He has appeared in several movies including “500 Years Later,” “The Faces of Evil,” and “The Black Candle.” In 2002 he received the distinguished Douglas Ehninger Award for Rhetorical Scholarship from the National Communication Association.
The African Union cited him as one of the twelve top scholars of African descent when it invited him to give the keynote address at the Conference of Intellectuals of Africa and the Diaspora in Dakar in 2004. He was inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University in 2004.
Dr. Asante holds more than 100 awards for scholarship and teaching including the Fulbright, honorary doctorates from three universities, and is a guest professor at Zhejiang University.
In 1995 he was made a traditional king, Nana Okru Asante Peasah, Kyidomhene (Chee dom heni) of Tafo, Akyem, Ghana. Dr. Asante has been or is presently a consultant for a dozen school districts.
He is the Chair of the United States Commission for FESMAN III to be held in Dakar, Senegal in 2011. He is the father of the filmmaker and writer, M. K. Asante who teaches creative writing at Morgan State University.
Asante was elected in September, 2009, by the Council of African Intellectuals as the Chair for the Diaspora Intellectuals in support of the United States of Africa. Dr. Molefi Asante believes it is not enough to know the truth, one must act to humanize the world.
Dr. Asante is often compared to the Schomburg’s first Curator Arturo Schomburg. He is also likened to John Henrik Clarke, the man for whom Clarke House is named. Dr. Molefi Asante is a master teacher, thinker, activist, and leader, and a great choice to take the Schomburg to the next level of greatness. Now it's up to us to make sure that we do our part in making our wishes known to the selection committee.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)