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Kenneth Marin (14 October 1922 – 1 September 2007) was an American professor of economics who worked under President
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
. President Johnson appointed Marin as a member of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
Consumer Advisory Council where he served on Wage and Price Control during the mid-sixties.1 He was a graduate of Aquinas College and the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
,
Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
. In 1966, Professor Marin was a member of a U.S. State Department evaluation team that was assigned to review various performances in the economic and political arena in six South American countries.2 In 1968, Kenneth Marin went to
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
where he worked as an economist for the government of Tanzania in
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
. He served as an adviser to the government on capital mobilisation and utilisation until the early seventies. After he returned to the United States he went to teach economics at his alma mater, Aquinas College in his hometown of
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. He started teaching economics at Aquinas College in 1953 and was the chairman of the economics department for many years.He retired in 1989.3 One of his students at Aquinas College in 1976 was
Godfrey Mwakikagile Godfrey Mwakikagile (born 4 October 1949 in Kigoma) is a prominent Tanzanian scholar and author specialising in African studies. He was also a news reporter for ''The Standard'' (later renamed the '' Daily News'') — the oldest and largest En ...
from Tanzania who became a prominent Africanist scholar and renowned author of books in
African studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...
specialising in economics, politics, history and other subjects about
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. In his book ''African Political Thought'', Professor Guy Martin has described Godfrey Mwakikagile as one of Africa's leading populist scholars and thinkers. Professor Edmond J. Keller, chairman of the political science department, director of the UCLA Globalization Research Center-Africa and former director of the James S. Coleman African Studies Center at the University of California-Los Angeles, described Godfrey Mwakikagile as a public intellectual and an academic theorist in his review of ''African Political Thought'' in one of the leading academic journals on African research and studies, ''Africa Today'', Volume 60, Number 2, Winter 2013, published by Indiana University Press: "The work is an ambitious survey. Martin is encyclopedic in his treatment of the subject of African political thinking. He demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of African political thought throughout history. He has succeeded in his efforts to produce what is arguably the first real attempt to synthesize African political thought into a single thematic volume.... Martin begins his analysis by focusing on indigenous political thought dating back to ancient times (Kush/Nubia, sixth century BCE). He then brings his study up to the present...He systematically introduces the reader to the ideas of specific theorists and their biographies. He situates these thinkers in the context of their times. Some were political activists, such as Amílcar Cabral, Samora Machel, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, and Steve Biko. Others were public intellectuals and academic theorists, such as Claude Ake, Godfrey Mwakikagile, Daniel Tetteh Osabu-Kle, and Mueni wa Muiu. For the amount of ground covered in ''African Political Thought'', this is quite a slim volume. The comprehensiveness of the book is its greatest strength. It touches upon most of the major African political thinkers....It is interesting that the political thought of Meles Zenawi, the now-deceased political leader of Ethiopia, is not considered. Debate is currently raging as to whether or not, despite his views on Marxism, he was an original thinker." Godfrey Mwakikagile is also featured as a major African author and scholar in the ''Dictionary of African Biography'', ''Volume 6'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), edited by Harvard University professors, Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Professor Ryan Ronnenberg who has written about Godfrey Mwakikagile in the ''Dictionary of African Biography'' (pp. 365–366) states: "His experience...inspired his thinking regarding Africa and its relationship to the Western world, which led to several academic works dedicated to the subject. Mwakikagile's early works focused on pressing issues in African studies, particularly the theory and realization of development in Africa. ''Economic Development in Africa'', published in 1999, uses the rich case study of Tanzania's transition from socialism to free-market capitalism as a foundation for broader conclusions concerning the continent's development failures. Mwakikagile writes about Africa as a whole in such a way as to suggest that he possesses not only a keen understanding of the way things are, but also a deep understanding of the way they should be. The arcebically titled ''Africa Is in a Mess: What Went Wrong and What Should Be Don''e reflects on the decades since independence with pragmatism and regret, observing the loss of both leadership and ingenuity as the continent's intellectual elite settle abroad, while suggesting how this process might be reversed. In fact, as the years have passed, and as those early optimistic moments after independence have slipped away, Mwakikagile has taken it upon himself to write about why Africa has fallen short of its vision. Mwakikagile has translated his experience as a youth in colonial East Africa and his adulthood in postcolonial Tanzania into provocative scholarship concerning topics vitally important to African studies." The premier of
Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
province in South Africa,
Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...
