Just What Is Pan-Afrikanism?

Pan-Africanism is a philosophy that holds that all people of Afrikan origin are one and share a common history, culture and future. It encourages the economic and political cooperation of all people of Afrikan descent. It is an effort to defeat petty tribalism and false nationalism that, along with colonialism and enslavement, have hampered Afrikan progress for eons and have actually contributed to the state of Afrika today. These tribalistic and nationalistic tendencies have been encouraged and supported by the ultimate enemies of Afrika-the kidnappers, enslavers, oppressors and the colonizers.

Although Pan-African positions have been proposed in the United States as early as the 19th century by such personages as Martin Delany, James T. Holly, Henry Highland Garnet, Alexander Crummel, and Henry McNeal Turner, many profound Pan-Afrikanist thinkers have come from the Caribbean such as Marcus Mosiah Garvey (Jamaica and United States), Edward Wilmot Blyden (St. Thomas, VI), C.L.R. James (Trinidad) and George Padmore (Trinidad and Ghana). There have been continental Pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Patrice Lumumba (Congo), Nnandi Azikiwe *Nigeria) and Haile Selassie (Ethiopia).

Perhaps the “Father” of “modern” PanAfrikanism is W.E.B. DuBois (USA and Ghana). Other significant Pan-Afrikanists were:

Amy Ashwood Garvey (Jamaica)

Amy Jacques Garvey (Jamaica)

Anna Julia Cooper (United States)

Anna. H. Jones (United States)

Aime Cesaire (Martinique)

Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya)

Leopold Senghor (Senegal)

Paul Robeson (United States of America)

Claudia Jones. (Trinidad and Tobago)

Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)

Julius Nyerere (Tanzania)

Ahmed Sekou Toure (Guinea)

Thomas Sankora (Burkina Faso)

Muamar Gaddafi (Libya)

Chinweizu Ibekwe (Nigeria)

Olufela Ransome-Kuti (Nigeria)

There have been at least six Pan African Congresses from the first one held in London in 1900 led to the formation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963 in Addis Ababa and subsequently the African Union in 2002 also in Addis Ababa. These Pan-African Conferences have been held in London, Brussels, Lisbon, New York City, Manchester and Accra.

There were several issues that were common to these meetings:

1. Afrika’s resources should benefit Afrika and not contribute to the riches of Europe, America or Asia.

2. Lynching in America should be eliminated

3. Racial discrimination should be criminalized.

4. Afrikan countries should be free from colonization and minority rule.

The 1st Pan-African Congress convened in London in 1900 and was organized by Henry Sylvester Williams (Trinidad) with the help of Alexander Walters, a bishop of the A.M.E.Z. church in the United States and was attended by representatives from Afrika, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and the United States, including W.E.B. DuBois.

The 2nd Pan-African Congress, organized by W.E.B. DuBois, was a series of three meetings held in 1902, 1919, 1921 and 1923 in two sections in London and Brussels. At the 1919 meeting there were 57 delegates representing 15 countries. The British and American governments refused to issue passports to their citizens who planned to attend.

The 3rd Pan-African Congress, organized by DuBois, was held in 1923 in London and Lisbon.

The 4th Pan-African Congress, also organized by DuBois, was held in 1927 in New York City.

The 5th Pan-African Congress was held in 1945 (“the Manchester Conference”) in England. It was the first to be dominated by Africans rather than African Americans and African Caribbeans although W.E.B. DuBois did attend. It was organized by Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana).

In 1958, a conference, originally planned in Manchester, was held in Accra, Ghana under the name “All Africa Conference”.

Although the 6th Pan-African Congress was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1974, The Organization of African Unity was formed in May, 1963 in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia and ultimately became the African Union in 2002.

There are many Pan-Afrikan organizations in existence today. Among these are the African Union, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, the Nation of Islam, the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, the Republic of New Afrika, the Pan-African Council and many more.

Pan-Afrikanists see all people of Afrikan origin as having a kinship. When the deep structure of culture is considered, there is a unifying strand that unites us. I don’t mean superficial customs such as food, music, dance, manner of dress, art, etc. When I refer to culture, I am speaking about the shared way of seeing the world (spiritual vs. material), the shared way of experiencing knowledge (symbols and rhythm vs. counting and measuring) and what we value (relationships vs acquiring “stuff” or material things). Admittedly, many of us have been affected (or polluted as one scholar has said) by the wanton selfish materialism of the western world.

We must not succumb to the rugged individualism preached by those who practice group identity. We must study the lives of these awesome Pan-Afrikanists, not for the purpose of hero worship but to analyze where and why they failed in their efforts to bring Afrikan people together. Learning from their efforts, whether successful or not will be extremely instructive for us to regain our rightful place of respect in the world.

Food for thought.