Pan-Africanism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pan-Africanism is a sociopolitical world view, and philosophy, as well as a movement, which seeks to unify and uplift both native Africans and those of the African diaspora, as part of a "global African community".[1]
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[edit] Origins
As a philosophy, Pan Africanism represents the aggregation of the historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic, scientific and philosophical legacies of Africans from past times to the present. Pan Africanism as an ethical system, traces its origins from ancient times, and promotes values that are the product of the African civilization and struggles against slavery, racism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism.
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[2].
[edit] Key figures
- 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. Report
- 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
- Hugo Chavez, Current President of Venzuela who is trying to reconnect Afro-Latin Americans with their African heritage.
- Marcus Garvey, was a Caribbean-born Pan-Africanist and stern advocate for the Back-to-Africa movement.
- Jomo Kenyatta was a Pan-African activist who became the first president of Kenya
- Fela Anikulapo Kuti: The founder of Afrobeat music, and political/human rights activist. Promoted pan-africanism through his music.
- 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
- Malcolm X planned to link the Organization of Afro-American Unity through Pan-Africanism to internationalize the human struggle of African people.
[edit] 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) [1] 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.
[edit] Pan-African Banner
The red, black, and green flag represents Pan-Africanism: the red standing for the blood that the African diaspora has shed, black representing people of the African diaspora, and the green standing for the Earth. 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[3][4][5] 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.[6].
[edit] Political parties and organizations
[edit] Africa-based
- African Unification Front
- The 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. [7]
- Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa)
- African People's Convention (South Africa)
[edit] US-based
- 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. [8] Us is perhaps most well-known for creating Kwaanza and the Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles.
[edit] Global Afrikan Congress
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It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled Global Afrikan Congress. (Discuss) |
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. [9] 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 Transatlantic 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. [10]
[edit] Pan-African concepts and philosophies
[edit] Kwanzaa
[edit] 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. [11] 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.
[edit] 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. [12] Black Nationalism is sometimes associated with this form of pan-Africanism; the figure of Afrocentric Pan-Africanism in the Spanish-speaking world is Professor Antumi Toasijé.[13]
[edit] Kawaida
[edit] Hip Hop
During the past three decades hip hop has emerged as a powerful force shaping black and African identities worldwide. In his article “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?,” Greg Tate describes hip hop culture as the product of a Pan-African state of mind[14]. It is an “ethnic enclave/ empowerment zone that has served as a foothold for the poorest among us to get a grip on the land of the prosperous,”[15]. Hip-hop unifies those of African descent globally in its movement towards greater economic, social and political power. Andreana Clay in her article “Keepin’ it Real: Black Youth, Hip-Hop Culture, and Black Identity” states that hip hop provides the world with “vivid illustrations of Black lived experience” creating bonds of black identity across the globe[16]. Hip hop authenticates a black identity, and in doing so, creates a unifying uplifting force among Africans as Pan-Africanism sets out to achieve.
[edit] Pan-African art
- See FESPACO, DPAFF and PAFF for Pan-African film festivals
- See African art
[edit] 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. Although Africans are people from the continent of Africa including Anglo and mixed race people, and people of various religions or multiple tribal heritage, these indigenous people are disregarded. The movement seeks to unite "black power" under the label of being African even though an individual of black race may trace his history multiple generations past within their national origin far from Africa. White African people, mixed race people and colonial decedents are not even included in the definition regardless of whether they are indigenous to the continent. The movement is creates racist polarization and divisiveness.
Further, the modern twist of the movement excludes whites from business and government matters amongst African international exchanges. See Robert Mugabe; refer also the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unfortunately once in command, these leaders favor their own tribes forsaking all others and may even kill their opposition tribes and their nation's Whites. See Gukurahundi and Zimbabwe's Fifth Brigade.
These leaders choose Afro-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, North Korea and Communist China when black only nations in their alliance cannot provide what they need in barter. Minerals are exchanged for oil (Venezuela, Malaysia, the former USSR), soldiers are exchanged for grain. Grain is exchanged for mineral rights and so on. Often, the soldiers exchanged are opposition tribe members who are enscripted by the Marxist state. Whatever it takes to remain the exclusive leader is done as long as the European Community and North America are not included.
Robert Mugabe for example, was obliged by the Lancaster House Agreement to work with the opposition tribe and anglo representation white constituents of Rhodesia when changed to Zimbabwe. Instead he openly cut off ties to all white businesses that engaged in commerce with Zimbabwe, to the extent of financial collapse that mattered less to his objectives than hand shake deals with black Africans excluively. [17]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b [http://www.jpanafrican.com/ "Sculpting a Pan-African Culture in the Art of Negritude: A Model for African Artist"].
- ^ "The History of Pan-Africanism".
- ^ "Let the Circle be Unbroken". "Marimba Ani".
- ^ "What Holocaust". "Glenn Reitz".
- ^ "The Maafa, African Holocaust". Swagga.
- ^ "Removal of Agency from Africa". "Owen 'Alik Shahadah". Retrieved on 2005.
- ^ "awrrtc About".[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Principles of Us".[unreliable source?]
- ^ "GAC About".[unreliable source?]
- ^ "The GAC Constitution".
- ^ "African Code Status".
- ^ "African Resource" " Francis Ohanyido Bio".
- ^ "Antumi Toasijé Bio in Spanish".
- ^ Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005.
- ^ Tate, Greg. “Hip-hop Turns 30: Whatcha Celebratin’ For?” Village Voice. 4 January 2005.
- ^ Clay, Andreana. “Keepin’ it Real: Black Youth, Hip-Hop Culture, and Black Identity.” In American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 46.10 (2003): 1346-1358.
- ^ "Pan-Africanism: Problems and Prospects". "African Studies".
[edit] External links
- Pan African: Information
- Global Afrikan Congress
- African Code Unity Through Diversity
- AFROSTYLY : Kamit News (Black Community)
- :PanAfricanist.com
www.theapc.org.za
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