of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party in the country, also mentioned Godfrey Mwakikagile in her speech in parliament on 28 March 2017 in defence of what she wrote about
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
in her Tweets, stating that he was one of the prominent intellectuals who articulated the same position she did on the impact of colonialism on the colonised. Others she mentioned were Professor
Ali Mazrui Ali Al'amin Mazrui (24 February 1933 – 12 October 2014), was a Kenyan-born American academic, professor, and political writer on African and Islamic studies, and North-South relations. He was born in Mombasa, Kenya. His positions included ...
, an internationally renowned scholar from Kenya, and
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
award-winning author
Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...
. She also quoted
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
and former prime minister of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...
, saying they expressed similar sentiments these leading intellectuals and herself did on the impact of colonialism on
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and elsewhere.
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n Vice-President
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (; born 3 November 1955), South African Government Information. is a South African politician and former United Nations official, who served as the Executive Director of UN Women with the rank of Under-Secretary-General ...
also quoted Godfrey Mwakikagile from his book, ''Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era'', in one of her speeches about African leadership and development at a meeting of African leaders and diplomats at the
University of Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other uni ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, in September 2006. The book is a seminal work which has been cited by other African leaders and is one of Mwakikagile's most influential works. Another economics student of Kenneth Marin at Aquinas College was Enos Bukuku, also from Tanzania, in the sixties. Bukuku went on to become a senior lecturer in economics at the
University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...
, a deputy governor of the Tanzania Central Bank, an economic adviser to President
Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
, and deputy secretary-general of the
East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, ...
(EAC) among other posts. He was also a member of the Tanzanian delegation that went to the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
to negotiate with the Chinese government for financial assistance to build the Tanzania-Zambia Railway also known as
TAZARA The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...
. Kenneth Marin died on September 1, 2007, in
Chelsea, Michigan Chelsea is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,467 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled as early as 1820 within the Michigan Territory by settler Cyrus Beckwith. It would be organized ...
. He was 85. According to his obituary: "His education was interrupted when he served in WWII as an Air Force weather observer in Italy, from 1943 to 1945. He returned to Aquinas to complete his degree in Economics in 1947, and continued on to the University of Michigan (U of M) to complete an M.A. in Economics in 1948. He also pursued a doctoral program in Economics at U of M from 1949 to 1952. In 1953, he returned and joined the Aquinas faculty as Asst. Professor of Economics and Public Relations Director where he stayed until his retirement in 1989.... In 1966, he was part of State Department Evaluation Team to review operations in six South American countries. In 1968, on an academic leave of absence and sabbatical, he moved his family to East Africa, where he served as an advisor on capitol mobilization and utilization to the United Republic of Tanzania; and was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to his Consumer Advisory Council."4


References

1.
Godfrey Mwakikagile Godfrey Mwakikagile (born 4 October 1949 in Kigoma) is a prominent Tanzanian scholar and author specialising in African studies. He was also a news reporter for ''The Standard'' (later renamed the '' Daily News'') — the oldest and largest En ...
, ''Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era'', New Africa Press, Fifth Edition, Pretoria, South Africa, 2010, pp. 653, 668, 669. 2. "Former CUNA (Credit Union National Association) chairman Ken Marin dies," ''Credit Union Times'', Hoboken, New Jersey, January 8, 2008; ''Credit Union Times'', December 4, 2012. 3. G. Mwakikagile,''Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era'', ibid.; "Former CUNA (Credit Union National Association) chairman Ken Marin dies," ''Credit Union Times'', Hoboken, New Jersey, January 8, 2008: "In 1968, he moved with his family to East Africa where he served as an advisor to the United Republic of Tanzania on capital mobilization and utilization. Marin also was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a member of the White House Consumer Advisory Council." 4. Kenneth Marin, Obituary, www.lifestorynet.com, Chelsea, Michigan, September 1, 2007. 5. https://sites.google.com/site/intercontinentalbookcentre/godfrey-mwakikagile-a-eurocentric-pan-africanist {{DEFAULTSORT:Marin, Kenneth 1922 births 2007 deaths Aquinas College (Michigan) alumni People from Grand Rapids, Michigan Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel University of Michigan alumni