Activism
African Voices Archive
Dr Alphonse Arcelin
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Dr Wendy Black is currently the Chief Curator of Art & Social History and the Curator of Archaeology at Iziko Museums of South Africa. She specialises in the population history and bioarchaeology of the indigenous hunter-gatherer people of southern Africa, the Khoesan. Her research interests are broadly related to population dynamics and genetics, but more recently she has become involved with indigenous rights and transformation issues as they relate to human remains collections and group representations within South African institutions. She also participates in exhibition development and supervises postgraduate students.
Affiliation(s): Iziko Museums of South Africa
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Published Work: Hominin heritage: How institutional repositories are managing collections, collaboration and repatriation; The Southern African Human Remains Management Project: Making (p)reparations in year one ; Who were they? Repatriation and the rehumanisation of human remains in museums in southern Africa (In Museums and Communities: Diversity, Dialogue and Collaboration in an Age of Migrations)
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Barbara Mosima Joyce Masekela is an academic, activist and poet, who has been lauded for her stayed dedication to the arts and social transformation, and commitment to cultural activism and fight for humanity. In the 1980s, while exiled in Zambia, she became the head of the African National Congress’s Department of Arts and Culture, which had a major influence on the academic and cultural boycotts that formed part of the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. As the South African ambassador to France and UNESCO, she was responsible for leading the official demand and diplomatic negotiations surrounding one of the first human ancestor repatriations to Africa, this being the return of Sara Baartman to South Africa from France's Musée de l'Homme. In the lead up to the demand, she publicly supported artists like filmmaker, Zola Maseko (The Life and Times of Sara Baartman) and poet Diana Ferrus (I've Come To Take You Home) who advocated for the return of Sara Baartman through their artistic works. In 2025, she received an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University and University of Johannesburg for her immense contributions to the political and cultural spheres in South Africa.
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Professor Emeritus Phillip Tobias was a South African palaeoanthropologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He is known both for his vast body of work on South African hominid fossil sites, and his anti-Apartheid activism, which began in his student years, and continued throughout his professional career as an academic. Tobias was appointed to lead the Reference Group that supported one of the first human ancestor repatriations to Africa, this being the return of Sara Baartman to South Africa from France's Musee de l'Homme, and her subsequent reburial and memorialisation in her homeland in the Eastern Cape. His networks were critical in creating a bridge for dialogue between the Reference Group, the South African government and Musée de l'Homme.
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Brigitte Sylvia Mabandla is a South African politician, lawyer and former anti-apartheid activist. After a decade studying and teaching law in Botswana and Zambia, she was a legal adviser to the ANC in Lusaka from 1986 to 1990. Thereafter she joined the party's delegation to the negotiations to end apartheid. She was appointed to the Government of National Unity by President Nelson Mandela, who named her as Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in 1995. Her leadership in this position was central to one of the first human ancestor repatriations to Africa, this being the return of Sara Baartman to South Africa from France's Musée de l'Homme, and her subsequent reburial and memorialisation in her homeland in the Eastern Cape. She currently serves as South Africa's ambassador to Sweden.
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Mansell George Upham is a researcher, writer, historian and jurist specializing in South African colonial history. He read French and English at the University of Stellenbosch (1977-1980). Thereafter he graduated with an LL.B (Stellenbosch 1984). Admitted as advocate (1988), he represented South Africa as diplomat in Tokyo, Japan (1991-1994). A champion of indigenous rights and Khoe/San renaissance, he spearheaded the campaign to repatriate the unburied Saartje Baartman (1995) becoming legal advisor and representative in South Africa and the UN (Geneva) for the Griqua National Conference of SA and other Khoe/San representative groups (1995-2000).
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Sylvain Djache Nzefa is a Cameroonian architect and curator, with strong ties to France. At the age of 19, he left to pursue his university studies in architecture in France. He arrived in Nantes in 1986 and obtained his architecture degree in 1992. Towards the latter years of his degree he became interested in traditional African architecture, in particular that of Cameroon. He continued to reside in France, and in 1997, he held the position of Deputy Mayor of Nantes for International Relations. More recently, Nzefa has served as the General Coordinator Routes Des Cheffries (RDC); a cultural organization specializing in heritage engineering in Cameroon and around the world. Created in 2012 following the success of the eponymous program, it is today at the origin of a network of more than of 26 museums, distributed in several regions of Cameroon. Its leadership and members are involved in cultural and tourist development programs of the territory, major museum projects, training and strengthening the employability of young people in the cultural field, or international exhibitions. Their main focus is on chiefdoms where tradition and creativity nourish each other to remain vibrant; and on heritage sites (community museums) that focus not on objects but rather on their uses; and to ritual practices that pave the way for spiritual cultivation. In 2022, Nzefa curated ""On the Road to the Chiefdoms of Cameroon: From the Visible to the Invisible,"" at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. The exhibition The exhibition is celebrated as made a major event in Cameroon's cultural history, with its 250 exhibited works and nearly 230,000 visitors .
