Title
Recognizing the extraordinary contributions and lifetime achievements of Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, founder of Afrocentricity, and the founder of the Molefi Kete Asante (MKA) Institute for Afrocentric Studies in the Germantown Neighborhood.
Body
WHEREAS, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante is internationally recognized as the founder and leading theorist of Afrocentricity, a framework that centers the agency and historical experiences of African people; and
WHEREAS, His work redirects discourse away from Eurocentric frameworks, advocating for African agency in all contexts of critique and analysis, while promoting a mature, non-imperial relationship with other cultures; and
WHEREAS, He established the nation's first Ph.D. program in African American Studies at Temple University in 1988 and is the leading producer of African American Ph.Ds., having directed over 140 dissertations, resulting in more than 220 published books by his students; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Asante served for 53 years as Founding Editor of the Journal of Black Studies, and is one of the most prolific African American scholars, having authored over 100 books and 500 articles, placing him among the ten most widely cited African scholars; and
WHEREAS, His groundbreaking scholarship has earned wide acclaim, including the NCA Distinguished Scholar Award, the Fanon Award for Lifetime Scholarship, and the Carter G. Woodson and Cheikh Anta Diop Lifetime Achievement Awards, alongside over 100 other honors and honorary doctorates; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Asante founded The Cheikh Anta Diop Conference and, in 2011, established The Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies in the Germantown neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, The MKA Institute promotes global and local change through research, education, and advocacy for the African world community; and
WHEREAS, His commitment to public education includes spearheading the creation of the mandatory African American history course for the Philadelphia School District;...
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