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EAP Secretariat's Archive
1997 August 11
Dream
of Encyclopaedia Africana Near Reality
by Mrs. Grace Bansa
Acting Director of the Secretariat
Encyclopaedia Africana Project
Accra, Ghana, West Africa
August 1 1,
1997
TO:
Matthew Mirapaul
New York Times
Greetings,
I have just read a copy of your article entitled "Dream of Encyclopaedia Africana Near Reality" - which must have appeared in the New York Times, and I would like to react to it.
To begin with the title confused me a bit, because I wondered which, dream you were referring to. If it is a new dream of some encyclopaedia Africana by someone else, then the only problem we have with that person is the name
"Encyclopaedia Africana." But if it is the
Encyclopaedia Africana®™
Dream of Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois, then I can assure you that that dream became reality as far back as 1961 when Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois became a naturalised Ghanaian and set up a Secretariat for the publication of the
Encyclopaedia Africana
and became its first Director. The Secretariat operated then under the Ghana Academy of Sciences.
Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois died in 1963 in Accra - Ghana, and his remains are still with us here in Accra. His dreams never died with him! The Secretariat he set up is still alive! After his death in 1963, a fellow African-American - Dr.
Hunton, took over as a Director and since then the Secretariat has passed through many hands.
The
Encyclopaedia Africana Project
was set up as a Pan-African Project in accordance with Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois' Dream. And here I quote him:
"My idea is to prepare and publish an Encyclopaedia not on the vague subject of race, but on the peoples inhabiting the continent of Africa. I propose an Encyclopaedia edited mainly by African scholars."
Again Dr. Du Bois in his report to the Ghana Academy of Science wrote.
"All Africa should be invited and urged to participate and to share in authority and support."
As a result a Pan African Editorial Board consisting of African scholars was set up to oversee the writing, editing of articles and their eventual publication. The Secretariat operates under
Pan African Standing Committee made up of Scholars from Africa countries. The present Chairman of the Standing Committee is
Dr. S. O. Biobaku, a Nigerian and former Vice - Chancellor of Lagos University. The Encyclopaedia Africana Project has an observer status with the OAU
(Organisation of Africa
Unity).
I am sure you are aware of the many political and economic upheavals that have overtaken the whole continent of Africa, since 1966, after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana. In fact the upheavals have not subsided. But despite all these upheavals the Secretariat, set up by Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois has managed to survive. It has managed under very trying circumstances to publish three volumes of the
Dictionary of African Biographies - Volume I consists of Biographies from
Ghana and Ethiopia. Volume 2 - Sierra Leone and Zaire
(aka Democratic Republic of Congo) Volume 3 - Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland).
We are still committed to the fulfillment of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois' dream. Prof. Henry Gates and Prof. Kwame Anthony Appiah are well aware of our existence and our determination to see the "Dream" through. Prof. Gates, I know, is an African-American because I have come across his name in some of our old documents at the Secretariat. Prof. Kwame Anthony
Appiah, I have never met. But if he is the son of the late Joe Appiah - a famous Ghanaian Politician and a true son of Africa, then he should be aware of our history.
Judging from the resources available to us and judging from our achievements so far, I believe we deserve patronage from well-meaning
Black people - and by this I mean Black people who would want to see their fellow Africans as achievers and not as losers. We are aware that when it comes to financial competition we are no match for
the Microsoft Corporation. We only wish such people would have greater understanding for African problems and help us stand on our feet.
Africa has the human brain capacity that can undertake scholarly work. We have the materials on the continent. We only need the other resources to combine with that and we can also stand tall among the achievers in the world. The
Encyclopaedia Africana Project
is the first scholarly Pan African Project being undertaken by Africans. Many African Government are finding it difficult keeping body and soul together - let alone find money for an academic undertaking.
Fortunately for us, quite a number of African Americans seem to understand our problems; and many are those who are giving of their best to help us see Dr. Du Bois' Dream through. Our appearance on the Internet and our creation of
the EAP Website for the Project is all due to the benevolence of
African American friends of the
Encyclopaedia Africana Project.
Dr. Du Bois must have had a reason for bringing the
Encyclopaedia Africana Project
to Africa and not to the USA. It is left to our fellow African Americans who have the resources to help us see this Dream through rather than compete with us.
Help us keep the Dream alive!
Don't destroy it!
The
Encyclopaedia Africana Project
owns the copyright to the
Encyclopaedia Africana®™
. As far as the Secretariat is concerned there has been no approach from any quarter to discuss a "companion print." And no individual has been authorised by us to undertake such negotiations.
We have a working relationship with Dr. Raymond
A. Winbush, Race Relation Institute of Fisk University of which Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois is an Alumnus, and the National Council of Black Studies. Apart from these to institutions, we work closely with
Dr. David Graham Du Bois, son of the late Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois and Dr. Gamal Gorkeh Nkrumah,
son of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah.
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