Obituary
Atlanta, GA (8-14,
2007) Dr. Asa Grant Hilliard, III, world renowned Pan-Africanist educator, historian, and psychologist, passed
from this life on August 13, 2007 in Cairo, Egypt. Dr. Hilliard was in Egypt to deliver a keynote lecture at the annual conference
of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization (ASCAC), an organization he helped found. He was also lecturing
for a study trip led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright of Chicago. The cause of death is attributed to complications from malaria.
"Dr. Hilliard was in his favorite place, with his favorite person - our mother, when he died," said his daughter,
Robi Hilliard Herron.
Dr. Hilliard was married for nearly 50 years to the Honorable Patsy
Jo Hilliard, former mayor of East Point, GA and former school board member for the South San Francisco Unified School District.
Born in Galveston, TX on August 22, 1933 to Asa G. Hilliard II and Dr. Lois O. Williams. Dr. Hilliard
graduated from Manual High School (1951) in Denver, CO. He received a B.A. from the University of Denver (1955) and taught
in the Denver Public Schools before joining the U.S. Army, where he served as a First Lieutenant, platoon leader, and battalion
executive officer in the Third Armored Infantry (1955-1957). He later received his M.A. in Counseling (1961) and Ed.D. in
Educational Psychology (1963) from the University of Denver. In pursuit of his education, Dr. Hilliard worked in many occupations
including as a teacher in the Denver Public Schools, as a railroad maintenance worker, and as a bartender, waiter and cook.
The professional career of Dr. Hilliard spans the globe. He was on the faculty at San Francisco
State University; consultant to the Peace Corp in Liberia, West Africa; superintendent of schools in Monrovia, Liberia; and
returned to San Francisco State as department chair and Dean of Education. At the time of his death, Dr. Hilliard was
the Fuller E. Calloway Professor of Urban Education at Georgia State University in Atlanta where he held joint appointments
in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education.
Dr. Hilliard was a Board Certified Forensic Examiner and Diplomate of both the American Board of Forensic
Examiners and the American Board of Forensic Medicine. He served as lead expert witness in several landmark federal cases
on test validity and bias, including Larry P. v. Wilson Riles in California, Mattie T. v. Holliday in Mississippi, Deborah
P. v. Turlington in Florida, and also in two Supreme Court cases, Ayers v. Fordice in Mississippi, and Marino v. Ortiz in
New York City. Dr. Hilliard has lectured at leading universities and other institutions throughout the world, including
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Geographic Society.
As a distinguished consultant, Dr. Hilliard has worked with many of the leading school districts, publishers,
public advocacy organizations, universities, government agencies and private corporations on valid assessment, African content
in curriculum, teacher training, and public policy. Several of his programs in pluralistic curriculum, assessment, and valid
teaching have become national models. Dr. Hilliard designed the approach and selected the essays that appeared in The
Portland Baseline Essays (Portland, OR) which represent the first time that a comprehensive global and longitudinal view
of people of African ancestry has been presented in a curriculum.
In 2001, Dr. Hilliard
was enstooled as Development Chief for Mankranso, Ghana and given the name Nana Baffour Amankwatia, II, which means "generous
one." Dr. Hilliard spent more than thirty years leading study groups to Egypt and Ghana, as part of his mission
of teaching the truth about the history of Africa and the African Diaspora. He co-chaired the First National Conference
on the Infusion of African and African- American Content in the School Curriculum in Atlanta. Dr. Hilliard was a founding
member and First Vice President of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations and a founding member
of the National Black Child Development Institute. Dr. Hilliard was also a key advisor for the African Education for
Every African Child Conference, held in Mali and sponsored by the government of Mali.
Awards
He has received hundreds of awards and recognitions
from many prestigious organizations and institutions including the Morehouse College "Candle in the Dark Award in Education,"
National Alliance of Black School Educators "Distinguished Educator Award," American Evaluation Association,
President's Award, Republic of Liberia Award as Knight Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption, New
York Society of Clinical Psychologists Award for Outstanding Research, Scholarly Achievement, and Humanitarian Service, Association
of Black Psychologists Distinguished Psychologist Award, Association of Teacher Educators Distinguished Leadership Award,
an award from the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society Laureate Chapter, American Educational Research Association Committee on the
Role & Status of Minorities in Education, Research & Development Distinguished Career Contribution Award, American
Association of Higher Education Black Caucus, Harold Delaney Exemplary Educational Leadership Award, American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Thurgood Marshall Award for Excellence, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary observance of the
Brown v. Board of Education Topeka decision. Dr. Hilliard was a fellow with the American Psychological Association and
has received honorary degrees from DePaul University, Doctor of Humane Letters; and Wheelock College, Doctor of Education.
Family
He is survived
by his wife, Patsy Jo Hilliard and four children: Asa G. Hilliard, IV, Robi Hilliard Herron, Dr.
Patricia Hilliard-Nunn and Michael Hakim Hilliard and seven grandchildren.
For those friends and colleagues who wish to give comments and expressions about the life and works of Dr. Asa G. Hilliard
or to give remembrances to the family, you may do so at http://www.asaghilliard.com/.
