White Out: Hollywood and Africa, 1945-1970

I've just finished polishing an article I've been working on for the past few months, a history of how Hollywood films depicted Africa between 1945 and 1970.  What I found surprised me, as other scholars and common sense suggest that dark-skinned Africans were not portrayed sympathetically until the 1960s, when American politics and culture moved to the left.  But an examination of both Tarzan and other Hollywood films suggest that Hollywood started taking Africa and Africans much more seriously in the late 1950s.  The films in the 1960s didn't make much progress in this regard, and some of them didn't even try (such as John Wayne's "Hatari").  In fact the number of Hollywood films about Africa declined dramatically in the 1960s and especially 1970s, just as Africans (and African-Americans) gained political power.  An assessment of Readers Digest (the most widely read magazine in the world) and of more intellectual authors shows the same trend of declining interest in Africa in the 1960s.  This suggests that white Americans lost interest in Africa as black African nations claimed their independence and black people in the U.S. and Africa became more assertive.

At the Heart of Things: Peace Corps Volunteers in Sub-Saharan Africa

African Identities has just published my "At the Heart of Things: Peace Corps Volunteers in Sub-Saharan Africa."  I started working on this piece nearly two years ago, after my first trip to Ghana got me interested in how people from the U.S. react to Africa.  So I read a lot of accounts from Peace Corps Volunteers, many of them extraordinarily rich and moving.

PCVs at first came to Africa expecting to share the benefits of American civilization.  But a growing disillusionment with mainstream American culture prompted more and more to come looking to find answers rather than to offer solutions.  Of course Africa often confounded these more romantic expectations, too.  One of my better sentences in the piece: "Africa confronted volunteers with communities they could not join, privileges they could not shed, and tragedies they could not fix."

This is a link to the journal's home page.  You can also just ask me for a copy of the article (I ordered a bunch) or access it through a research library.

The American Family: From Obligation to Freedom

My latest book was officially released while I was in Ghana--though I have yet to spot it at the top of any best-seller lists.

But scholars I respect a lot are saying some very nice things about it:

"As a potential textbook for courses on the history of the American family, it is superior to anything available. . . . More than a textbook, it is a well-researched, tightly argued, and clearly and lively written interpretive history. . . . he ends his masterful book with a sensitive call for balance of obligations and freedom."
Gary S. Cross, Distinguished Professor of Modern History, Penn State Univeristy

"This is an ambitious and sweeping interpretation of family history across continents and centuries. Del Mar's research reveals not so much the decline of families in an era that extols personal freedom, but their transformation into smaller units increasingly oriented toward serving individual identities, needs, and desires. . . . an impressive and convincing book."
Elliott Gorn, Professor of History and American Studies, Brown University

Reflections

     I've been back in Portland for five days now, long enough to miss Ghana's literal and figurative warmth--the warmth of the climate and the people.
     My principal goal in traveling to Ghana was to find schools and teachers interested in linking their students to students in the U.S.  After visiting seven Ghanaian schools--some of them multiple times--I believe more than before that such relationships will be mutually beneficial.
     Schools in the U.S. do a relatively strong job of cultivating effective individuals.  We produce a lot of brilliant students.  Ghanaian schools put much more emphasis on deference and responsibility and hard work.  Of course one benefit of learning about each others' lives is appreciating a different culture through developing a personal relationship.  But I am also hopeful that the two different styles of education can inform each other.  In the world of today and tomorrow, we all need to learn how to maintain traditions even as we innovate.

Friday, our last day in Ghana, Peter (my son) and I went with Sonny from the Aya Centre to Tot to Teen School, where we spoke to some 200 junior high students.  As you can see, once Peter got rolling, he really got rolling.  He talked about what school in the U.S. is like and about football (soccer).  I spoke about my belief that students in Ghana and the U. S. generally know each other only through stereotypes learned from popular culture and that one-to-one communication would enable  the two sets of students to both learn more about each other and to care more deeply about what happens in distant places.  The school is located in Madina, just outside of Accra and not far from the University of Ghana.  It's a high-performing school that did a similar project several years ago.  Here, as elsewhere, Peter felt very welcomed.  We were both deeply impressed by the warmth of Ghanaians and hope to return soon!

Purity Preparatory School

Thursday Peter and I took our first tro tro ride (imagine a large and very full sardine can on wheels) with George from the Aya Centre to Purity Preparatory School, in the hills north of Accra.  The two hour journey ended with a walk down a hillside to a small, beautiful country school.  It's a beautiful setting and is another private school that does an outstanding job with meager resources.  I talked about the project, and Peter talked about what schools in the U.S. are like and took some pictures--and had his picture taken.  This is a small K-8 school that sends most of its graduates on to high school.  I'm looking forward to finding a good match for this special school and its bright students.

