News Roundup

Esteemed Linguist, Historian, Anthropologist Dies

Guyanese-British literary critic, linguist, historian, and anthropologist Ivan van Sertima passed away peacefully at his home May 25. He was 74 years old.

The author of numerous scholarly books, Van Sertima was a pioneer in releasing and studying the theory that the Ancient Egyptians were black. He wrote bestseller, They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America, achieving widespread fame and criticism for his assertions of prehistoric African influences in Central and South America.

Before immigrating to America, Van Sertima completed his undergraduate studies in African languages and literature at the University of London in 1969, becoming fluent in Swahili and Hungarian. He worked for several years as a journalist in Great Britain, conducting broadcasts to the Caribbean and Africa.

He then began a more than 30-year teaching career at Rutgers

University, beginning in 1972 upon completion of his graduate studies at the New Brunswick, New Jersey institution. He served as associate professor of African Studies in the Department of Africana Studies.

In the later years of his life, he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by his wife, Maria Nagy, and son, Lawrence Josef.

His funeral service will be held Saturday morning at The Riverside Church of New York in New York City.

— Janell Hazelwood

University of California San Diego Honors Donald Murphy

The University of California San Diego will honor Donald Murphy, CEO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, with its Outstanding Alumnus award, next week.

The award recognizes distinguished alumni who’ve made an impact in their community or significant career achievements.

“It was really a surprise, and I consider it a real honor,” Murphy says. “I was surprised the university knew about my achievements, and it’s recognition of what I’ve been able to accomplish over the course of my career.”

Murphy graduated from the UCSD in 1975 with a bachelors of art degree in biology.

“Don Murphy is a visionary leader and steward whose relentless dedication to truth is teaching generations the meaning of freedom,” said Armin Afsahi, assistant vice chancellor for alumni affairs and executive director of the UCSD Alumni Association.

Murphy’s responsibilities at the Cincinnati-based National Underground Railroad Freedom Cente include managing a $7 million budget and securing funding for the exhibits, which pay homage to enslaved Africans in early America as well as black and white abolitionists. The center features stories about freedom fighters, from the era of the Underground Railroad to contemporary times.

Murphy previously worked at California State Parks, where he spent six years directing

the statewide system. After creating several high-profile programs in Sacramento during the late 1990s, he was recruited in 2001 by the Bush administration to serve as deputy director of the National Park Service where he managed a budget of more than $2.3 billion and 30,000 employees.

— Renita Burns

Minimum wage increase will help stimulate economy

Increasing the minimum wage will help working families and create jobs, according to analysis by the Economic Policy Institute released Thursday. By increasing families’ take-home pay, workers gain both financial security and an increased ability to purchase goods and services, says the EPI, which examined data from a minimum wage study conducted by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The EPI analysis shows that the next federal increase to $7.25 from $6.55 . scheduled for July 24, 2009, could possibly generate $5.5 billion of much needed spending for America’s burdened economy over the following year.

“The size of the impact was surprising,” says Kai Filion, a policy analyst at the EPI. “It is not going to end the recession but it will soften the impact on minimum wage workers.”

In 2007, Congress passed a law that would increase the minimum wage by $2.10 from $5.15 over 26 months. The total impact of the three increases is estimated to be $10.4 billion of additional spending between August 2007 and July 2009, according to the EPI.

“The first two increases had a positive effect on the recession and countered the trend for people to cut back on spending,” says Filion. He also noted that the original study published by the Chicago Federal Reserve found that there was a connection between the minimum wage increase and spending on durables and automobiles.

–Marcia A. Wade