Dr. Hilliard's family is requesting that in lieu of flowers,
donations may be made to the Per Maat Foundation, Inc., P. O. Box 357171, Gainesville, FL 32635. The Per Maat Foundation
is a non-profit public foundation created to educate people about African and African Diaspora history and culture. All contributions
are tax deductible.
Final Days
Hilliard's final public lecture was on Aug.
7. He was the speaker for the opening plenary session in Egypt for ASCAC's 24th Annual Ancient Kemetic Studies Conference.
His lecture was titled: "From Sah, Spdt, Spd to the Drinking Gourd: ASCAC, KMT and Pan Africanism Not to Perish."
Dr. Greg Carr, an executive board member of ASCAC who attended the lecture, says Hilliard did not appear
to be his normal energetic self. However, he still managed to dig down deep and give a powerful lesson about the importance
of "carrying ourselves with a deep historical consciousness," says Carr, an associate professor of Afro-American
Studies at Howard University. "He implored us to raise our consciousness and enter the world as historical beings. He
consistently emphasized that we pursue intellectual excellence, really be responsible to our communities and teach our children
how to explore and engage."
The next day - Aug. 8 - ASCAC held a banquet where the
preeminent Black psychologist Dr. Na'im Akbar of Florida State University gave the conference's keynote speech. Hilliard,
who was on the main dais, had to be escorted out during Akbar's speech because he was so ill. "That's the last
time he appeared publicly," Carr says.
Hilliard flew to Cairo and over the next four
days his conditioned worsened until he passed away on Sunday. Hilliard and his wife, Patsy Jo, have four children.
On Tuesday, ASCAC conducted a ritual in the Valley of the Kings for Hilliard -who was the organization's
first international vice president. It was at the tomb of Thutmose IV, who was the eighth pharaoh during the 18th Egyptian
dynasty.
"We did a libation, a ritual for him of ancestor return in the Valley
of the Kings," says Carr, in a telephone interview from Luxor. "In that ritual we noted that Asa Hilliard was in
so many ways the founder of the modern African-centered education movement. He believed in the natural genius of African children
and he believed in the purpose and function of education as it relates to developing our people.
We
like to refer to him in ASCAC as our Ptah-Hotep because in so many ways he was our wise instructor."
Source: AERA Current News- Stafford
Hood and Wanda J. Blanchett
Quotes From Dr. Hilliard |
Problem of African People
We Africans, however, have not viewed our problem holistically. After years of living
under conditions of extreme oppression, we have settled for limited definitions of our problem. A classic example may be taken
from the period of the civil rights movement. The evil and gross injustice of slavery and segregation violated the civil rights
of African people and had to be addressed. However, the necessary task of fighting for civil rights was insufficient to allow
for the healing of our people. Our healing requires a greater conceptual frame than that provided by civil rights.
- First, we must see ourselves as an African people, or we will be unable to develop this critical
frame.
- Second, we must understand not only the role that white supremacy has
played in our subjugation, but also the role that we ourselves have played by not practicing self-determination in our struggle
to counter the MAAFA.
To reawaken the African mind we must ensure
that the goal of our educational and socialization processes is to understand and live up to the principle of MAAT. -Asa
G. Hillard, III
African Condition
No matter where Africans are-on the continent or in the Diaspora-our condition is the
same. We are on the bottom and descending. The MAAFA [Kiswahili term for "Disaster" or "Terrible Occurrence]
continues to take its toll. We are unconscious, unorganized, unfocused, and lost from our purpose. Our strongest visible leadership
is in hot pursuit of minimal narrow goals like, 'integration,' 'civil rights,' 'jobs,' 'voter
registration,' etc. We seek minimal adjustment and temporary comfort by assimilating to whatever the political, economic
and cultural order may be, even when that order is itself in chaos, or driven by values that are anti-African. . . . When
we "dream," we often do not dream original dreams; we merely seek relief from pain. As a result, the dream does
not encompass a meaningful plan or strategy which is connected to moblization.
Lack of Plan, Program, Purpose
We do not know who we are, cannot explain
how we got here, and have no sense of our destiny beyond mere survival. Most of us hope to hitch a ride on someone else's
wagon with no thought whatsoever as to where that wagon may be going. We have no destination of our own. Ask our leadership,
ask our women, men or children on the street what our agenda is. Ask them what plans Africans have and what we want to build
for ourselves within the next five, ten, twenty-five, seventy-five or one-hundred years? We are so used to having others make
long-term plans for us that the idea of our own five-year plan is petrifying to us.-Asa G. Hillard, III
|
Details for Asa G Hilliard Homegoing Website:
http://www.asaghilliard.net/
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to:
PER MAAT FOUNDATION, INC
PO Box 357171
Gainesville, FL 32635
Per Maat Foundation, Inc was formed
to educate the public about African and African diaspora history and culture. It is a not-for-profit, tax deductible Georgia
Corporation.
