A tribute to Ali Mazrui

[Seifudein Adem read this tribute to Mazrui at a memorial event at Binghamton University on December 6.">

I am pleased to speak on this occasion of celebration of the life of an extraordinary scholar. I would like to share with you a couple of anecdotes about Mazrui’s love of writing, his view of power, and our relationship.

We all know Mazrui was a prolific writer, but perhaps few of us knew why he loved to write. The reason, as he told us in 1974, included the following:

‘I want somebody else to know what occurs to my mind, to my being. This is why I write at all, why I write so much, why I write on such varied subjects.’

Mazrui traveled a lot. He also almost never came to campus even when he was in town unless he had a class, a meeting, or a special appointment. In addition to my weekly conversations with him in his house in Vestal, where we discussed current affairs and official business, Mazrui often communicated with me and our other staff through the fax machine. Therefore, I have at my disposal more than 5,000 pages of hand-written correspondence with him, another testimony, I think, to Mazrui’s love of writing.

What was Mazrui’s most favorite quotation? It was from a book by his mentor at Oxford, John Plamenatz: “The sins of the powerful acquire some of the prestige of power.”

He used it more frequently than any other quote in his writings. In my view, the fact that this was his most favorite quotation meant: #1) he understood well the nature of power; and, consequently #2) he had not only the capacity to comfortably navigate through the corridors of power but also did not have to distort facts for political purpose. So let me repeat the quote: THE SINS OF THE POWERFUL ACQUIRE SOME OF THE PRESTIGE OF POWER.

Let me share now an excerpt from a letter I wrote to Mazrui one month before he was hospitalized last year. I was trying to draw up the balance sheet of my association with him.

‘In the past eight years, you have given me the opportunity to work with you closely, allowing me to explore different areas of inquiry. But your vast scholarship, too, has been a stimulating research project for me. Consider, for example, my two books which were published in 2013, and the other two, which are forthcoming before end of the year. These books are either about you, or are co-authored with you, or have in them a chapter by you—a clear evidence of the fruitfulness and maturity of our intellectual partnership.’

Even after his death, Mazrui continues to stimulate and inspire me. On October 24, 2014, The New York Times published Mazrui’s obituary by Douglas Martin titled “Ali Mazrui, Scholar of Africa, Who Divided U.S. Audiences, Dies at 81”.

When I saw a factual error in the obituary, I did what I thought Mazrui would have done under the circumstances. First I told myself that even if The Times was entitled to its own opinion, it was not entitled to its own fact. Then I wrote to the editors directly, but more politely of course, about the factual error. I received a note of appreciation from the prestigious newspaper, and the correction was also conspicuously appended, almost word for word, at the end of the online version of the story on the same day.

In closing, let me ask myself, how will I remember Ali Mazrui? I will remember him as a man who best exemplified the human potential to stimulate the mind. Rest in peace, Professor.

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