(Redirected from Pan-Africanist)'Pan-Africanism' is the political
ideology of an
African Philosophy, that seeks "the total liberation and unification of Africa under Scientific Socialism".
[1]
Pan Africanism is also defined as a socio-political
worldview and movement to unify and uplift both native Africans and those of the
African diaspora, as part of a "global African community".
[2]
Origins
Pan-Africanism is usually seen as a product of the
Atlantic slave trade, rather than as something arising in the continent of Africa itself. Enslaved Africans of diverse origins and their descendants found themselves embedded in a system of exploitation where their African origin became a sign of their servile status. Pan-Africanism set aside cultural differences, asserting the principality of these shared experiences to foster solidarity and resistance to exploitation.
Alongside a large number of slave insurrections, by the end of the eighteenth century a political movement developed across the
Americas,
Europe and
Africa which sought to weld these disparate movements into a network of solidarity putting an end to this oppression. In
London the ''Sons of Africa'' was a political group addressed by
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano in the
1791 edition of his book ''Thoughts and sentiments on the evil of slavery''. The group addressed meetings and organised letter-writing campaigns, published campaigning material and visited
parliament. They wrote to figures such as
Granville Sharp,
William Pitt and other members of the
white abolition movement, as well as King
George III and the
Prince of Wales, the future
George IV.
Modern Pan-Africanism began around the beginning of the twentieth century. The African Association, later renamed the
Pan African Association, was organized by
Henry Sylvester-Williams around 1887, and their first conference was held in 1900
[3].
Key figures
★
Edward Wilmot Blyden has been labeled the Father of Pan-Africanism
★
W.E.B. Du Bois has also been labeled the Father of Pan-Africanism
★
Jomo Kenyatta was a Pan-African activist who became the first president of
Kenya
★
Kwame Nkrumah was a Pan-African activist who became the first president of
Ghana
★
Haile Sellassie, emperor of
Ethiopia, was a key figure in Pan-Africanism due to his call for greater unity among African Nations
★
Muammar al-Gaddafi, president of Libya, has in recent years been the most dominant/active organizer of African unity and has proposed the formation, based on
Kwame Nkrumah's dream, of a
United States of Africa.
[1]
★
Marcus Garvey, was a
Caribbean-born Pan-Africanist and stern advocate for the
Back-to-Africa movement.
★
Malcolm X planned to link the Organization of Afro-American Unity through Pan-Africanism to internationalize the human struggle of African people.
Concept
As originally conceived by
Henry Sylvester-Williams (note: some history books credit this idea to
Edward Wilmot Blyden) pan-Africanism referred to the unity of all continental Africa (excluding North Africa)
[4] The concept soon expanded, however, to include the
African diaspora.
During
apartheid South Africa there was a
Pan Africanist Congress that dealt with the oppression of South Africans under European apartheid rule. Other pan-Africanist organizations include
Garvey's
Universal Negro Improvement Association-African Communities League, TransAfrica and the
Internal Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement.
Pan-African Banner
:''Main article:
Pan-African colors''
The 'red', 'black', and 'green' flag represents Pan-Africanism: the ''red'' standing for the blood that African people of African descent must shed for their redemption and liberty, the ''green'' standing for the vegetation of Africa, and the ''black'' for Africans and people of African descent. Also used in the Pan-African movement are the
Ethiopian colors of red, gold, and green. The red and green stand for the same principles as Garvey's flag, and the gold stands for the mineral wealth of Ethiopia/Africa.
Academics
Two of Pan-Africanism's major goals are re-examining African history from a pro-African perspective as opposed to a
pro-European perspective and a return to traditional African concepts and culture. Pan-African academics often espouse the view that
Egypt and some other civilizations were and should be acknowledged as having African origin.
Pan African studies
Also related to Pan-Africanism is the academic discipline of Pan-African Studies. Departments of Pan-African Studies have existed in many North American universities since the 1960s.
Maafa Studies
Maafa is an aspect of Pan-African studies. The term collectively refers to the 500 hundred years of suffering (including the present) of people of African heritage through slavery, imperialism, colonialism, invasions, oppression, and exploitation.
[5][6][7] In this area of study, both the actual history and the legacy of that history are studied as a single discourse. Thus the paradigm is the legacy of the African Holocaust on African people globally. The emphasis in the historical narrative is on African agents, as opposed to non-African agents.
[8].
Political Parties And Organizations
There are several currently functioning organizations that espouse Pan-Africanism.
