Dr. Leith Mullings
An open letter to our membership by ABA President,
Riché J. Daniel Barnes
posted to our listserv, 12/13/20
Leith made an impact in the world of Anthropology and Public Health through her scholarship which centered Black women’s experiences in the US, Africa, and the Diaspora (broadly). She trained many scholars through her tenure at CUNY Graduate Center and any and all who worked on Black Studies, Black women’s health, and Black freedom struggles. She and Manning Marable, her partner and noted historian and Black studies scholar, who passed away a few years ago, did much to ensure scholars working on issues pertinent to Black folks were trained in theory and methods with an eye toward action. I will personally miss her and her quiet leadership and mentorship.
In addition to being a founding leader in ABA, she also served as the President of the American Anthropological Association (2011-2013). We were fortunate to be able to honor her with the ABA legacy award at the 2016 ABA/AAA meetings.
The ABA will organize a celebration in her honor as soon as we are able to safely be in person. We are awaiting news from her family with details for her services and ways we can honor her in the interim. The Department of Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center is also receiving notes and remembrances on behalf of her family and colleagues. Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and students.
To learn more about her work, see her websites:
She will truly be missed, but in her memory, we are charged with carrying on in scholar-activism and service.
TRIBUTES
posted to the American Anthropological Association https://www.americananthro.org/StayInformed/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=26034
Current President and Past Presidents
As Past-Presidents of the American Anthropological Association we mourn the loss of our colleague and friend Leith Mullings. We especially want to acknowledge all that she did for the AAA. Leith was President from 2011 to 2013. Before that she served on the AAA Executive Board between 2002 and 2004 and as President-Elect from 2009 to 2011. She was a gracious, graceful, and forceful AAA leader. She conducted meetings by giving everyone a chance to speak their piece, after which she would summarize the key points and submit a “spot-on” decision. She consistently created spaces of inclusiveness and recognition for those who came before and those who were to come. She was very explicit about the importance of collegiality, something she put into action on a daily basis. Collegiality, collaboration, and consultation that involved real and profound listening in the service of building common goals are attributes that characterized her leadership. She never lost sight of her commitment to social justice, and ensured that those common goals had social justice at heart.