The Civil Rights and South African movements changed lives for Black Americans and Africans alike by bringing freedom to the horizon.

An event sponsored by the African Studies Institute, the Institute of African American Studies and the Department of Romance Languages, called the King/Mandela Lecture, will remember the life of activist John L. Dube.

“We named [the event] after the two symbols of African peace-King and Mandela,” said Dr. Karim Traore, Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Institute of African Studies. .

Dr. Cherif Keita will present his documentary, Oberlin-Inanda: The Life and Times of John L. Dube, and guest lecture on the social activist. Keita is a renowned professor of French at Carleton College who has published a plethora of books and articles on the social and literary problems that exist in today’s Africa.

Dube, a revered educator, entrepreneur and anti-apartheid politician, has influenced Mandela and many of his actions.

“When South Africa was freed, the first thing Mandela did was go to Inanda, cast his vote and say ‘Mr. President, I have come to report to you that South Africa is today free,’” Traore said of the activist.

That polling station was Olange High School, an institution founded by John L. Dube himself in 1900. He believed that education is the key to freedom and self-reliance.

“Dube was the Booker T. Washington of South Africa,” Dr. Traore said. “He believed that the key to emancipation and independence is education.”

Traore, co-organizer Dr. Freda Scott-Giles, Associate Professor of Drama, and film producer Keita hope that the event will educate the University community of the magnitude of these social activists and what it meant to the Black Freedom Movement.

“We want to bridge our institution-UGA-with [Mandela, King and Dube's] ideas. [We want] continuity in terms of history, but also daily practice,” Traore said.