PeopleMakingHistoryNominateEN/FR
In development

What this is being built towards.

Six parts of one institution. One is open, one opens soon, and four are still to come. This page says plainly which is which.

In this order, and not in a different one.

Every stage depends on the one before it having actually happened. That is why there is no list yet, and no annual conference. Open a part to read about it.

  1. We are here
    01

    Prove

    Build credibility, a nomination pipeline, the archive, and evidence of what actually works.

    • The Journal Open

      Essays, stories, conversations and Next. Three pieces published; the first stories are being recorded.

      Read it
    • The Fellowship Opening

      Five levels, a published scorecard and the Community Backing Score. The first cohort opens shortly.

      How it works
  2. 02

    Study

    Once there is enough material, study the patterns across lives and publish what they show.

    • Research Planned

      Published openly, with university and think-tank partners. It needs material first, which is why it comes second.

  3. 03

    Recognise

    Only when the method and the evidence justify it. Twelve people documented fully beat a hundred thin entries.

    • #PeopleMakingHistory 100 Planned

      One hundred Africans shaping what comes next. Not one year before the evidence allows.

  4. 04

    Convene

    Once there is something worth gathering around. Otherwise it is a networking event with better catering.

    • The Forum Planned

      The people we document, funders, researchers and emerging talent in one room, with something real to discuss.

  5. 05

    Institutionalise

    Archive, research, fellowships, books and exhibitions. Eventually, a permanent African centre for this work.

    The long term

The Archive

Being built quietly

The sixth part runs underneath every stage. The recording, transcript, photographs, sources and permissions behind every record, kept from the very first interview.

A continent that does not record its present cannot learn from it.

We have all watched an organisation publish for a decade, then decide to start an archive, and find the recordings deleted and nobody who ever asked for the right to keep them. So every record creates its archive entry on the day it is published.

Over twenty years that becomes a record of people shaping modern Africa, for research, teaching, books and exhibitions. The Archive is not a page on this website. It is the reason the website is built the way it is.

None of this happens on the strength of a plan. It happens on the strength of the first twenty records.

So this site only asks two things of anybody. Tell us who is making history now, or help build the institution that is going to write it down.

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