REFERENCES
Books
by Dr. Asa G. Hillard, III
Dr. Hilliard has authored more than a thousand
publications including journal articles, magazine articles, special reports, chapters in books, and books. Some of his publications
include The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization (Black Classic Press 1995); SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind (Makare Publishing 1997), and African Power: Affirming African Indigenous Socialization in the Face
of the Cultural Wars (Makare Publishing, 2002), to name a few. He also co-wrote Teachings of Ptahhotep: The Oldest Book in the World by Asa G. Hilliard, III. Williams, Larry. Damali, Nia Hilliard (Paperback - 1987) Blackwood Press
and Young Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African American Students (Beacon Press, 2004). Additionally, he edited Testing African American Students, Nos 2 and 3:
Special Issue of the Negro Educational Review Julian Richardson Assoc. Pub. (December 1990).
Selected Research & Writings
The Egyptian Mystery System,
Greek Philosophy and Dr. George G.M. James." Uraeus 1, No. 2 (1978): 46-48
Hilliard,
Asa G. Free Your Mind, Return to the Source: The African Origin of Civilization. San Francisco: Urban Institute for Human
Services, 1978.
Hilliard, Asa G. "Basic Family Bibliography on African and African-American History
and Culture." Return to the Source 1, No. 4 (1982): 13.
Hilliard, Asa G. "Kemetic Concepts
in Education." Nile Valley Civilizations: Proceedings of the Nile Valley Conference, Atlanta, Sept. 26-30. Edited
by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Journal of African Civilizations, 1984: 153-62.
Hilliard, Asa G. Afterword
to the Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire, by Drusilla Dunjee Houston. Baltimore: Black Classic Press,
1985.
Hilliard, Asa G. "Blacks in Antiquity: A Review." African Presence in Early Europe.
Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Journal of African Civilizations, 1985: 90-95.
Hilliard, Asa G. Introduction
to Stolen Legacy, by George G.M. James. San Francisco: Julian Richardson Associates, 1985.
Hilliard, Asa
G. Foreword to Golden Names for a Golden People: African and Arabic Names, by Nia Damali. Atlanta: Blackwood
Press, 1986.
Hilliard, Asa G. "Pedagogy in Ancient Kemet." Kemet and the African Worldview:
Research, Rescue and Restoration. Edited by Maulana Karenga and Jacob H. Carruthers. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press,
1986: 131-50.
Hilliard, Asa G. The Cultural Unity of Black Africa: The
Domains of Patriarchy and of Matriarchy in Classical Antiquity." Great African Thinkers. Vol. 1, Cheikh Anta
Diop. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima and Larry Obadele Williams. New Brunswick: Journal of African Civilizations, 1986: 102-109.
Hilliard, Asa G. "Kemetic (Egyptian) Historical Revision: Implications for Cross Cultural Evaluation
and Research in Education." Evaluation Practice 10, No. 2 (1989): 7-23.
Hilliard, Asa. G. "Waset,
The Eye of Ra and the Abode of Maat: The Pinnacle of Black Leadership in the Ancient World." Egypt Revisited.
Rev. ed. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Journal of African Civilizations, 1989: 211-38.
Hilliard, Asa
G. "Ancient Africa's Contribution to Science and Technology."
NSBE: National Society of Black Engineers Magazine 1, No. 2 (1990): 72-75.
Hilliard, Asa G. Foreword to
Kemet and Other Ancient African Civilizations: Selected References, compiled by Vivian Verdell Gordon. Chicago: Third
World Press, 1991.
Hilliard, Asa G. "The Meaning of KMT (Ancient Egyptian) History for Contemporary
African-American Experience, Part II" Color 1, No. 2 (1991): 10-13.
Hilliard, Asa G. A Selected Bibliography
(Classified) and Outline on African-American History from Ancient Times to the Present: A Resource Packet. Rev. ed. Atlanta:
Hilliard, 1991.
Hilliard, Asa G. "The Meaning of KMT (Ancient Egyptian) History for Contemporary African-American
Experience." Phylon 49, Nos. 1-2 (1992): 10-22.
Hilliard, Asa G. Bringing Maat, Destroying
Isfet: The African and African Diasporan Presence in the Study of Ancient Kmt. Atlanta: Hilliard, 1993.
Hilliard, Asa G. Fifty Plus Essential References on the History of African People. Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1993.
Hilliard, Asa G. "Bringing Maat, Destroying Isfet: The African and African Diasporan Presence in the
Study of Ancient Kmt." Egypt: Child of Africa. Edited by Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick: Journal of African
Civilizations, 1994: 127-47.
Hilliard, Asa G. The Maroon Within Us. Baltimore:
Black Classic Press, 1994.
Hilliard, Asa G. SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind.
Foreword by Wade W. Nobles. Gainesville: Makare, 1997.
Links
www.ascac.org/bios/asahilliardbio.html
www.cwo.com/~lucumi/asa.html
www.cwo.com/~lucumi/hilliard.html
http://www.africaresource.com/conferences/viewabstract.php?id=54&cf=6
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/union/bsa/public_html/events/asa.htm
www.answers.com/topic/asa-grant-hilliard-iii
http://www.africawithin.com/hilliard/asa_hilliard.htm
http://www.africawithin.com/hilliard/hilliard_biblio.htm
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Dr.+Asa+Hilliard+&FORM=DWRE&go.x=15&go.y=4
