Notable South African Historian Speaks to Howard Community
The Howard University Department of African studies celebrated it’s 60th Anniversary in conjunction with the Department of History’s 100th Anniversary. Both departments as well as the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center welcomed S. Omar Badsha,
honorary South African photographer and public historian, to lecture
the Howard community. The topic of discourse was “Rewriting African
History in Post-Apartheid South Africa.”
Badsha began his
discussion by reflecting on how he found himself where he is today. He
spoke about his journey as an activist, historian, documentarian, archivist, and a father. He had developed enormous acclaim for his artwork in the 1960s.
Around this time he also became an active participant in social
organizing, mainly amongst the trade unions being formed in the Durban
area of South Africa in the 1970’s...