Visual Activism in Africa
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Volume 11 / Number 1 Winter 2019 CARNEGIE REPORTER Visual Activism in Africa Unhacking the Vote / Humanities in Africa / Building Peace / School Reform: Lessons Learned / Spooky Quantum / Globalized 1 WINTER 2019 Volume 11 / Number 1 FROM THE PRESIDENT CARNEGIE CONVERSATION WELCOME TO THE Winter 2019 02 08 CARNEGIE REPORTER Built to Last Vartan Gregorian explores the The Unity in Disunity What happened to history and legacy of Andrew Carnegie’s peace globalization? Has the West simply lost the plot? project. The work was — is — difficult, often Kwame Anthony Appiah, Lionel Barber, and stymied, never-ending. But what is the alternative? Scott Malcomson illuminate these and a few other questions. At Home in the World Chief Communications and Digital Strategies Officer FEATURE FEATURE Julia Weede or the Winter 2019 Carnegie Reporter, we set our Many may not know that Andrew Carnegie was a key Executive Director of Communications sights on horizons — near and far — to explore figure in the history of international law and justice. and Content Strategy 16 26 F the ripple effects of the Corporation’s long-standing Despite relentless ridicule, Carnegie worked tirelessly for Robert Nolan Secure the Vote A long-awaited report on voting African History, Written in Africa The African work in cultivating knowledge in the service of peace and world peace, arguing that systems — including world technology from the National Academy of Sciences Humanities Program has built a vast community Managing Editor makes for sobering reading. Its recommendations of engaged scholars — creating opportunities for democracy. courts — be set in place to resolve conflicts without resort- Jeanne Park are sensible, doable, and terribly urgent. intellectual exchange across the continent. ing to bloodshed. Both the Permanent Court of Arbitration Editor/Writer We range widely. From Africa and postglobalism to and the International Court of Justice (the principal judicial Kenneth Benson The Hague and quantum theory, in this issue we offer a arm of the United Nations, commonly known as the World FEATURE FEATURE discussion that reflects the symbiotic relationship between Court) are housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, built Principal Design Director Daniel Kitae Um knowledge and peace — and between Carnegie with Carnegie’s financial support and opened in 1913. Corporation of New York and the larger world. Architectural writer Fred A. Bernstein explores the connec- Researcher 38 46 Ronald Sexton A “Fool for Peace” David Nasaw makes (Not) Going Dutch The magnificent Peace tion between Carnegie’s vision for peace and democracy the case for the enduring relevance of Andrew Palace in The Hague opened its doors in August As Corporation president Vartan Gregorian writes in his and the (often fraught) architectural competition from Carnegie Corporation of New York is Carnegie — the values he championed and the 1913. The greatest controversy? The competition letter, “Andrew Carnegie formed Carnegie Corporation which his magnificent “Temple of Peace” was born. a philanthropic foundation created by institutions he built to uphold the ideals of peace to design Andrew Carnegie’s “Temple of Peace” Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the and democracy. was won by a French architect. of New York because he understood that peacemaking advancement and diffusion of knowledge and knowledge are interdependent.” That vision continues Closer to home, LaVerne Srinivasan, head of the and understanding among the people of FEATURE CENTER POINT to guide the work of the Corporation today: investing in Corporation’s Education program, and education author the United States. Subsequently, its charter was amended to permit the use of funds for research, scholarship, and knowledge — the precursors Jeff Archer review how lessons learned from past decades the same purposes in certain countries that and prerequisites for peace. of school-reform efforts are informing the Corporation’s are or have been members of the British 54 60 current thinking on American education. A lot has Overseas Commonwealth. The goal of the Now, Don’t Be Spooked! The quantum Visual Activism in Africa: The New Carnegie Reporter is to be a hub of ideas revolution rolls on, warns Stephen Del Rosso, Storytellers Scholars and practitioners of the For our cover story, we turn to a lesser-known but critical changed in 35 years since the modern school-reform and a forum for dialogue about the work and philanthropy is falling behind. The moment arts all across the continent are transforming corner of African scholarship, namely the researchers movement was born. And famed “technosociologist” of foundations. is as transformational as the dawn of the nuclear the ways their histories, past and present, are and academics who will write Africa’s history and teach Zeynep Tufekci gives America’s voting system the once age. Are you ready? being told. the next generations of policymakers and leaders on the over. The verdict? We’ve got work do to. