Lincoln administrator and student president to speak at the All-African Peoples' Conference in Ghana

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LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – A senior university leader and the student body president have been invited to speak at the 60th anniversary of the All-African Peoples' Conference that was held in 1958 in the capital city of Accra, Ghana.

The All-African Peoples' Conference was first the major gathering of independent African states and world leaders in Africa. This year’s conference will commemorate the original event while reflecting on where the African states are now and how they want to address the unfinished agenda of the conference


Clockwise from top left: Dr. Lenetta Lee, Jabir McKnight, Dr. Gervais Gnaka,  Evelyn Davis-Poe, and Dr. Daryl Poe.

Lenetta Lee, dean of the college and vice president for student success, has been invited to make a statement at the opening ceremony and will join Jabir McKnight, Student Government Association president, to discuss Lincoln’s Learn. Liberate. Lead. concept, which was introduced by President Brenda A. Allen as a framework for empowerment and change in the University’s new strategic plan.

“We are incredibly honored to be part of such an historic event,” said Lee. “We look forward to discussing Lincoln’s history and legacy with Ghana.”

"To have the opportunity to travel to the motherland is a blessing,” said McKnight. “I’m excited to represent Lincoln University and present a piece of our rich history, it’s a surreal feeling."

The theme of the anniversary is “Revisiting the 1958 All-African Peoples' Conference - The Unfinished Business of Liberation and Transformation”.

McKnight, a senior English major from Philadelphia, will also discuss Lincoln’s golden age, a time in which Lincoln experienced African Americanization during the 12-year presidency of Horace Mann Bond ’23, who was the first African American alumnus to preside over the University, and the only university president to attend the All-African Peoples' Conference.

Other members of the Lincoln University community that will be in attendance include Evelyn Davis-Poe, associate vice president of academic support, Zayna Parham, a Pan-Africana studies major,  as well as Dr. Daryl Zizwe Poe and Dr. Gervais Gnaka, faculty members from the Department of History, Political Science & Philosophy.

Evelyn Davis-Poe will participate in a panel addressing the future of Pan-Africanism. Professor Zizwe Poe will discuss Pan-African epistemology as a plenary speaker, and professor Gervais Gnaka will serve as a panelist alongside professor Horace Campbell, the previous Nkrumah Chair at the University of Ghana.

The conference will be held December 5-8 at the University of Ghana.


University of Ghana. Photo source: University of Ghana Facebook

Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU), educates and empowers students to lead their communities and change the world. Lincoln offers a rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse student body of approximately 2,200 men and women in more than 35 undergraduate and graduate programs.