On November 20th, Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey, Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar in the Department of History and Classical Studies, received the for his 2023 book, .听
The prize, awarded by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, is Canada鈥檚 top honours in the field of history and heritage and is administered by Canada鈥檚 National History Society.听
鈥淢y parents have a seventh- and sixth-grade education, so this award means much to them and I,鈥� Professor Adjetey tells us. 鈥淚t's also a great honour that I share with my African-Canadian elders and their forebears who came of age in a Canada virulently opposed鈥痶o Black people, despite all that Black communities had sacrificed for Crown and country.鈥澛�
In his book, Professor Wendell Adjetey takes an in-depth look into African American history from 1900 to 2000, with specific focus on global Black liberation movements.听
鈥湷扇薞R视频's department of History and Classical studies is absolutely delighted to see our esteemed colleague and friend Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey honoured in this way,鈥� says Professor Nicholas Dew, Chair of the Department of History and Classical Studies. 鈥淐ross-Border Cosmopolitans is an important book, which redraws the map of modern Canadian history in several ways, and we very much hope it reaches as wide an audience as possible."聽
Cross-Border Cosmopolitans is a deeply researched book that draws upon extensive archival records in Canada and the United States, to show how Black North Americans of America, Caribbean, and Canadian descent transcended borders to create a Pan-Africanism, a movement aimed at liberating Black people across the Americas and Africa.听
鈥淐ollective action is one of the purest and most effective forms of democratic expression,鈥� says Professor Adjetey, when asked about the importance of highlighting collective action in his research and teaching. Solidarity and resistance in the face of discrimination, repression, and hostility is at the core of Cross-Border Cosmopolitans.听聽
鈥淭hat members of Black communities in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa leaned on one another across borders illustrates the extent to which鈥�榩eople power鈥� is integral to鈥痵ocial change, democracy, and liberation from systems of domination and exploitation,鈥� he says.听聽
To learn more about Cross-Border Cosmopolitans, watch Professor Wendell Adjetey鈥檚 YouTube channel, as well as our past features here:聽
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Read our publication spotlight (2023)听
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to the Faculty of Arts in Conversation with Professor Wendell Adjetey podcast (2024)聽