Ashesi University

It was a great pleasure to set foot today on Ashesi University's new campus.  Dean of Students Dr. Adzo Ashie picked us up this morning on the big Ashesi bus as it made the long journey to the beautiful site north of Accra.  I presented some thoughts on Ghanaian education to about two dozen students and staff who then had a lively discussion on how to balance innovation and tradition.  I then sat in on a writing class and was extremely impressed by the culture of the university.  The entire university works to encourage and inspire its students, who upon graduation are much sought after by West African employers.  The university is  profiled in The White Man's Burden as precisely the sort of African-led enterprise that those of us in the western world should be supporting in any way that we can, and it is a leader on the continent in inquiry-based education.
http://www.ashesi.org/

Anani Memorial International School Dancers

I had the pleasure of returning to three schools today, and the students at Anani Memorial International School treated me to an amazing dancing exhibition.  Pictured here is the beginning group--and they had a very hard time holding still and watching once the older dancers took the floor.  The older student's reward for their efforts was a lecture from yours truly on African-American history, which they sat through with good grace and enlivened with some very perceptive questions.  The subject of slavery is, understandably, a sensitive one in modern Ghana, which  has become a successful nation only by overcoming some daunting ethnic, religious, and historical differences.  It was a blessing to be able to speak to such attentive and impressive young students about how people from West Africa were brought to American involuntarily, under the most terrible of circumstances, but succeeded in creating a vibrant and strong society under horrible conditions and went on to gain civil rights for themselves and enrich the larger nation's culture and life beyond measure.

Hope Christian Academy

I got up very early this morning to beat the traffic and go west to Hope Christian Academy, near Fetteh.  After the tumult of Accra, it was nice to be out in the countryside.  I first learned of the Village of Hope and its school from Chief Operations Manager Araba Amuasi, an Ashesi University graduate who spoke about it a year ago at a World Council Affairs meeting in Seattle.  Hope offers a full range of services to orphans and other vulnerable children in Ghana, and its outstanding school attracts students from across the nation as well as serving the children of the orphanage.  In Ghana, as the rest of the world, it is rare for disadvantaged children to have access to an excellent education.  The students range in age from two to fifteen and are extraordinarily focused.  Araba, Managing Direct Roland Bulley, Head Teacher Michael Abbeyquaye, and other staff members were very generous with their time and are excited about the prospect of their students trading letters with those in the U.S.  I can't recall ever being at a place where everyone was so uniformly warm and kind.

A Busy Day

Today I visited four very different schools, all of which are very interested in forming relationships with schools and students in the United States.  Pictured here is the courtyard of Anani Memorial International School.  It is located in Nima, a slum where poor migrants and immigrants from across Ghana and West Africa congregate in search of a better life.  Just getting to the school requires a bit of skill, as one walks through a maze of narrow alleys.  I was honored to speak with both Headmaster Kofi Anane--whose father founded the school--and his very dedicated staff.  The school serves creche (toddlers seated around tables working on blocks) through sixth grade.  I'll have the pleasure of returning next week to talk more with the older students.  As in the rest of the world, there is a strong correlation between income and educational opportunities in Ghana.  Anani is an exception, as it features small class sizes and strong instruction for students whose families are struggling.  The staff of the Aya Centre have long worked with this school and have been exceedingly generous in helping me.

L & A Memorial Academy

I spent a long and exciting Tuesday at L & A Academy in Mallam, east of Accra.  Kankam Mensa Felix graciously hosted me after giving up half of his holiday to spend Monday morning with me, and I got to speak to several classes from second to seventh grade.  Kankam has started a Global Care Club, so they are already excited about learning about other places and cultures.  They had a lot of questions (why don't American students wear uniforms?) and swarmed me between classes and patiently taught me the classic Ghana handshake, which involves a mutual finger snap after you slide your hands together.  Their letters are clearly written, detailed, and thoughtful.  I know that their new friends back in the U.S. will enjoy them.  I am dead tired.  Teaching in Ghana is much like the U.S., only with much higher humidity.  I wouldn't last long in either set of classrooms, but it's a blast for a day here and there!

The University of Ghana

Today I had breakfast with Dr. Michael Williams of the Aya Centre, a great man and organization, then figured out banking and the phone and headed to the famed University of Ghana library, which is only about 10 minutes away.  It's a rambling, maze-like structure, but  with the help of a librarian I found much of the material I was looking for.  I'll be back for unpublished theses--the really good stuff that you can't get anywhere else in the world--later, as they are not available on week-ends. The Africana section is immense.  Here is a view looking out from the library's entrance.  It's an inspiring place to be, as it's long been known as one of the world's great universities.

