Each year, in memory of Warren Bud Day, ACAS honors activist scholarship on Africa with the Bud Day Award. The call for nominations is now open. ACAS asks its current members to submit names and brief bios to Frank Holmquist (fholmquist@hampshire.edu), the award committee chair. The 2009 award will be presented during the ACAS and African Studies Association meetings scheduled for November 19-22, 2009 in New Orleans.
The award honors activist work in the tradition of Bud Day, whose life work exemplifies a concerned activist scholar of Africa. Bud was committed to anti-racist activism, national liberation struggles, the global fight against war and militarism, ending U.S. destablization policies, and to bringing clean water, sanitation, and affordable health care to those in need. He worked in India, Bangladesh, and across Southern Africa, Central America, the Middle East, and the United States.
The recipient of the Bud Day Award should be an individual who is:
1) working in the U.S. for Africa/Africans
2) involved in ongoing work for Africa/Africans
3) doing work that spotlights a neglected group or problem or critical situation for Africa/Africans
4) doing work that relates to U.S.-Africa policy
Previous recipients of the Bud Day Award are:
2008: Prexy Nesbitt, a long-time activist for African liberation and progressive causes on the continent. He was and is an educator, writer, frequent speaker, and leader of activist organizations at the national and local levels. He was a catalyst of nation-wide agitation against apartheid and for divestment from South Africa. More recently he has been speaking on war and militarism issues. He has also worked for the World Council of Churches and the MacArthur Foundation.
2007: Imani Countess, who for more than two decades has promoted U.S. policies supporting sustainable development, economic equality, and participatory democracy in Africa. She has worked for a number of social justice organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee, Jubilee USA Network, Shared Interest, Africa Policy Information Center, and the Washington Office on Africa.
2006: Bill Minter, an ACAS Board member and editor of the AfricaFocus Bulletin, who has worked as an independent scholar and activist on Africa since the mid-1960s.
2005: Kassahun Checole, publisher and editor of Africa World Press and Red Sea Press. The press exemplifies the famous African proverb: *Until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter.*
I am looking forward to receiving your nominations. Thank you.
Frank Holmquist
Professor of Politics
School of Social Science
Hampshire College
Amherst, MA 01002