Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies

For this special retrospective issue commemorating 52 years of Ufahamu, the editors had the unique opportunity to interview the journal’s co-founder Dr. Sondra Hale, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Gender Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Ufahamu republished Dr. Hale’s powerful 1972 article “Radical Africanism” in this issue—here Hale explains the context of the piece and the political climate in which it was originally published. As a dedicated educator and accomplished academic, Professor Hale’s wide-reaching research includes investigating conflict, gender, citizenship, political movements, diaspora studies, and feminist art across Africa and the Middle East. Dr. Hale’s career is marked by a life-long commitment to both local and international feminist, anti-imperialist, and anti-racist organizing, making her a scholar-activist in the truest sense. In this interview, Hale takes us on a personal journey from Los Angeles to Sudan, guiding us through the history of Ufahamu, beginning with its contentious origins in 1970.