UW-Madison conference examines pan-Africanism

Activists and scholars will come together to examine pan-Africanism and its meaning in the early 21st century during a conference, Towards an Africa Without Borders: Unification and Fundamental Change, at UW–Madison.

Organized by graduate and undergraduate students from a range of academic disciplines, the conference runs Friday-Sunday, Oct. 24-26, and features internationally acclaimed authors and activists, including American Angela Davis, and Kenyans Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Maina wa Kinyatti.

“It is imperative to reopen an international dialogue on the importance of pan-African unification largely because of shared and continuing struggles and possibilities facing the African continent and diaspora today,” says Heather DuBois Bourenane, a graduate student in African languages and literature who helped organize the conference. “This conference is predicated on the belief that a liberating possibility exists for a pan-African understanding and activism that unites all people dedicated to celebrating the cultural, political and ideological contributions and possibilities of Africa and diaspora.”

Davis will address “The World Conference Against Racism: Centering Africa in Global Politics” on Friday, Oct. 24, 7-8:30 p.m., in the Great Hall of Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. Her speech will be simulcast in several Memorial Union locations. Davis is a professor, author and cultural theorist noted for her social activism in the Communist Party and the Black Panthers in the 1960s and 1970s. Davis continues to be a strong force for political and social activism, including reforming racism in U.S. prison systems.

Maina will speak on “Mau Mau and National Resistance” on Saturday, Oct. 25, 1:30-3 p.m., in the Play Circle Theater at Memorial Union. Maina, who is director of the Mau Mau Research Center, spent more than six years in prison for his research. He received the PEN Freedom to Write award for courageous fight for freedom of expression in the face of adversity.

A professor, novelist, essayist and playwright, Ngugi will speak on “Sources of Black Power: Africa’s Place in the Global Community,” on Saturday, Oct. 25, 7-8:30 p.m., in 3650 Mosse Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St. Professor Tejumola Olaniyan, UW–Madison departments of English, and African Languages and Literature, will interview him Friday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., in Tripp Commons in Memorial Union.

Ngugi lived through the Mau Mau war of independence, the central historical episode in the making of modern Kenya and a major theme in his early works. In 1977, after his controversial play, “Ngaahika Ndeenda” (“I Will Marry When I Want”) was performed, he was arrested and imprisoned. An international campaign secured his release a year later, and he resumed his writing and theater activities.

In a joint event with the Wisconsin Book Festival, Daniel Kunene, UW–Madison professor emeritus of African languages and literature, hosts Ngugi and Maina in an examination of how they fought colonial and apartheid oppression with action and poetry. The event will be held Friday, Oct. 24, 1-2:30 p.m., in the Alumni Room of the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.

Four panelists, including journalist Munyaradzi Huni, will discuss land redistribution in Zimbabwe, on Saturday, Oct. 25, 4-6 p.m., in the Play Circle Theater in Memorial Union.

Sponsors of Towards an Africa Without Borders include the departments of African languages and literature, English, Afro-American studies and history, the African Studies Program, the Global Studies Program, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Anonymous Fund, Pathways to Excellence, the Multicultural Student Coalition, the Multi-Cultural Council, Associated Students of Madison and the PEOPLE Program.

For more information about the conference, visit http://african.lss.wisc.edu/all/Studconference/.