By Makiza M. Latifa
The W. E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture has held a symposium on the life and legacy of Dr. W.E.B Du Bois in commemoration of the 61st anniversary of his passing.
The event was held at the W.E.B Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture at Cantonments in Accra.
Speaking at the event, Professor of Sociology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Karida Brown, eulogized him not only as one of the most valuable black minds to have ever lived but one of the most educated black people in the world who insisted on the full civil rights and increased political representation of black people world wide.
“He was one of the most globally significant and important intellectuals of the twentieth century and I will dare say the most important black mind that we have had in modern history,โ Karida praised to the skies.
A Lecturer at the Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Howard French, also touched on the significant role Dr. Du Bois played in building flags of Pan Africanism, citing his involvement in the conferences that preceded the 5th Pan African conference which was held in Manchester in 1945, while rehashing the formers beliefs that, the future of Africa is the future of humanity.
In attendance was the Great-Grandson of Dr. Du Bois, Jeffrey Peck who expressed gratitude to all present for celebrating the memory of Dr. W.E.B Dubois, a great father of the Civil Rights Movement whose memory lives on.
Dr. W.E.B Dubois
He also highlighted the strong and meaningful relationship his great grandfather built with Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐บ
Meanwhile, Head of Sociology Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Alhassan Anamzoya has criticized the deliberate attempt made to disregard Dubois as a sociologist whose works remain a source of enlightenment and empowerment to all even today. He also used the platform to reignite the spirit of Pan-Africanism while calling for what he terms a gradual
“Duboisationโof sociology in Ghana.
“I am disappointed in myself and other sociologists for not only neglecting Du Bois but also denying him as a sociologist, we all sociologist have been taught that there are three founders of sociology, Karl Max, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim, nevertheless something ought to be done about the gradual Duboisation of sociology in Ghana and beyond,” he emphasized.
The event was graced by dignitaries including former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and heavily patronized by members of the diplomatic corps including the South African Ambassador to Ghana, H. E Grace Jeanette Mason, US ambassador to Ghana, H. E Virginia Palmer, persons in academia, Pan Africanists, students and people who hold close to a heart, the works and legacy of Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, a son of the global movement for racial justice and equality.