{{Short description|Ghanaian author and speaker (born 1942)}} {{Infobox person | name = Kwesi Prah | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Kwesi Kwaa Prah | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}} | birth_place = Kumasi, Gold Coast (Ghana) | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Academic, sociologist, writer, public speaker | years_active = | known_for = Pan-Africanism | notable_works = ''Beyond the Colour Line'' (1997) }} '''Kwesi Kwaa Prah''' (born 1942, Kumasi)<ref>[http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85346490.html Prah, Kwesi Kwaa, 1942] at the National Library of South Africa.</ref><ref>[http://albumacademicum.uva.nl/id/id042732 K.K. Prah] at the University of Amsterdam ''Album Academicum''.</ref> is an author, public speaker, and a Sociology professor,<ref name=":3" /> who was born in Ghana and has been based in southern Africa since the 1980s.<ref name=":5" /> He is the author of several books, including ''Beyond The Color Line'' (1997).<ref>[http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za/default.asp?3,28,10,45 "Beyond The Colourline"] at Online Library, UKZN.</ref> He has also published many articles revolving around the topics of Africa's history and what is to come in Africa's future, as well as speaking and writing on issues such as the education system and social reforms. He is vocal about the race issues in society, speaking publicly and challenging government actions.<ref name=":5" /> He is the founder and Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS).<ref name=":0" /> He has worked in a number of universities in Africa, Europe and Asia, researching and teaching Sociology and Anthropology.
== Early life == Prah was born in Ghana, and grew up there until the age of 18, when in the early 1960s he went to Leiden University in the Netherlands to study sociology.<ref>Kwesi Kwaa Prah, [https://www.assaf.org.za/files/ASSAf%20news/Has%20Rhodes%20Fallen.docx%20ASSAF%20Address%2015.2.2017.pdf "Has Rhodes Fallen? Decolonizing the Humanities in Africa and Constructing Intellectual Sovereignty"], The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF) Inaugural Humanities Lecture. HSRC, Pretoria, 2015.</ref><ref name=":5" /> He went on to attend the University of Amsterdam and also travelled to Germany, before returning to Ghana.<ref name=":5" />
Upon his return, he started to run into problems with the government regarding the education system.<ref name=":5" /> The government had started arresting and censoring many of the people who went against government ideas regarding the education system, and this caused Prah to decide to start a campaign to free his colleagues.<ref name=":5" /> With the government soon looking to arrest him, Prah left for South Africa, where he had contact with the Pan-African society.<ref name=":5" /> In South Africa, he became the director of sociology at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Black Talent SA|title='The Burden of English In Africa' - Professor Kwesi Kwaa (Part One)|website=YouTube|date=8 June 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBbPhH4b5f0|access-date=7 October 2016}}</ref>
== Career == Prah has worked at a number of universities across Africa, Europe, and Asia. In Germany, he got his first teaching job at Heidelberg University.<ref name=":3" /> Later on, he became associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.<ref name=":3" /> In 1981, Prah became a professor at the University of Juba.<ref name=":3" /> He was head of the Social Science Interface Research Unit of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya.<ref name=":3" />
In 1985, Prah moved to the Institute of Southern African Studies in the National University of Lesotho, where he became a professor and conducted research.<ref name=":3" /> He took the title of Head of the Research Divisions, and from 1988 to 1992 was a Principal Research Scientist for the Social Science Interface Research.<ref name=":3" /> In 1992, he became a professor of sociology in South Africa.<ref name=":3" />
In 1997 Prah founded the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), and is the director of CASAS in Cape Town, South Africa.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|first1=Genevieve|last1=Ruha|title=Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah|url=http://www.ghanagrio.com/sites/biography/17155-professor-kwesi-kwaa-prah.html|website=Ghana Nation|date=17 September 2013|access-date=5 October 2016}}</ref>
He makes an appearance in the 2010 documentary film ''Motherland'' by Owen 'Alik Shahadah.<ref>{{IMDb name|3296750}}.</ref>
Prah chaired the convening committee of the eighth Pan-African Congress that was held in South Africa in 2014.<ref>Conyeani, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140207194552/http://africansuntimes.com/2014/02/the-8th-pan-african-congress-a-preliminary-report/ "The 8th Pan African Congress: A Preliminary Report"]}}, ''The African Sun Times'', 7 February 2014.</ref>
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== Publications == Prah is a published author of books and articles that discuss African emancipation, Pan-Africanism, race, oppression, and politics. His most noted papers include ''Challenges to the Promotion of Indigenous Languages in South Africa'', ''Reflections on the Annals of Neocolonialism'', and ''Realities of African Governance and the Relevance of Higher Education; Problems and Prospects.''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.casas.co.za/Papers.aspx|title=The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society|website=www.casas.co.za|access-date=7 October 2016}}</ref> His papers regard what Africa has gone through over the years in its transformation. They also address what struggles the continent has faced and may face in the future.
