A Conversation on Perspectives on Race, Racism, Anti-colonialism and Decolonization in the Global Context

The event will be held in a hybrid format, both in person and online.

A Conversation on Perspectives on Race, Racism, Anti-colonialism and Decolonization in the Global Context

The conversation will be moderated by Professor John Drabinski, and will include brief presentations from Professor Olufemi Taiwo, Professor of African Political Thought at the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, U.S.A, and Professor Jean-Michel Mabeko-Tali, Professor of African History at Howard University, in Washington, DC. The presentations will be followed by a moderated panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Professor Olufemi Taiwo, is Professor of African Political Thought at the Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, U.S.A. His research interests include Philosophy of Law, Social and Political Philosophy, Marxism, and African and Africana Philosophy. Táíwò is the author of Legal Naturalism: A Marxist Theory of Law (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996; Paperback 2015), (Chinese Translation, 2013); How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010); Africa Must Be Modern: A Manifesto (Ibadan: Bookcraft, 2012), (North American Edition, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014), Can a Liberal Be a Chief? Can a Chief Be a Liberal? On an Unfinished Business of Colonialism (Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2021); Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously (London: Hurst, 2022); and Does the United States Need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission? (New York: Routledge, 2023). He was joint editor with Olutoyin Mejiuni and Patricia Cranton of Measuring and Analyzing Informal Learning in the Digital Age (Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2015). His writings have been translated into French, Italian, Chinese, German, Portuguese, and Dutch. He has taught at universities in Canada, Nigeria, Germany, South Korea, and Jamaica.

Presentation Title: Against Decolonization: Africa’s Place in the Global Circuit of Ideas

Professor Jean-Michel Mabeko-Tali, is Full Professor of African History at Howard University, in Washington, DC since 2002. He was born and raised in the Republic of the Congo-Brazzaville, and holds a PhD Degree in History from the University Paris VII Denis-Diderot, France and MA in History and African Studies from the University of Bordeaux, France. Essayist, specialist of Angolan and Congolese Social and Political modern History, he is author of numerous publications on contemporary Angola and Congo. From 2009 to 2018, he was member of UNESCO International Scientific Committee for the Pedagogical Use of General History of Africa, and contributor to the Volume IX of UNESCO General History of Africa. He is also author of two novels, edited in France. Professor JM Mabeko-Tali is specialist of Central African History, and has published numerous works (essay, book contributions, articles, prefaces, Introductions to book), and has been directing MA and PhD Dissertation since 2007.

Presentation Title: British Magna Carta (1215 CA) versus Mali empire’s Manden Kouroukan Fouga Charter (1236 CA): comparing two historical visions of Human Rights.