Micere Githae Mugo

Kenyan writer, activist and professor (1942–2023)

Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo (born Madeleine Mĩcere Gĩthae; 12 December 1942 – 30 June 2023) was a Kenyan professor, playwright, author, activist and poet. She was a literary critic and professor of Literature, Creative Writing and Research Methods in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Micere Githae Mugo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Dec 12, 1942, died Jun 30, 2023.¹

About

She was forced into exile in 1982 from Kenya during the Daniel Arap Moi dictatorship for activism and moved to teach in the United States, and later Zimbabwe. She taught Orature, Literature, and Creative Writing.

Mũgo's publications include six books, a play co-authored with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and three monographs. She also edited journals and the Zimbabwean school curriculum. The East African Standard listed her among the 100 most influential people in Kenya in 2002.

From Wikipedia’s article on Micere Githae Mugo, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Syracuse UniversityBoard member¹⁸
Syracuse UniversityChair¹⁸

Early life and education

1957 to 1960Alliance Girls High School^{3 4}
1963 to 1966Makerere University^{3 4}
Date not recordedUniversity of Toronto³
Since 1966University of Nairobi postgraduate diploma; education^{3 4}
Since 1969University of New Brunswick master's degree, Doctor of Philosophy; literature^{3 4}

Mũgo was born on 12 December 1942, in Baricho, Kirinyaga District, Kenya. The daughter of two progressive (liberal) teachers – Senior Chief Richard Karuga Gĩthae and Mwalimu Grace Njeri Gĩthae – who were politically active in Kenya's fight for independence.

Mũgo attended Alliance Girls' High School from 1957 to 1960.

Mũgo went on to attend Makerere University (where she gained her B.A. degree in 1966). She enrolled at the University of Nairobi in September 1966, later leaving for Canada to attend in 1969 the University of New Brunswick, where she earned her M.A. and PhD in 1973. She returned to Kenya to take up a teaching position at the University of Nairobi in 1973, and in 1978 became Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, making her the first female faculty dean in Kenya. She taught at the University of Nairobi until 1982, St. Lawrence University (1982–1984) the University of Zimbabwe (1984–1991) and was a visiting professor at Cornell University (1992).

Exile

Mũgo was a political activist who fought against human rights abuses in Kenya. Her political activism led to her being harassed by the police and arrested. Mũgo and her family (including two young daughters) were forced to depart Kenya in 1982 after the attempted coup of the Daniel Arap Moi government, following which she became a target of official government harassment. She was stripped of her Kenyan citizenship, but after one year, the Zimbabwean government invited her to apply for Zimbabwean citizenship, which she held until the mid-1990s, when she regained her Kenyan citizenship.

After leaving Kenya, she worked, wrote, and taught from abroad, and later said:I'm a child of the universe, I have lived in almost all continents.

The poem "Speaking of Hurricanes" by Ama Ata Aidoo, included in Aidoo's 1992 collection An Angry Letter in January, was written "for Micere Mugo and all other African exiles".

From Wikipedia’s article on Micere Githae Mugo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: playwright, author, poet, trainer, university teacher, activist, novelist, artist.^{8 9}

Since 1982Worked at St. Lawrence University^{4 5}
Since 1982Worked at University of Zimbabwe^{4 5}
1973 to 1982Lecturer, dean, University of Nairobi^{4 5}
Date not recordedDeputy head teacher, Alliance Girls High School^{5 6}
Date not recordedVisiting professor, Cornell University^{4 5}
Date not recordedProfessor emeritus, director, chairperson, Syracuse University^{5 7}

Known for: My Mother's Poem and Other Songs, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi.^{6 10}

In 1993, Mũgo joined Syracuse University, where she taught Orature, Creative Writing, Caribbean Women Writers and Research Methods in the Department of African American Studies (AAS). In 2007, she was awarded the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence. In 2013, while at Syracuse University, she participated in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) conference at the United Nations, the theme of which was "The Elimination and Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls", and in her address she said:

Writing can be a lifeline, especially when your existence has been denied, especially when you have been left on the margins, especially when your life and process of growth have been subjected to attempts at strangulation.

After 22 years of service, Mũgo retired in 2015, and was awarded Emeritus status. Marking her retirement from the AAS faculty at Syracuse, a symposium was held in her honour.

That same year, she delivered the keynote International African Writers Lecture, entitled "African Orature Artists and Writers birthing humanizing Sankofa-visions of Utu, Ubuntu and Justice for All", at the University of South Africa (UNISA) as part of the 4th Africa Century International African Writers Conference.

In 2021, the Royal African Society in London presented Mũgo with the "Africa Writes" Lifetime Achievement award in African Literature, the first recipient having been Margaret Busby in 2019.

Mũgo was the founder of the United Women of Africa Organization (UWAO) and a co-founder and President (at the time of her death) of the Pan African Community of Central New York (PACCNY). She was an official speaker for Amnesty International, a consultant for the "Africa on the Horizon" series by Blackside, a council member at Riara University, a past chairperson of the board of directors at the Southern Africa Regional Institute for Policy Studies (SARIPS) in Harare and had also served as a consultant for many foundations, and on the board of many journals and organizations.

From Wikipedia’s article on Micere Githae Mugo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

BornDec 12, 1942, Baricho^{4 11}
DiedJun 30, 2023, Syracuse¹²
CitizenshipZimbabwe, Kenya, United States^{13 14}
ResidenceUnited States^{6 15}
Children2^{6 16}

Legal issues and controversies

Literary criticism

Visions of Africa: The Fiction of Chinua Achebe, Margaret Laurence, Elspeth Huxley, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya Literature Bureau, 1978

African Orature and Human Rights, Institute of Southern African Studies, National University of Lesotho, 1991, ISBN 9789991131009

The Imperative of Utu / Ubuntu in Africana scholarship, Daraja Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1990263248

From Wikipedia’s article on Micere Githae Mugo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

2022lifetime achievement award^{4 17}
2021lifetime achievement award^{4 17}
2011award for excellence^{4 17}
2010lifetime achievement award^{4 17}
2008Women of Distinction Awards^{4 17}
2007Distinguished Africanist Award^{4 17}

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo on Wikidata
2
WikipediaMicere Githae Mugo on Wikipedia
3
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: education, on Wikidata
4
Wikidataeducation, as reported
5
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: Deputy head teacher, Alliance Girls High School, on Wikidata
6
WikidataDeputy head teacher, Alliance Girls High School, as reported
7
WikidataProfessor emeritus, director, chairperson, Syracuse University, as reported
8
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: occupation, on Wikidata
9
Wikidataoccupation, as reported
10
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: notable work, on Wikidata
11
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: place of birth, on Wikidata
12
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: place of death, on Wikidata
13
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: citizenship, on Wikidata
14
Wikidatacitizenship, as reported
15
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: residence, on Wikidata
16
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: number of children, on Wikidata
17
WikidataMicere Githae Mugo: award, on Wikidata
18
WikidataSyracuse University, Board member

About

Companies

Early life and education

Exile

Career

Personal life

Legal issues and controversies

Literary criticism

Awards

Links

Sources