COLLABORATION IS KEY

Ujima is Kwanzaa principle meaning collective work and responsibility.  I am responsible for coordinating all of our external participants for the breakfast (excluding the speaker and moderator).  While primarily working on the script, I secured the participation of Dr. Timothy Scott to give opening remarks on behalf of the university.  I also found Voices of Praise to lead us in singing the National Negro Anthem. 

A CONVERSATION WITH...

Dr. Molefi Kete Asante is Professor and Chair, Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. He also serves as the International Organizer for Afrocentricity International and is President of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies. He serves on the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Council at UNISA. Dr. Asante is the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies (1969) and was the President of the Civil Rights organization, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee’s chapter at UCLA in the 1960s. 

Asante trained journalists in Zimbabwe immediately after the 2nd Chimurenga and was a mentor to the first group of liberated journalists from Zimbabwe Institute of Mass Communication. Asante has received honorary doctorates and awards from several universities, including Pepperdine University,  University of New Haven and in 2020 the University of South Africa. He remains a popular consultant for many school districts seeking to build Afrocentric curricula.  In 2019 the National Communication Association named him an NCA Distinguished Scholar, its highest honor, saying that his writings were “spectacular and profound”. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, at the age of 26, and was appointed a full professor at the age of 30 at the State University of New York at Buffalo. 

At Temple University he created the first Ph.D. Program in African American Studies in 1988. He has directed more than 135 Ph.D. dissertations making him the top producer of doctorates among African American scholars. He is the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity and has published 85 books.

This sub-co embodies the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child, it is our intent to provide a wide array of speakers and topics that enhance student development.
 

COORDINATING WITH OUR HONORED GUESTS

I have the privilege of coordinating with our honored guest, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, as well as our event moderator, Lt. Col. Stephen Ruth '92.  My main responsibilities are arranging the cordial meeting and the welcome dinner with Dr. Asante and Lt. Col. Ruth. I will, also, be accommodating both of our guests during the day event. Coordinating with Dr. Asante and Lt. Col. Ruth has been an exciting endeavor, and I look forward to meeting both of our guests in person!