Along with writing papers, he has had many speeches and books about that address similar topics as his papers but in more depth. His books include ''Beyond the Colour Line'' (1997), ''Between Distinction and Extinction'' (1998), and ''Africa in Transformation Vol. 1'' (2000). He has written about 30 books for his organization CASAS.
== Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society == In 1997 Prah founded the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Studies (CASAS), the main focus of which is the economic, social, cultural, and political aspects that have led to the current development of Africa.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://ela-newsportal.com/no-country-can-make-progress-on-the-basis-of-a-borrowed-language/|title='No country can make progress on the basis of a borrowed language' (interview with Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah)|last=Mitchell|first=Alicia|website=eLearning Africa News|publisher=|access-date=|date=16 May 2013}}</ref> CASAS focuses on African cultural issues and how they relate to Africa's development, which is not commonly found in other African research groups.
CASAS employs experts in the field of African Society and the majority of their hires come from African institutions.<ref name=":0" /> CASAS is registered as a non-profit organization in South Africa and seeks most of its funding from donations.<ref name=":0" /> Currently, CASAS is involved in the movement to classify African languages into groups that can be mutually understood as part of their Harmonization and Standardization of African Languages Project.<ref name=":0" /> Other projects in which CASAS is participating include publishing their fundamental research as a monograph series, as well as publishing other papers on topics that fit the centre's primary objectives.<ref name=":0" />
==Awards== * 2010: Commander of the National Order of the Ivory Coast<ref name=PAUP>[https://panafricanuniversitypress.com/about-us/board-of-directors/ Kwesi Kwaa Prah biography - "Board of Directors"], Pan-African University Press.</ref> * 2011: D.Litt. Honorary Degree by the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados<ref name=PAUP /><ref>[https://www.uwi.edu/alumnionline/alumni-central/points-pride/honorary-graduates?name=°ree=&campus=All&sort_by=last_name&sort_order=DESC&order=activity_date_time&sort=asc&page=13 Honorary Graduates], ''Alumni Online'', UWI.</ref> * 2012: CL Engelbrecht Prize by Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns<ref name=PAUP /> * 2015: recipient of the Kwame Nkrumah Award for Service to Pan-Africanism, "awarded to a scholar, administrator or politician who has contributed to the realization of the vision of African unity and development."<ref>[http://dialogues186.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=13830377&item=9042 "USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Kwame Nkrumah Award for Service to Pan-Africanism:Professor Kwesi Prah"], ''Dialogues'', 3 July 2015.</ref>
==Selected bibliography== * (Editor, with Ghaffar Mohammed Ahmed) ''Africa in Transformation'', Vols 1 and 2, 2000, 2001<ref>[http://www.africanbookscollective.com/authors-editors/kwesi-kwaa-prah Kwesi Kwaa Prah page] at African Books Collective.</ref> * ''Report on the Seventh Nigerian Economic Summit 2000'', Spectrum Books, 2002, {{ISBN|9789780293123}}. * ''Beyond The Colour Line: Pan Africanist Disputations: Selected Sketches, Letters, Papers And Reviews'', Africa Research and Publications, 1997, {{ISBN|9780865436299}} * (Editor) ''Between Distinction and Extinction: Harmonisation and Standardisation of African Languages'', Witwatersrand University Press Publications, 1998, {{ISBN|9781868143306}} * ''Jacobus Eliza Johannes Capitein: A Critical Study of an 18th Century African'', Africa Research and Publications, 1992, {{ISBN|9780865433311}}
==References== {{Reflist|28em}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100620115053/http://ashoka.org/node/2427 Ashoka Profile of Prah]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prah, Kwesi}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:Ghanaian sociologists Category:Leiden University alumni Category:University of Amsterdam alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape Category:Academic staff of the University of Juba Category:Ghanaian academics Category:People from Kumasi Category:Ghanaian expatriates in the Netherlands Category:Ghanaian expatriates in South Africa Category:Academic staff of Heidelberg University Category:Academic staff of the National University of Lesotho