Professor Tetzlaff and Professor Asumah
Two Visiting Professors at the Institute of African Studies (IAS), Professors Seth Nii Asumah and Monica Tetzlaff, have jointly delivered a public lecture on Social Change and Human Rights: from the Grassroots to Policy Makers in Africa and the African Diaspora.
Professor Asumah is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science and Chair, African Studies Department, State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland, and a University of Ghana-Carnegie Diaspora Fellow at IAS, while Professor Tetzlaff is an Associate Professor, Department of History, Indiana University, South Bend, and a Fulbright Scholar at the Institute.
Professor Asumah making his presentation
In his address, Professor Asumah advocated excellence in Africa’s vision for change - a transformative change that should first begin with the individual before it can impact on the family, society and the world at large. Professor Asumah said it was important to look at human rights in terms of relationship rather than possessions. He, therefore, urged Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora to relate and collaborate with one another in order to make social rights work in spite of the many challenges associated with African societies.
Professor Asumah stressed the importance of leadership as a key tool for change. Citing the exemplary leadership of African leaders such Ghana’s Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Mali’s Modibo Keita, Professor Asumah urged African leaders to “walk the talk” by staying committed to their vision for the change that affects the quality of life of the people they represent as well as their socio-cultural practices. He added that citizenship, common purpose, collaboration, contribution, civility, consciousness of one’s self and congruence were key components of the type of leadership needed for change in Africa and the African Diaspora.
Professor Tetzlaff speaking at the Lecture
In her presentation, Professor Tetzlaff emphasized the importance to get involved in the scholarship as well as activism for civil rights at both the grassroots and national levels. She took the audience through efforts made in the US to mobilize the grassroots for social change, outlining the successes of local community sensitization symposia, cultural programmes and radio talk shows on human rights in the early 1960’s and pointed out that these are some of the means by which the grass roots could be empowered for social change. Professor Tetzlaff also referred to massive mobilization and demand for equality and change by civil society groups in the 1970s. She indicated that these movements resulted in the positive amendment of certain laws in the US such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made discrimination of any kind in the US illegal, as well as the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Equal Housing Act, among others. Further, she cited the examples of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other young people, who were willing to take risks in their fight against segregation and other ills of the day in spite of brutalities they could expect to suffer.
Professor Tetzlaff observed that in Ghana, institutions such as CEDAW, NETRIGHT, and Abantu for Development had played key roles in empowering the grassroots for many human rights achievements in the country. She made particular reference to the Anti-Witchcraft Accusation Campaign Coalition and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, whose ongoing interventions help to banish the existence of witch camps from the country, as well as improve living conditions in witch camps, and help alleged witches to reintegrate into the society. She also referred to provisions made for Women’s Rights in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana as well as the Women’s Manifesto, whose policies cover women’s economic empowerment, women’s social policy and development, women in politics and decision making, among others. Professor Tetzlaff added that in the Diaspora, the Black Lives Matter Movement continues to mobilize blacks to fight against many forms of discrimination that blacks endure in the US.
At the end of the two presentations Professors Asumah and Tetzlaff answered questions from the audience. They stressed the need to develop new strategies in tackling the current complex issues facing Africa and the African Diaspora. They also advocated the positive use of technology to advance achievements made on the continent and in the Diaspora.
The Director of the Institute, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, who chaired the function described the joint lecture as very insightful, and was hopeful that as started in the era of Martin Luther King, more positive impact would be made on Africa and the African Diaspora. Later, on behalf of Fellows and staff of the Institute, Professor Adomako Ampofo presented gifts to the two Professors.
The Lecture was attended by Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Provost of the College of Humanities, faculty members from the Institute, and some members of the University community and the general public.
The Ghana Dance Ensemble was in attendance with a drum appellation.
Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Provost of the College of Humanities, presenting gifts to the speakers after the lecture. With him is Prof. Akosua Adomako-Ampofo, Director, IAS
