African Studies Lecturer and Organizer

Mjiba Frehiwot is an organizer for the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and has PhD in African Studies from Howard University.  Professionally she is a Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana.  Her teaching, research and advocacy interests are in the areas of Pan-African Political Thought, African Diaspora cultural and political identity, Decolonisation of knowledge production and Race and Identity in the African Diaspora. Prior to entering the academy, she worked for 15 years in the NGO sector in the United States serving predominately African/Black people including in Community Health Care, Civil Rights and Employment.

She has been a member of the All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party since 1997 and has had the opportunity to represent the organization on an official delegation to Cuba in for May Day. She has organized for the party in California, Maryland and Ghana and was a Central Committee Member of the All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party.  As a member of the A-APRP she is dedicated to promoting Pan-Africanism through transforming the political milieu of the revolutionary intelligentsia.

Ph.D. in African Studies – Howard University, Washington DC, 2011- Dissertation: Education and Pan-Africanism: A Case Study of Ghana, 1957-1966.

Master of Social Work – California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, California, 2000-Concentration: Community Organizing and Planning Administration​​​​​ -Thesis: Modern Day Slavery.

Bachelor of Arts, Social Work/African-American Studies – San Jose State University, San Jose, California, 1997

Research Areas

• Pan-Africanism and Education
• African Diaspora, Identity and Ghanaian Culture
• Pan-Africanism in the 21st Century
• African Political Thought and Decolonisation of Knowledge
• African Centered Development Paradigm
• Development Communication and Pan-Africanism
• Tourism, Development and Decolonisation

Recent Publications

Frehiwot, Mjiba (2018) Teaching Africa: Pan-Africanism, Ghana and the African Union, California, Conference Proceedings, June 2018 California State University/University of Ghana Faculty Seminar, University of Ghana Press.

Frehiwot, Mjiba (Under Review) Developing Pan-African Consciousness: Kwame Nkrumah’s use of print media in Ghana, 1957-1966, Journal of Pan-African Studies.

Frehiwot, Mjiba (2016) Kwame Nkrumah’s Social-Political Thought and the Pan-African Movement. In Jacob Gordon’s (Eds.), Revisiting Kwame Nkrumah: Pathways for the Future (128-139). Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press.

Frehiwot, Mjiba (2015).  Pan-African Education: A Case Study of the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, Print Media and the Ghana Young Pioneer Movement. In Quist-Adade, Charles, and Vincent Dodoo (Eds.), Africa’s Many Divides and Africa’s Future: Pursuing Nkrumah’s Vision of Pan-Africanism in an Era of Globalization (296-322). Newcastle upon Tyne United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Conference, Seminar and Keynote Presentations

“Race and Gender: The challenges of African/Black Study Abroad Students”-Studying Abroad in the Republic of Ghana: Preparing Students for Global Citizenship-African Regent Hotel-Feb 20-24, 2019

“Rasta Recruiting Soldiers from Near and Far: The role of Pan-Africanism in the Academy”-Howard University Department of African Studies, “African Studies Palaver Series”-Founders Library-22nd January 2019.

“Teaching Africa: Pan-Africanism, Ghana and the African Union”, California, Conference Proceedings, June 2018 California State University/University of Ghana Faculty Seminar, University of Ghana.

“Pan-Africanism And Class Struggle In The Era Of Globalisation” Review Of The African Political Economy The Dar Es Salaam Roape Connections Workshop- Theme: Imperialism In Africa Today: The Place Of Class Struggles And Progressive Politics, COUNCIL CHAMBER, UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM, 16-17 APRIL 2018.

“Education and Pan-Africanism: The Interdependent Relationship between two Powerhouses”, 2nd Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Intellectual and Cultural Festival-June 25-July 1, 2017, University of Ghana, Institute of African Studies, Session 4: “New Forms of Pan-Africanism”.

“The Cock Crows: The Print Media, Pan-Africanism and Mass Participation”, 2nd Biennial Conference African Studies Association Africa, October 12-14, 2017, University of Ghana, Institute of African Studies, Session 5.6: “Pan-Africanism, African Unity and The African Union II”.

“Kwame Nkrumah, African Institutions and Ideological Transformation”, Kwame Nkrumah International Conference-Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology: September 2012.

“Kwame Nkrumah and African Centered Institutions to promote Pan-Africanism”, International Conference on African Studies-University of Ghana, Legon-Institute of African Studies October 2013.

“Kwame Nkrumah, African Institutions and Ideological Transformation”. Kwame Nkrumah International Conference-Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology: September 2012.

“Information Education and Pan-Africanism”, National Council of Black Studies Conference-Cincinnati, Ohio- March 2011.

“Informal Education and Pan-Africanism”, Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 2010.

“Education and Pan-Africanism: A case study of Ghana 1957-1966”, African Studies Association-San Francisco, California-November 2010.

Keynote and Plenary

“Social Justice-The Return of Global Slavery Are we for Sale”, DuBois, Nkrumah, Padmore Lecture Series-Republic of Ghana’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, W.E.B. Du Bois Centre for Pan-African Culture and Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, W.E.B. Du Bois Centre, 20th September 2018 (Keynote Presentation)

“Shirley Graham DuBois the Pan-Africanism and Feminist” Plaque and Wreath laying presentation ceremony in honour of Dr. Shirley Graham Du Bois-W.E.B. DuBois Centre for Pan-African Culture and Oberlin University-July 3, 2018 (Keynote Presentation)

“The PAI’s (Pan-African Intelligentsia) Challenge to Assert a Pan-African Model of Development”, Kwame Nkrumah International Conference, Lincoln University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 2016 (Plenary Presentation)