Affiliation(s): Routes des Chefferies
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Published Work: La sauvegarde et la valorisation du patrimoine culturel au Cameroun
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Prince Edun Akenzua (15 September 1935 - 25 August 2022) was a renowned and consummate journalist, social commentator and popular historian who authored EKALADERHAN; a historical book on the origin of Obaship in the Benin Kingdom. He was installed as Enogie of Obazuwa/Ikoro on the 1st January 1988. Prior to his installment he served as the first editor-in-chief of the Nigerian Observer newspaper, and was the founder of the now defunct Akenzua Television. He also served as a member of Edo State Movement creation committee from 1981 to 1983, when the soldiers truncated the Second Republic. Enogie Edun Akenzua chairmanned the Great Benin Centenary Committee that organized the commemoration of the centenary of the British invasion of Benin in 1897. The centenary brought renowned scholars and tourists from across the globe to the Benin city in January 1997. He was also the founder and chairman of Benin Leaders of Thought, a pan-socio-cultural group advancing the overall interests of Benin. He was awarded Nigeria's national honour, Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Fellow, Nigeria Guild of Editors by his professional peers. Throughout his lifetime Enogie Edun Akenzua championed the repatriation of Benin belongings that were scattered all over the world, and fortunate to see several Benin Bronzes being returned to the Palace of the Oba of Benin before his death at the age of 87.
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Gaob Johannes Isaack is a prominent Namibian traditional leader and activist, currently serving as the Gaob (Chief) of the /Hai-/Khaua Traditional Authority and the Chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA). Isaack is a leading figure in the campaign for reparations from Germany for the 1904–1908 Nama and Herero Genocide. He has openly critcised the 2021 Joint Declaration between Namibia and Germany, titled ""United in Remembrance of Our Colonial Past, United in Our Will to Reconcile, United in Our Vision of the Future"", arguing that the affected communities have been entirely excluded from direct participation in the negotiations between governments. In August 2021, he was appointed as a substantive litigant and Chairperson for the joint Ovaherero and Nama genocide reparation campaign and litigation in a class action lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany for its role in these atrocities. Isaack has also called for a ""decolonised knowledge production"" of Namibian history. He has been instrumental in advocating for the investigation of Shark Island, a former concentration camp, and he frequently speaks at the Nama Cultural Festival in Keetmanshoop, emphasizing the preservation of Nama traditions. He also advocates for the economic development of his region. He has recently urged the fast-tracking of the Neckartal Dam Irrigation Project to bring economic benefits to the Berseba area and the country at large.
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Alphonse [Alfonso] Arcelin (1936 - 17 August 2009) was a Haitian doctor, anthropologist, and human rights defender who resided in Banyoles, Catalonia, Spain. In the early 1990s, he initiated a lone campaign to demand the removal and repatriation of the taxidermied body of an African man, who had been on display at Darder Museum of Nature and Science (Spain) since the early 20th century. In the lead up to the 1992 Olympics, which were set to take place in Barcelona, he sent letters to Spanish politicians, the press, international bodies and to heads of African governments to raise awareness of the indignity of the display, and the deragotary naming of the man as ""El Negro de Banyoles"". He is quoted as saying “How can the world come here to honor unity, when a Black man’s body lies dishonored in a museum nearby?”. His efforts precipiated a worldwide call for the display to removed, and triggered threats to boycott the Olympics if action was not taken. Following the removal of the display, Arcelin continued to call for the repatration of the unknown man's remains to his continent of origin, in the process enduring racism, isolation, and personal attacks in Catalonia. However, in 2000, his efforts, along with those of Federico Mayor Zaragoza (UNESCO) and Kofi Annan (United Nations) bore fruit, with one of the first human ancestor repatriations to Africa.
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