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Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey Receives 2024 Governor General’s History Award for Scholarly Research

Image by MS Anne-Marie Brisson, Rideau Hall.

On November 20th, Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey, Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar in the Department of History and Classical Studies, received the for his 2023 book, .

The prize, awarded by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, is Canada’s top honours in the field of history and heritage and is administered by Canada’s National History Society.

“My parents have a seventh- and sixth-grade education, so this award means much to them and I,” Professor Adjetey tells us. “It's also a great honour that I share with my African-Canadian elders and their forebears who came of age in a Canada virulently opposed to Black people, despite all that Black communities had sacrificed for Crown and country.” 

In his book, Professor Wendell Adjetey takes an in-depth look into African American history from 1900 to 2000, with specific focus on global Black liberation movements.

“ƬƵ's department of History and Classical studies is absolutely delighted to see our esteemed colleague and friend Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey honoured in this way,” says Professor Nicholas Dew, Chair of the Department of History and Classical Studies. “Cross-Border Cosmopolitans is an important book, which redraws the map of modern Canadian history in several ways, and we very much hope it reaches as wide an audience as possible." 

group photo of recipients of 2024 Governor General’s History Awards
Image by MS Anne-Marie Brisson, Rideau Hall.
Recipients of the 2024 Governor General’s History Awards, in order: Front row: Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, and Honourable Anita R. Neville, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, Second row: Michele Schwab, Connie Shea, Grace Wong, Melissa Lee, Nancy Siou, Rebekah Mitchell, Janet Reid, Jessica McIntyre, Third row: Melony Ward, Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey, Julie Gaudreault, Jo Anne Broders, Pilar Hernandez, Daniel Kunanec and Ben Gross, and Stephen R. Bown.

Cross-Border Cosmopolitans is a deeply researched book that draws upon extensive archival records in Canada and the United States, to show how Black North Americans of America, Caribbean, and Canadian descent transcended borders to create a Pan-Africanism, a movement aimed at liberating Black people across the Americas and Africa.

“Collective action is one of the purest and most effective forms of democratic expression,” says Professor Adjetey, when asked about the importance of highlighting collective action in his research and teaching. Solidarity and resistance in the face of discrimination, repression, and hostility is at the core of Cross-Border Cosmopolitans. 

“That members of Black communities in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa leaned on one another across borders illustrates the extent to which ‘people power’ is integral to social change, democracy, and liberation from systems of domination and exploitation,” he says. 

To learn more about Cross-Border Cosmopolitans, watch Professor Wendell Adjetey’s YouTube channel, as well as our past features here: 

  • to the Faculty of Arts in Conversation with Professor Wendell Adjetey podcast (2024) 

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