Hopes for Trip to Ghana

Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Ghana, where I'll be living for three weeks.  I'll be doing some research on the history of education but also working to pair classrooms here, in the Portland Area and Oregon, with classrooms in Accra and Kumasi.  It's been wonderful to meet so many teachers and students who are excited about sharing letters or other student work across the ocean.  A Ghanaian teacher recently wrote to say that these efforts will further "global understanding."  The students I've talked to are excited about making new friends and learning how the lives of people far away are similar to and different from their own.  I look forward to what these new friendships will teach them--and the rest of us.  I know that we have much to learn from each other.  Above is a photo of my research assistant, who will be joining me for the last nine days of the trip.

Connecting Middle Schools in Ghana and Oregon

In two weeks I'll be in Ghana doing some research on how Ghanaian textbooks have depicted its history but mostly meeting with educators to talk about ways that they can collaborate with their counterparts in the Portland Metropolitan area.  The collaborations can be as simple as sharing a few letters during the school year.  I've been meeting with educators here in Oregon and corresponding with some in Ghana and am excited about helping to match some schools and classrooms.  I hope that it will be a vivid and personal way for students in the two places to learn about each others' lives.  Ghana is an ideal partner, as Ghanaians invest a great deal of money and energy in education, and Ghana defies a lot of common stereotypes that the western world has about Africa:  it is a stable democracy that has never had a bloody civil war.  I visited for the first time two years ago and was deeply impressed by the determination of the educators I met and the grace and hospitality of Ghanaians in general.  Please let me know if you are interested in this project for your school.

Survival of the Fittest Societies

A very interesting article in the November, 2011 issue of The Atlantic on the socio-biologist E. O. Wilson fits closely with a theme I tried to develop in The American Family: From Obligation to Freedom.  Socio-biologists used to be much denigrated by historians and other social scientists, as they were understood to be saying that biology was essentially destiny, that, for example, men were hard wired to be sex-crazed jerks and women had better just deal with it.  But over the years there has been a rapprochemont between the two sets of scholars, with each admitting that our genetic history and evolution greatly shape, without determining, our behavior.  It helps that more and more scholars of human evolution have been pointing out that human survival has depended not so much on survival of the fittest individuals but on the fittest societies, that effective and durable societies require lots of members willing to sacrifice their individual needs for the good of the group.  As Wilson puts it: "in competition between groups, groups of altruists are more likely to succeed."  In other words, we are hard wired to cooperate, as societies of cooperators are much more likely to survive (and reproduce) than are societies of individualists.  This helps to explain, as I argue in my own book, why American hyper-individualism contributes not only to the dissolution of families but to rising rates of individual unhappiness, such as rates of depression, and national decline, such as an unwillingness to accept the need for taxes and regulation.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/e-o-wilson-rsquo-s-theory-of-everything/8686/

Environmentalism, Revised Edition

Pearson Press has just released a revised edition of Environmentalism as part of their Seminar Studies series.  This book is an updated version of my book of the same title published in 2006 in their Short History of Big Ideas series but also contains twenty-seven primary sources, from Beowulf to the 2010 Report of the League Against Cruel Sports from England and Wales.  The book is intended largely for both the general reader and university courses.  It differs from most histories of nature loving in its length (short) and breadth (the western world).  This is not a celebration of nature loving.  Rather, I am interested in unraveling a disturbing paradox: why our celebrations of and efforts to conserve nature have been most intense at times and in places where people have most exploited it.
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Environmentalism/9781408255582.page
http://www.amazon.com/Environmentalism-Seminar-Studies-History-Peterson/dp/1408255588/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319475655&sr=1-2

The American Family: From Obligation to Freedom

After about six years of writing and many more years than that of researching and teaching on the subject, Palgrave Macmillan is publishing The American Family: From Obligation to Freedom.  The thesis is in the subtitle.  Jennifer S. Hirsch, a Professor at Columbia University and the author of a wonderful book on modern Mexicano families on both sides of the border, wrote a lovely blurb which sums up the book's goal: "this book manages the impressive feat of providing a coherent overview of the social roots of changing American kinship patterns while at the same time serving as a provocative meditation on the roots of American individualism and on the implications of that individualism for our collective well-being."  I hope that she is right!
 http://us.macmillan.com/theamericanfamily-1/DavidPetersondelMar
http://www.amazon.com/American-Family-Obligation-Freedom/dp/0230337457/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319474679&sr=1-1