Nationality United States Movies African Independence Role Sociologist | Name Tukufu Zuberi Subject Sociology, filmmaking Ex-spouse Akilah t'Zuberi | |
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Genre sociology, filmmaking, history, literature, Africa Books Africa and the World, Thicker Than Blood: How Racial Statistics Lie Parents Willie McDaniel, Annie McDaniel Education San Jose State University, University of Chicago Similar People Eduardo Bonilla‑Silva, Leo Eaton, Hannibal Lokumbe |
Dr tukufu zuberi you gotta keep your soul
Tukufu Zuberi (born April 26, 1959) is an American sociologist, filmmaker, social critic, educator, and writer. Zuberi has appeared in several documentaries on Africa and the African diaspora, including Liberia: America's Stepchild (2002), and 500 Years Later (2005). He is one of the hosts of the long-running PBS program History Detectives. As founder of his own production company, he produced the film African Independence, which premiered at the San Diego Black Film Festival in January 2013. He is the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department, and professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Contents
- Dr tukufu zuberi you gotta keep your soul
- Lfh tukufu zuberi interview video 8 22 15
- Biography
- African Census Analysis Project
- History Detectives
- Books
- Edited volumes
- Edited journal issues
- Selected video clips
- References

Lfh tukufu zuberi interview video 8 22 15
Biography
Born Antonio McDaniel to Willie and Annie McDaniel, and raised in the housing projects of Oakland, California in the 1970s, he changed his name to Tukufu Zuberi, which is Swahili for "beyond praise" and "strength". Zuberi says that he "took the name because of a desire to make and have a connection with an important period where people were challenging what it means to be a human being."
Zuberi received a bachelor's degree from San Jose State in 1981, a master's degree from Sacramento State in 1985, and a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1989. In 1988, he joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he became the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, the Chair of the Sociology Department, and the Director of the Center for Africana Studies. He has been a visiting professor at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Zuberi's research focuses on race and African and African diaspora populations. He has conducted research in the fields of social statistics and population studies (demography). He has been a guest lecturer at colleges and universities and on television programs.
In 2013, Zuberi produced his first documentary, African Independence. The film premiered at the San Diego Black Film Festival in January 2013. The film discusses the beginning of the independence movement and the problems faced by the movement to win independence in Africa.
African Census Analysis Project
Zuberi has headed the African Census Analysis Project (ACAP), a project initiated by the United Nations to advance the process of census enumeration in Africa. Although census-taking eventually became routine, the preservation and analysis of the resultant data were not fully developed within African statistical offices. In recognition of the need to preserve African census data, to avoid perpetual loss due to poor storage, and to encourage and enhance further analysis, dissemination, and utilization of the massive census data, ACAP was undertaken as a joint initiative of the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania and African governmental and research institutions. The goal was to promote collaboration among African governments and research institutions at archiving and analyzing African census data, both at national and sub-national levels, and to inform appropriate policy interventions on the continent.
History Detectives
Zuberi is a host on the PBS television program History Detectives. The show devotes itself "to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects." Zuberi has taken the audience on an investigation by racing around Death Valley in a 1932 Ford roadster and tracked down a Japanese internment camp survivor. Producer of the show, Tony Tackaberry says "Along with his expertise, Tukufu has a strong, engaging, excited personality that comes through."