Spring Break
Ambassador to speak on South African politics
by Aaron Press Taylor
News | 2/5/08
Posted online at 3:29 AM EST on 2/5/08
/ Last updated at 1:27 AM EST on 2/5/08
Welile Nhlapo, the United States ambassador to South Africa, will speak about the country's current political climate next Monday during the annual Ruth First Memorial Lecture.
Sponsored every year by the African and Afro-American Studies department, the lecture series is endowed in memory of Louise Joy Schiff by her family. The series is designed to fund annual lectures on black liberation in Southern Africa. The late Professor Glenda Waite and current AAAS Chairman Wellington Nyangoni determined the series' name before the first lecture in 1985.
The ambassador's presentation will focus on contemporary developments and the political environment, where racism and conflict remain major issues, according to Nyangoni. "Hopefully it will touch also on the ideals of Ruth First and to what extent they have been met," Nyangoni said.
Having previously served as South Africa's ambassador to Ethiopia and permanent representative to the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa since 1995, Nhlapo became the South African ambassador to the United States in August 2007.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa Nhlapo was the co-author of the publication "Black Review" which discussed the activities of black organizations in the early 1970s. After being exiled to Botswana in 1973, Nhlapo joined and served many roles on the African National Congress. Nhlapo will be the second foreign U.S. ambassador to visit this academic year following German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, who came to campus last fall.
The series' namesake was born to a family of white Jewish South African communists and dedicated her life to the freedom of all South Africans under the ruling apartheid regime. A highly respected individual and eminent scholar, First worked within the South African Communist Party and in close association with the African National Congress, which ultimately brought down the apartheid regime in South Africa. A lifelong columnist for the radical weekly publication Guardian, which was repeatedly banned by the South African government, First was assassinated in 1982 when an envelope sent to her by a U.N. agency exploded upon opening.
Sponsored every year by the African and Afro-American Studies department, the lecture series is endowed in memory of Louise Joy Schiff by her family. The series is designed to fund annual lectures on black liberation in Southern Africa. The late Professor Glenda Waite and current AAAS Chairman Wellington Nyangoni determined the series' name before the first lecture in 1985.
The ambassador's presentation will focus on contemporary developments and the political environment, where racism and conflict remain major issues, according to Nyangoni. "Hopefully it will touch also on the ideals of Ruth First and to what extent they have been met," Nyangoni said.
Having previously served as South Africa's ambassador to Ethiopia and permanent representative to the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa since 1995, Nhlapo became the South African ambassador to the United States in August 2007.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa Nhlapo was the co-author of the publication "Black Review" which discussed the activities of black organizations in the early 1970s. After being exiled to Botswana in 1973, Nhlapo joined and served many roles on the African National Congress. Nhlapo will be the second foreign U.S. ambassador to visit this academic year following German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, who came to campus last fall.
The series' namesake was born to a family of white Jewish South African communists and dedicated her life to the freedom of all South Africans under the ruling apartheid regime. A highly respected individual and eminent scholar, First worked within the South African Communist Party and in close association with the African National Congress, which ultimately brought down the apartheid regime in South Africa. A lifelong columnist for the radical weekly publication Guardian, which was repeatedly banned by the South African government, First was assassinated in 1982 when an envelope sent to her by a U.N. agency exploded upon opening.
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