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Janet L. Robinson, Chair CARNEGIE ON THE GROUND CARNEGIE ON THE GROUND continent. Writer and art critic Aruna D’Souza explores Edward P. Djerejian, Vice Chair the Corporation’s support of African humanities scholars. Finally, our peripatetic issue would be incomplete without Vartan Gregorian, Ex Officio Both keepers and transmitters of Africa’s history, these a nod to the fourth dimension: don’t miss the essay on Pedro Aspe Marcia McNutt 76 80 academics continue to forge new paths in postcolonial quantum technology by Stephen Del Rosso, program direc- Lloyd J. Austin III Stephen A. Oxman Education in Complex Times LaVerne Down for the Count The nation’s leading scholarship which in turn become the groundwork for new tor in International Peace and Security at the Corporation. Lionel Barber Louise Richardson Srinivasan and Jeff Archer assess lessons learned philanthropies are banding together to ensure understandings of national identity, policy, and develop- The possible implications of quantum for the future of Jared L. Cohon Anne Tatlock from decades of school reform, clarifying a new a fair and accurate 2020 Census. Government John J. DeGioia Ann Claire Williams set of strategies to better align the Corporation’s can’t do everything it should; philanthropy can ment. We also celebrate the scholars, artists, and creators peace and security are — well — spooky. Thomas H. Kean Judy Woodruff philanthropic efforts. fill in some of the gaps. who are in the vanguard of Africa’s vibrant and thriving Caroline Kennedy visual arts scene. As this issue goes to press, it seems that the forces aligned CARNEGIE ON THE GROUND CARNEGIE ON THE GROUND Helene L. Kaplan, Honorary Trustee against peace are growing globally, and the debate about Newton N. Minow, Honorary Trustee From Africa we head to our offices in New York City, how to build peace is as heated and, sadly, as relevant as sitting in on a conversation between two well-traveled it was a century ago. But if working for peace is foolish, 83 86 Facing the Nuclear Truth A new program aims Harnessing the Power of the Diaspora citizens of the world, philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah then, with our founder, we count ourselves “fools for to hack America’s culture of apathy toward nukes. Kokila Lakhoo’s journey has been remarkable. and Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, as interviewed peace.” It is a cause that demands our vigilance, our best Hawaii’s recent false missle alarm is a stark demon- Born under apartheid in a tiny hamlet in South by Scott Malcomson, global journalist and author. They minds, and our whole hearts — now and in the coming stration of just how unready we are. Fear without Africa, today she is a pediatric surgeon of interna- preparedness breeds panic. tional renown. But her story doesn’t stop there. parse globalization and its discontents, the free movement new year. 437 Madison Avenue of people, the complex forces driving nationalism both at New York, New York 10022 Phone: 212.371.3200 Fax: 212.754.4073 CARNEGIE BOOKSHELF NOTABLE EVENTS home and around the world, and much more. carnegie.org On the Cover 88 96 Julia Weede Nnenna Okore’s Ethereal Beauty (2017) | New Books Dictatorland: African Despots | Carnegie PeaceBuilding Conversations: The Hague AHP fellow Nkiruka Nwafor places Okore at The Flint Water Crisis: A Pediatrician-Turned- | Celebrating Heroes in Pittsburgh | Room for All? Chief Communications and Digital Strategies Officer, Carnegie Corporation of New York the center of her study of women artists. See Whistleblower’s Story | Chicago’s South Side: Diversity in Education & the Media | President Gre- “African History, Written in Africa”: 26–37, Race, Power, History, Schools gorian Welcomes New Americans at JFK Library | Understanding the South African Student Protests and “Visual Activism in Africa”: 66–67. Full CARNEGIE REPORTER 1 caption: 100. FROM THE PRESIDENT Even as the 20th century was dawning, with its seemingly limitless potential, war remained an uncomfortably realistic possibility. That was simply unacceptable to Andrew Carnegie, who believed that a better world was not only Built to Last possible, but necessary. Andrew Carnegie’s peace project was ambitious, audacious, visionary. The work was — is — difficult, often stymied, never-ending. But what is the alternative? hen Andrew Carnegie agreed to fund War (1618–48), but finally helped to pave the way for the important work toward peace earlier in his career, earning the construction of the Peace Palace Peace of Westphalia, which ended the war, restoring peace the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for helping to end the at The Hague in the Netherlands, he between the Catholic and Protestant powers. But Grotius’s Russo-Japanese War, his strident rhetoric was a contribut- was, as usual, building for the longue ideas were not codified into a functioning international ing factor to the rise in tensions as he pursued his quixotic durée. The Hague was no ordinary system, and, over the course of the centuries that followed, political goals in the aftermath of his presidency.