African Union
:''Main article:
African Union''
African Unification Front
:''Main article:
African Unification Front''
AWRRTC
Afrikan World Reparations And Repatriation Truth Commission is a non-profit commission based in Accra, Ghana. It was started in 1998 by the participants of the First Emancipation Day Celebrations held in Accra. The goals of AWRRTC include Pan-African unification of people of African heritage and payment of reparations to continental and repatriated Africans by Western nations.
[9]
Global Afrikan Congress
The Global Afrikan Congress (GAC) is an international umbrella organization created by and for Africans and people of African descent. The GAC's ultimate goals are to justly redistribute global resources and resist continued oppression; it seeks to accomplish these goals by demanding reparations for the exploitation of people of African heritage, supporting policies to combat institutional racism, and working for recognition and respect for Africans and people of African descent.
[10]
The GAC was organized in October 2002 in Bridgetown Barbados and is a direct outgrowth of the African-African Descendants Caucus (AADC) formed before the 2001 United Nations World Conference on Racism (UNWCAR) After the UNWCAR there was no follow-up on the part of those designated to continue the work of the AADC begun during the preparatory conferences (PREPCOMS) leading up to the UNWCAR. Organized by attorney
Roger Wareham, the AADC became the leading voice of Africans throughout the world during the UNWCAR. The AADC was instrumental in getting the
trans-Atlantic slave trade declared "a crime against humanity", and opened the door for a direct, legal assault on nations and corporations that benefited from the
trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The GAC continues the AADC's work and is now organized in 35 nations. Its constitutional convention, held in October of 2004 in
Paramaribo, Suriname, ratified a document considered by many to codify the direction in which the Pan-African movement should move during the 21st century.
[11]
All-African People's Revolutionary Party
:''Main article:
All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party
Uhuru Movement
:''Main article:
Uhuru Movement''
Us Organization
The Us organization was founded in
1965 by Dr
Maulana Karenga, following the
Watts riots. It is based on the synthetic African philosophy of
kawaida and the Nguzo Saba. In the words of its founder and chair, Dr. Karanga, ''the essential task of our organization Us has been and remains to provide a philosophy, a set of principles and a program which inspires a personal and social practice that not only satisfies human need but transforms people in the process, making them self-conscious agents of their own life and liberation.''
[12]
Us is perhaps most well-known for creating
Kwaanza and the Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles.
Pan-African Concepts and Philosophies
Kwanzaa
:''Main article:
Kwanzaa''
African Code
The African Code is a concept within Pan-Africanism. It stresses unity through diversity based upon the 7 key principles; derived from
Kwanzaa. The African Code functions as an intersection of a global Pan-African ethos for unity via diversity. It has been translated into over 30 languages and function as a non-political, non-religious cultural commonground for African people seeking self-determination.
[13] The African Code uses the
Ge'ez alphabet and sees
Kiswahili as the official pan-African language, and subsequently Ge'ez as an African script to replace all forms of
Latin to write all African languages.
Afrocentric Pan-Africanism
Afrocentric Pan-Africanism, as espoused by Dr.
Kwabena Faheem Ashanti, Ph.D in his book ''The Psychotechnology of Brainwashing: Crucifying Willie Lynch''. Another newer movement that has evolved from the early Afrocentric school is the
Afrisecal movement or
Afrisecaism of Dr
Francis Ohanyido a Nigerian Philosopher- Poet.
[14] Black Nationalism is sometimes associated with this form of pan-Africanism, the figure od Afrocentric Pan-africanism in the Spanish speaking world is Professor
Antumi Toasijé.
[15]
Kawaida
:''Main article:
African philosophy#Kawaida''
Pan-African Art
★ See
FESPACO,
DPAFF and
PAFF for Pan-African film festivals
★ See
African art
Criticism
Pan-Africanism is often criticized for overlooking the cultural and ethnic differences of African people as well as different socio-political circumstances among people of African descent worldwide.
[16]
External links
★
Pan African: Information
★
Global Afrikan Congress
★
African Code Unity Through Diversity
★
AFROSTYLY : Kamit News (Black Community)
References
1. "AAPRP Dedication Website"
2. "Sculpting a Pan-African Culture in the Art of
Negritude: A Model for African Artist"
3. "The History of Pan-Africanism"
4. I HATE PARENTS"Sculpting a Pan-African Culture in the Art of
Negritude: A Model for African Artist"
5. "Let the Circle be Unbroken"
6. "What Holocaust"
7. "The Maafa, African Holocaust"
8. "Removal of Agency from Africa"
9. "awrrtc About"
10. "GAC About"
11. "The GAC Constitution"
12. "Principles of Us"
13. "African Code Status"
14. " Francis Ohanyido Bio"
15. "Antumi Toasijé Bio in Spanish"
16. "Pan-Africanism: Problems and Prospects"
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