Under the baobab: Learning from leaders, each other during trying times

“It is now in your hands” — Nelson Mandela

Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, co-president of the Club of Rome, was in residence at Penn State this past week, sponsored by Penn State Sustainability and the Africana Research Center in collaboration with the Center for Global Studies, Institute for Energy and the Environment and Penn State Global. She and her partner Steve Biko started the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. She was the former head of the University of Cape town, the first Black woman to hold such a post. She presented the Africana Research Center’s annual Nelson Mandela Lecture. Dr. Ramphele had collaborated with Mandela and others to establish the framework for the country’s transition from apartheid to democracy. Through their efforts Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Dr. Ramphele emphasized the need to maintain communication during crisis:

“The human race is facing a planetary emergency. But I also believe that moments of crises such as these present a rare opportunity for making fundamental changes in human behavior. We can no longer ignore the reality that continuing to live as we do today exceeds the capacity of our Mother Earth to sustain us. People are finally coming to realize that our excessive extraction of natural resources, our consumption-driven lifestyles and our culture of material consumption have also damaged us inside, harming us spiritually.”

She sees her role “as a bridge between my generation that fought for freedom and the younger generations that need to make our dreams of a shared prosperous future a living reality for all.”

On Global Dignity Day, Dr. Donna Hicks, associate at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, using her book “Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict,” conducted a workshop in Borough Hall. She maintained that there is a hidden force within us so powerful that it can affect the way we feel about ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. That force is our common human yearning to be seen and treated well. Global Dignity Day was sponsored by the State College Borough, Penn State Outreach, Penn State Educational Equity, and the Schreyer Honors College. Mayor Ezra Nanes spoke and issued a proclamation declaring Oct. 10 as Global Dignity Day in the borough. Michael Wade Smith, PSU’s senior vice president and chief of staff, shared a few well-chosen and appropriate comments. Later the sponsors held a block party on Fraser Street and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Plaza for several hundred folks. More than 150 people were treated to music and a free repast.

Last week, the Center for Performing Arts presented Las Cafeteras, a talented, dynamic music group from East LA known for their protest songs and use of traditional instruments to connect cultures and generations. They have songs dedicated to United States “Dreamers,” undocumented migrants, and Indigenous people being pushed off their land. The group joined Tracy Peterson, a director of student transitions and pre-college programs, the Jake George Family, and the Akwesasne Women Singers at a rally in front of Old Main on Indigenous Peoples Day. Later at the HUB-Robeson Center’s Heritage Hall they all performed during a traditional feast of frybread, three sisters soup and strawberry drink. The following evening, they performed together at Eisenhower Auditorium while hundreds in the audience danced and sang along.

These are times that try our souls. Mayor Nanes joined with other leaders at a prayer for Israel on the Old Main lawn, where community members showed compassion for the thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, including children, killed in the recent atrocities in the Middle East. Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi messaged the university, “Now is the time to come together as Penn Staters and bridge our differences by focusing on what unites us all. It is a time for compassion and empathy.” Ubuntu and peace.

Charles Dumas is a lifetime political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Congress in 2012. He was the 2022 Lion’s Paw Awardee and Living Legend honoree of the National Black Theatre Festival. He lives with his partner and wife of 50 years in State College.