Roslyn Mould: Making Humanist History
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/10/15
*Interview conducted in early-to-mid-August, 2023.*
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Abstract
Roslyn Mould is the Vice President of Humanists International (2023-). She was Secretary and Chair of the Young Humanists International African Working Group from 2014 to 2019 and a Board Member for Humanists International from 2019 to 2023. She was a member of the Humanist Association of Ghana since it was founded in 2012 and held several positions, including President of the group from 2015 to 2019. She is the Coordinator for the West African Humanist Network, an Advisory Board member of the FoRB Leadership Network (UK), a Board member for LGBT+ Rights Ghana, and President of Accra Atheists. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and Modern Languages. Mould discusses: becoming the first African Vice President of Humanists International.
Keywords: Activist, Africa, Andrew Copson, Anne-France Ketalaer, Elizabeth O’Casey, FoRB Leadership Network, Ghana, Humanism, Humanists International, LGBT, Roslyn Mould, Vice President, West African Humanist Network, Young Humanists International.
Roslyn Mould: Making Humanist History
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Okay! We are back after a long time since the last interview in 2019, it’s only been a week and a bit since we met in Copenhagen, again. Hooray!
Roslyn Mould: Yes! Hooray!
Jacobsen: Something historic happened. You became, basically, the first African woman to be Vice President of Humanists International. Congratulations on being historic!
Mould: Thank you!!!
Jacobsen: So, what inspired you to run for Vice President?
Mould: Wow, a number of things. I have been contributing for many years since 2014 from my positions as President of an Organization in Ghana to positions in IHEYO, now Young Humanists International (YHI) and working with Anne-France as our VP when I moved from IHEYO to join the Board in 2019. We could have all of the intellectual discussions and she always brought that touch of wisdom to everything that we did. I really admired her for a long time. As her time was coming to an end, there were a number of people, including herself, who felt that after my years of service and with HI moving forward, I would make a very good replacement. I am quite abreast of what is going on in regions around the world and how the organization has been run and I am a huge believer in the work of the Board especially under the able leadership of our President, Andrew Copson. So I thought long and hard about it and initially, I was a bit hesitant because it took me resigning from my current position, which I just got elected for and eventually, I figured why not. I was confident and ready to take up the mantle and to serve and represent all Humanists around the world, every single member of HI which is why I decided to run for the Board in the first place. Of course, I take all of that with people supporting me and telling me, “You can do it!” I was really excited about doing this and also aiming to inspire and prove that there can also be a person of color, a Black African woman to take up the position and contribute a lot to this prestigious Organization. That was why I decided. It’s truly humbling and I am very honored!
Jacobsen: You have other positions in professional life as well. What is going on there?
Mould: For someone who didn’t set out to be an activist, It’s amazing how I got so many responsibilities but I always take it as a sign that I am well recognized for my work and people all over the world trust that I am very capable of handling things and contributing to the success of the Organization as my record has proven. I am a board member of Freedom of Religion and Belief Leadership Network (FoRBLN) UK. Basically, it is an organization that brings together legislators from around the world, Scholars and Academics, religious and non-religious leaders in the world. I am the only non-religious leader on the Advisory Board officially representing non-religious people around the world as a humanist. It is quite different from Humanists International but shares a common goal to promote FoRB. There are Scholars and Academics from International Ivy League Colleges and Parliamentarians from all around the world who form its membership and the Organization is also affiliated with international organizations such as the African Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) in Ghana, The African Parliamentarians Association for Human Rights (AfriPAHR) and International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB). Also, I am a Board Member for LGBT+ Rights Ghana. It is the biggest and most active LGBT organization in Ghana. I am the only ally member and the only ally board member for a Queer organization in Ghana. I really respect that position as well because to be recognized and selected to be part of the leadership of an LGBT organization as an ally is a big deal. It shows how much trust they have in me. It shows they acknowledge how much work I have done for the LGBTQ+ community in Ghana and around the world. It shows that they really respect and treasure my input and commitment to bringing gay rights and freedoms to Ghana especially in a highly homophobic society at a time when there is an anti-gay bill being considered for legislation in our Parliament which threatens to jail LGBT+ people including Allies for up to 10 years. Also, I have been a Coordinator for the West African Humanist Network (WAHN) for a few years now. Basically, It is an official organization that has been set up to increase humanist activity in West Africa. Because, at the moment, we only have Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia being the only active humanist organizations and they are all English-speaking countries. It has been my cause, my goal, to increase humanist activity in the region, seek out those especially in the Francophone countries, to overcome language differences and to create a community for us to interact, but also to be there for each other and to feel that we are not alone, that there are other West African humanists like ourselves. Also, I am President of Accra Atheists, which is a very new group. It started as a Facebook page years ago by another Ghanaian who is now based in the US. Some of us have realized humanist activity has gone down since I left my presidency at the Humanist Association of Ghana. There is a vacuum there again and we need to fill that gap where people feel safe to be with other non-religious people and to discuss issues of religion and belief, especially for atheists – to make atheism known and to put Humanism back on the map again in Ghana. I did it for HAG and I am confident that I can do it again. Most of these appointments I’ve had since 2019. It’s a lot of work with all these positions but I love volunteering and I’m happy to do my part.
Jacobsen: As Vice President of Humanists International, which is significant, what are your aims for this term?
Mould: Basically, it is to support the position of the President of the Board, but also to support the work of Humanists International in its works. There are basic goals or a basic description of the role. However, it is up to you, as the person, to tell it the way you want to – to abide by the rules of that role, but also to add something to it. I definitely have thought about certain things to raise the bar higher. I would like to give a lot to membership engagement. I see that, apart from the few of us that are privileged enough to attend this conference once in a while; there is this gap unless you become friends with people from around the world, it’s difficult to become part of the community. Sometimes, people don’t realize that regardless of our job, location, our economic class or our cultural differences, we are very, very similar especially as Humanists. I want to be the one to bridge that gap and work together with the President and my fellow board members as well as the CEO, Gary McLelland to see how we can do this. I do believe that once we go working beside the membership work of Javan Poblador to develop interesting, exciting, creative, educational and fun programs, that would make all of us a part of it. You won’t have to sit home and wait for something on social media or email to show that you are part of an international community. I am willing to brainstorm and gather a lot of ideas. Also, advocacy, working with Advocacy officer Elizabeth O’Casey. What she has been doing for years has been impressive and I want to see what more we can do as Members. Definitely for those outside of Europe, so that we can better understand actual regions, for example, with Africa, we have an African human rights council affiliated with the United Nations. Elizabeth has been doing this for us even though she is not an African and I know she is keen to train some of us to represent ourselves and make our voices known on the continent. I started working with her on organizing training programs just before the pandemic hit so I think during my tenure, I will see how we can make this happen. We will see how we can make it so humanists in Asia, South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, everywhere, can represent themselves, to see that we all have individual issues and that we can speak for ourselves. Other than that, I realize that the member organizations and the Board have a bit of a gap. Being a sociable person [Laughing] and someone who is approachable, I am hoping to bridge that gap as well. I do not want to make it that the Board is something out of reach. There are more things coming up. With these five organizations and starting a new day job, it won’t be easy but I should be able to make it so that someday, the next VP can build on that as well. One more thing is, since we have certain positions on the board not just for Europe but other parts of the world, I have a passion to groom and prepare the next generation of Board members to utilize their skills and continue to build on over 70 remarkable years of work of the Organization.
Jacobsen: Ros, thank you for your great work and the time.
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